Page 54 - Alpheus Hyatt Verrill "Knots, Splices and Rope-Work"

The close band is used for the same purposes as the last and is made in the same manner,
but the ends are fastened by drawing through beneath the turns (Fig. 102).

End pointings are very useful as well as ornamental, for while an ordinary seizing or
whipping will prevent the strands from unravelling, the ends are broad and clumsy and
oftentimes are too large to pass through a block or eye large enough for the rest of the
rope. The ordinary way of pointing a rope is to first whip as described (Fig. 4), and then
unlay the end as for the Flemish eye. Take out about two-thirds of the yarns and twist
each in two. Take two parts of different yarns and twist together with finger and thumb,
keeping the lay on the yarn and thus forming left-handed stuff known as "nettles." Comb
out the rest of the yarn with a knife, leaving a few to lay back upon the rope. Now pass
three turns of twine like a timber-hitch tightly around the part where the nettles separate
and fasten the twine, and while passing this "warp" lay the nettles backward and forward
with each turn. The ends are now whipped with twine or yarn and finally "snaked," which
is done by taking the end under and over the outer turns of the seizing alternately. If the
rope is small a stick is often put in the upper part to strengthen it or the tip maybe
finished with a small eye. If properly done a pointed rope is very handsome and appears
as in B, Fig. 103.