Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Cave Men only "Oooga Booga" => Topic started by: david w. on October 18, 2007, 08:36:11 pm
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What is the easiest type of cordage to make? I would really like to learn how and learn a real primitve skill. I have access to nettle and plenty of various trees. I am going to get Naked into the Wilderness to learn some primitve skills.
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easy? milkweed and dogbane for getting fibers would be what i consider easy. to learn the twisting process theres no need to wait use paper, floss, housestring just so you can get used to it. mcpherson has a very good pictorial describing the process to do a reverse twist. depending on where you are in illinois you could probably contact john mcpherson . last i knew he was in kansas. weve talked several times and from what ive heard he is always willing to help out. i have a pictorial i did and if i can find it i'll post it. peace
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i live in SW Illinois. I can make flemish strings Ive become pretty good so i know the twist stuff at least i think i do. Havent seen much milkweed by me but i know its here so ill have to find some dogbane
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david any dead locust, basswood, other poplars will give up easily harvestable material for cordage. the live stuff will need to be retted (soaked for weeks) . also roots can be used to practice and make great lashings. look in the gardens for daylilly. especially commercial properties. the long thin dying leaves are easy to use as is.
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Lots of locust around here havent seen a basswood but i havent been looking. So If i find a dead tree i use the inner bark?
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once i get some cordage is there a way of tying it together to get a longer cord?
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i am determined to make a cordage string for my next bow
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once i get some cordage is there a way of tying it together to get a longer cord?
You can make cordage as long as you want. You splice the fibers in continuously as you go, so it doesn't end until you want it to. If you have enough time, energy, and material, you could make a single piece of cordage a hundred miles long without tying anything together. I have some extra dogbane stalks- if you need some, let me know.
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ok i think i understand. Hillbilly that is very nice but I have gotten so much off this site already and dont want to start freeloading besides it would mean more to me if i did everything myself.
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daviv not that it cant be done with tree bark , but a bow string would be better if made from plant material. like milkweed or dogbane. peace
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this weekend i will try to fund some dogbane, but first i need to find out what it looks like.
will i need to ret it this late in the year?
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i was looking at pictures of dogbane and how do you get the fibers out? it looks much different than miklweed or nettle
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You don't need to ret dogbane, it's one of the easiest fibers to process, do it just like you would milkweed. Cut it after the leaves fall off. Step on the stalks to bust 'em up lengthwise into halves or quarters. Then start at one end, and break short pieces of the stalk section back toward the bark side. Peel each short section off of the fibers, works better than trying to strip the whole stem at once. When you get the fiber/bark peeled off, rub it between your hands and twist/work it around to get as much of the bark chaff off as possible. If you're making a bowstring, you need really clean fibers without bark chaff left on. Hope that made some sense.
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thanks Hillbilly that sounds good :)
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Hi David,
I don't know what type of nettle you have. There are several sorts. I have had experience with tall nettle, starting about 47 years ago. I gew up in Ohio with a woods 50 ft behind my house (I now live in the Ozarks in North Central Arkansas). Nettle is one of the very best fibers you can make strings out of. I don't know what the weather has been like where you are. Here, we have had no frosts and it is ideal for harvesting nettle fibers. I used to make things out of nettle fiber simply by pulling the outer "bark" off the nettle. I did this while the plant was green. I learned how to spin when quite young (I am a blacksmith by trade now and learned that when young also), and I found if I twisted the fibers when green they were so strong they would cut through my hand when I would try and break this very fresh crude spun fiber of only one ply. You will know if it is a good time to collect fiber from nettle and milkweed by the fibers. You should be able to get fibers when you just pull off the bark. If the fibers are too short, the plant is immature. If they are long and week they are too old. Retting the fibers is not a bad way to get the fibers clean, but you can simply pull the bark off, dry it, and then work the fibers flear of the trashy part of the bark when it drys. By the way, retting and rotting come from the same root. retting is only partially rotting the stalk, done to make the trashy stalk and other part of the skin brittle before the fibers rot. If you do it too long the fibers will be weak.
