# Rope Making



## Pitchy

Made this big rope making machine so i could make some large ropes. It`s modeled after a small original one i have.


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## KIT.S

Wow, very cool! I've seen folks at fairs who have much smaller ones, and admired how they work, but I've never seen such a large one, or one that was powered! Congratulations, it looks like you've done a great job. I particularly like your hand-held tamping tool.
Kit


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## Pitchy

Thanks, the electric motor is used as a free spinning shaft not power. When ya get 60 feet of twine hanging on the hook ya need something that will turn freely and the old motor works well.


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## springvalley

That is real cool, I have some of those old rope makers. You did a great job and I`m impressed, love the idea of the motor on the old mower base. And that is some nice lookin rope you made. So what you using the rope for? > Thanks Marc


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## Pitchy

Thanks, i tie a cement block to the mower base to give it a little drag.
One rope is 1 1/2 inch in diameter and 50 foot long, it took one whole ball of twine to make. There were 16 strands on each hook so it was quite a pull.
Don`t use them much, i just have to try everything at least once. lol


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## Pitchy

Check out this video of a auto rope seperator i made.


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## springvalley

Looks like you burn the fuz off the rope after you make it, am I right? > Marc


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## Pitchy

Yepper, did ya see the video of the auto seperator?


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## springvalley

Yep , you are very handy with gadgets, must be a blacksmith also, see the forge in the background. > Marc


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## Pitchy

Do a little smithing, nothin serious just handy to have around.


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## mustangsally17

Just plain cool, But, the tobaggons are still #1 with me..looking forward to whats next.


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## Ed Norman

Do you use more or less weight on the auto separator to control twist rate?


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## Pitchy

Ed Norman said:


> Do you use more or less weight on the auto separator to control twist rate?


Thanks Mustangsally17.

No the weight is only to keep it from spinning around.


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## Farmerwilly2

Can you give a description on how it works? Looks like it's built to last through the war.


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## Ed Norman

Pitchy said:


> No the weight is only to keep it from spinning around.


Do you hold the separator at the end until you get enough twists, then release it and let it go on it's own? 

Do you have access to a bale string pile? All the ranchers here are very very generous if you need a bit of their string. I have made ropes from it, 3 strand is a nice small size that is really strong. But I have seen tow ropes made from many 3 strand ropes twisted into bigger and bigger ropes until you have a ship hawser that could tow Hawaii. And it looks like your machine is easily capable of twisting one. They sell for big bucks, farmers use them to jerk out stuck combines, etc.


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## Pitchy

Ed Norman said:


> Do you hold the separator at the end until you get enough twists, then release it and let it go on it's own?
> 
> Do you have access to a bale string pile?


No as ya crank the machine it will start moving when the twist is just right.
We bought baler twine , two rolls per bale.

Farmerwilly do ya mean the seperator or the rope machine?


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## Farmerwilly2

I get a good idea of how to make the machine, I'm wondering if you can write out the process for using it, from putting on the grass twine to rolling up a coil of rope.


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## Pitchy

Well ya start at the gear end and tie a string to one of the hooks, then out accross the yard and on the hook on the electric motor, then back and around the second hook. Then back to the electric motor and so on until you get as many strings as you want on which determinds the size of rope.
Then ya take the seperator, the black hand held one and put the tree sets of strings in it and in front of the far hook on the motor. One person holds that so it can`t spin and the other person cranks the machine which twists up the three individual bunches of strings. Once they have a good twist the person moves the seperator forward and it will twist the other direction behind it making rope and is why ya have to have something that turns freely on the far end, in this case the motor hook.
Ya keep cranking and moving the seperator until ya get to the end and twa-la a rope. Tie off the end and burn off the hair.


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## Farmerwilly2

I thank you very much for the lesson. Bailing string is easy to get around here and used for everything. Looks like I can pick up a new skill for a little effort.


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## Pitchy

Also do a Google search on rope making machines and there is a lot of info there.
I particularly like this site.

http://www.wctatel.net/web/equityrealty/ropemachineIndex.html


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## City Bound

Nice. Very well done. Very well.

Brought back memories for me from when I was doing my pioneering merit badge in the boyscouts and I had to make a small rope making machine. Yours is really nice. Make some more machines and I am sure people would want to buy them from you.


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## TNHermit

Pitchy 
your right out of Popular Mechanics Shop Notes that ran in the early 1900-1960. So when you gonna put out a book???


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## Pitchy

I could write many books about many things in my life, some good, some bad.
Now i just want to be left alone to make and do things to put a smile on peoples faces.


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## TNHermit

Pitchy said:


> I could write many books about many things in my life, some good, some bad.
> Now i just want to be left alone to make and do things to put a smile on peoples faces.


No problem there. Except your gonna have a earth of a fan base around here!!. Pics of you and the misses on the other thread are fantastic. And to work together like you do is extraordinary. gotta be great!


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## Pitchy

TNHermit said:


> No problem there. Except your gonna have a earth of a fan base around here!!. Pics of you and the misses on the other thread are fantastic. And to work together like you do is extraordinary. gotta be great!


It is our faith in the Lord that keeps us going and together, without Him we are nothing.
Thanks for your kind words.


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