Page 496 - The Ashley Book of Knots

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CHAPTER 38: PLAT SINNETS

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_ .. they bad platted a crou,'1l of thorns . . .

Matthew XXVII: 29 • •
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About 1860 hemp signal halyards, braided by machinery, are

mentioned in seamanship books. The product was then called

"sinnet lines." Before that time SQUARE SINNET for steam gaskets was

made by hand. On shipboard sinnet has been used for a great variety

of purposes and, except for signal halyards and log and lead lines, -
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is still being made by hand.

Platted lines have little or no torsion. Used as belting, they have

an excellent "cling," and hard-platted sin nets give excellent surface

wear. Decorative plats are employed in "hangings" and upholstery, \ .

in hat and dress trimming. Shoestrings, curtain cords, bell pulls,

electric-light pulls and fishline are of sinnet and are now machine-

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made. In Chapter 41 are many examples of the uses to which hand- --:=--..

made sinnets are put. Used in combination with LANYARD KNOTS,

sinnets have decorative possibilities that so far have been recognized

only by the sailor. By dropping out strands at intervals, with which

knots are to be tied, a lanyard is given a nice taper.

The usual way of starting a sinnet is to· bind the required number
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of strands together and to begin at once to plat. Later the uneven , .

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beginning is either straightened out or cut off. • , 'J •

In most sinnets allow a length of strand about forty per cent

greater than the length of the projected sinnet.

If strands are very long, wind them around the hand as '# 3085

and then snap elastic bands around them. If carefully wound in this

way, when additional length is required, it may be pulled out with-

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out disturbing the elastic band. - .. ---