Page 559 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

3463. Spun y crrn consists of two or three (occasionally four) rope

yarns, placed together and first rolled between palm and knee and

'U finally twisted tightly with the fingers. The direction is contrary tel

the lay of yarns. It differs from rope and cord, inasmuch as no

additional twist is imparted to the individual yarns. Before slacking

up, the spun yarn is well rubbed with a patch of old tarry canvas.

It is at once wound into a tight ball.

3464. A Spanish fox is made of a single rope yarn that is split into

either two or three equal parts. The several parts of the yarn, orig-

3465

inally right-handed, are given a left twist, which first untwists the

original lay and then twists the individual parts reversely. The sev-

eral parts are then laid up together right-handed.

The purpose of reversing the twist is to smooth out any inequal-

ities which are bound to exist in the interior of an old hard-laid rope.

Spanish foxes are more commonly made of the two halves of a single

yarn. As the length grows, other half yarns are added by tying ROPE

YARN KNOTS, the ends being first scraped to a taper to keep the knot

small.

3465. An ordinary fox is formed by laying up two or three right-

handed yarns, which makes the fox left-handed.

3466. Nettle stuff or nettles (also called knittlts, knettles and

)46 nittles) are composed of two, three or (very seldom) four foxes.

They are right-handed. Three or four rope yarns laid up together

would also be termed nettle stuff. In fact, a good working definition

of nettle stuff might be: "A hand-made rope of about the size of

clothesline, or smaller."

The four products so far described are rubbed smooth with a

patch of old tarred parceling.

3467. Stirrups support the footropes which hang below the yards.

One end has a THIMBLE SPLICE through which the footrope is rove.

Before jackstays came into use the other end was platted for a length

sufficient to pass two or three times helically around the yard, to

which it was nailed. Small leather wash",.·s were placed under the

nailheads. \

3468, 3469. Robands and sea gaskets are made alike but in varying

sizes. A roband serves to bend a sail to either a yard or a jackstay,

and a gasket is for lashing a furled sail. Three, four or five faxes are

middled and platted together from mid-length into a FLAT SINNET

for a distance sufficient to form an eye. All the strands are then

brought together and laid up into a wider FLAT SINNET for a short

. 3410 2. distance, where another single strand is introduced. After another

interval, equal to one round of the yard (for a gasket, but less for

a roband) a single strand is laid out, and then at a shorter interval

another from the opposite side of the sinnet. This continues until

there are but two strands left, where one of these is tucked back

parallel with the one last laid out, making three in all. The two op-

posing ends are spliced or seized together, and the three parts are

then platted to the end and seized.

3470, 3471, 3472. Although in making reef points, gaskets, etc., it

is commonly recommended to "layout nettles and trim them off";

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