Page 137 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

723. Wherever required, on both STOPPER and BU'l"lON KNOTS,

leather washers and often leather collars are added to prevent exces-

sive wear. The outer edges of the washers are always serrated, and

the lower edge of the collar is treated in the same way. On smart

723 ships "pinking irons" are provided the boatswain for the purpose, but

a smart sailor can do quite as good a job with his jackknife-which,

by the way, is a large, blunt clasp knife with a ring at the end, sus-

pended from a neck lanyard and named after "Jack" himself. The

stitches by which a collar is sewed are given as ~ 3538. There is

always plenty of leather aboard ships, old boot tops, pump washers

and rawhide chafing gear being the main sources.

• • 724. A slashed cap was put over a MATI'HEW WALKER KNOT when-

•

• • ever the knot was used on manrope and yoke ropes. This was done

• • when a decorative knot smaller than the MANROPE KNOT was thought

•
neater for the purpose. A piece of red leather was considered very

•

• smart, especially on a white-painted rope. A NARROW TURK's-HEAD

• of small hard fishline added to the security of the collar.

• After the MATTHEW WALKER KNOT had been tied, the piece ot

• leather was slashed in the manner illustrated at the left. The length

•
, • of the slashing and the spacing required careful planning. The width

• of the leather had to fit exactly the length of the rope and the cir-
•

• cumference of the knot. The end fibers of the rope were trimmed to
•

• • a dome shape. The holes for the stitches were punched with a boot-

• • maker's awl. These things having been prepared, and the rope having

• • 124- been parceled and wormed, the sailor was ready to go to work. Is
,

• it any wonder that, with skilled labor at a dollar or more an hour.

• •

• good knot work is pretty nearly a lost art?

725. A rope swivel requires an iron washer to provide a flat base

on which the knot can revolve. A MATTHEW WALKER KNOT and a

piece of sole leather are also required. The leather is cut as shown

in the left diagram, and the center is piped around a short strand of

rope and sewed to make a round member, through which an eye

can be spliced. The washer and knot are greased with suet. If well

made, no better swivel can be asked for.

726. STOPPER KNOTS, generally MATTHEW WALKER KNOTS, are

used under the seats of swings and bosuns' chairs. For other seat

arrangements, see the chairs on page 590. The height of the seat here

shown is adjustable; see HITCH 'I/: 1800.

726

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