The Traditional Bowyers Bible, I believe Volume 2, explains pretty well how to spin. My wife is a basket maker, spinner and weaver, and I ply what she spins on a spinning wheel on a Navajo type spindle, just plied some wool and silk together 2 days ago, so I still keep my hands in it.
Milk weed is pretty similar. The quality of the fibers varies from one time of year to another. And from one batch of plants. Nettle is generally a little stronger than milkweed, an both are at least as strong as linen. Linen varies according to the where the plant is grown and the climate. Hemp is supposed to be stronger than linen if grown correctly, but I have never dealt with it, and the imported fiber is generally not very good. Anyway, I would go out and strip some outer layers off the nettle, and twist them while green, and the fibers will show white amongst the green if it is still alive. If a frost has just hit it should be very good, but the skin will dry. I have worked with linen , breaking the stalks in a wooden device and then running them through a hetchel to comb out the trash after it was retted when I worked for a restoration in the late 1960's at Hale Farm and Village, Bath Ohio. But you can just strip the bark, let it dry, not ret it, and break the fibers out with no real problem, and I encourage you to experiment and do it a little. The spinning takes some time to learn. There are some books on it, but none will teach you how to work with nettle. If you get enough fiber and happen to be coming through the North Central Ozarks (I am an hour and a half South of Branson, MO in Arkansas) I could show you how to spin it. But there should be local spinners in your area. With the Internet you should be able to find some traditional spinners in your area and any of them should be able to help you learn the spinning part. Only a few might know the separating of fibers. But some will. I wish you great luck. The nettle fiber is as strong as you will find in North America, period. If you persist you can make some fine strings out of it. I always did this bare handed, though it stung some it never damaged me. You can eat green nettle tops, but the smell is pretty bad when you boil them!
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thanks it is all pretty clear now i think. it has not frosted yet. I wouldnt be able to ever see you though couldnt get a ride ;) i have barely any homework so i might try it toinght.
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Cllinker2, thanks for your explanation. Did you ever make a bowstring out of nettle fibre? If so, what was it’s poundage and how many shots did it last?
Thanks!
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No, I never made a bowsting out of it. At the time I had made one bow before I learned to work with nettle. It was a lemonwood longbow, about 70 lbs pull when I was 12. It broke after limited usage. I built it along the line of a yew longbow, used information from The Archer's Craft by, I believe, Adrian Elliot Hodgkin (I'm going back in memory 47 years!!) But while I could draw the bow It was too powerful for me at the time. Anyhow, I have made a lot of cordage, but never a natural bowstring. I haven't found any nettle locally, there is some milkweed. I don't know how to identify dogbane. Currently I'm recuperating from some surgery, spent a lot of time on the net, which is how I found this forum. I have a nice hickory overbuilt flatbow, slightly recurved, with a (sorry for this) nylon cable back. About 80 lbs, it seems to have very good cast. I am wanting to make a few more bows soon, I have some really excellent hickory that was cut for me. I have to get healed up and catch up on work (self employed, no insurance, I need to work!!) I am making my own shafts, and I have a nice, simple, 3 fletch jig I want to got pictures of and explanation on how to build on the 'net. It will take me a while right now.
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I would like to first of all thank everyone for their input on this site. David had a question about cordage material and I noticed that no one mentioned yucca. It is a very strong and durable fiber that will work just fine for bowstrings.
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Clinker,
I am from northwest arkansas area and would like the chance to learn from a fellow "Oooga Booga". I am just happy that there are places like this to share ideas and information. I am not sure what to look for as far as nettle or dogbane.
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Hi Bearclaw, I am from North Central Arkansas, South of Harrison. I have my Email posted in my profile, so if you click on that and Email me I can give you my address. I am most involved in traditional blacksmithing, which we have a group for. We also have a local very good flintknappers get together at Watercreek, near Yellville, where lots of people with primitive skills gather the first weekend in May or so. I will miss it the next two years as I have blacksmithing obligations that weekend. Anyhow, Email me and I'll give you my address.