One mark of a good CPO is that he never stops learning. Chief Considine hadn't tried a bellrope, so he explored my tutorial on
the subject, combined that with his considerable skill at ropework and came up with a winner! Consider "Bravo Zulu" hoisted,
Chief!
Pudding with outer cove
Finished inner core (puddings)
Finished bellrope prior to varnishing After varnishing
Most impressive!
the subject, combined that with his considerable skill at ropework and came up with a winner! Consider "Bravo Zulu" hoisted,
Chief!
Pudding with outer cove
Finished inner core (puddings)
Finished bellrope prior to varnishing After varnishing
Most impressive!
Yet another bellrope he just made (June 2007) as a gift for another Master Chief. Super work!
A "Family Portrait" showing his line pulling tool, a small bellrope/keyfob and the first bellrope, then to the
right, a closer view of the keyfob.
| U S NAVY, U S COAST GUARD & USMC Fancywork |
| Click on ANY picture fr a larger verzion! |
| Last revised 2007-02-08 |
Vince: here is a couple of Boatswain's Call Lanyards. I made one while aboard the USS Manuel (DE 351) in 1952 -53 and the other
while serving on the USS Yellowstone (AD 27). They are made out of Belfast Cord that can't be found today. They appear to be as
good as new as the cord is tight wound and doesn't appear to deteriorate even though they have been washed many times.
These lanyards played a part in piping down many a chow down, sweepers and Boats Away while on my neck and even piped
aboard Admiral McCain who was Senator John McCain's father.
(1) A knot board I made for the USS Yellowstone reunion. (Who IS that handsome young man?) (2) A quick announcement board I
made for a local association... worked well! (3) The top Lanyard is a 17 strand French Sennate and the bottom is a Flat Sennate
(4) Turks Head covering the connections. I wouldn't want to take the time to weave and tighten up a Turks Head like this today.
(5) This shows the lay of the sennate, both inside and outside. The top photo is what I call a flat sennate, it is a little more loose or
flexible but also has a nice look.The bottom picture is the French Sennate, It is a very tightly interlocked Sennate and has a nice
appearance, the inside is flat.
I am amazed at how well the Belfast cord has held up after almost 55 years. it is a shame that all of the manufacturers of Belfast
Cord have gone out of business. There is nothing out there that can match it for sennate or square knotting.
Jack Cross BM2 (USN ret)
Thanks, Boats!
while serving on the USS Yellowstone (AD 27). They are made out of Belfast Cord that can't be found today. They appear to be as
good as new as the cord is tight wound and doesn't appear to deteriorate even though they have been washed many times.
These lanyards played a part in piping down many a chow down, sweepers and Boats Away while on my neck and even piped
aboard Admiral McCain who was Senator John McCain's father.
(1) A knot board I made for the USS Yellowstone reunion. (Who IS that handsome young man?) (2) A quick announcement board I
made for a local association... worked well! (3) The top Lanyard is a 17 strand French Sennate and the bottom is a Flat Sennate
(4) Turks Head covering the connections. I wouldn't want to take the time to weave and tighten up a Turks Head like this today.
(5) This shows the lay of the sennate, both inside and outside. The top photo is what I call a flat sennate, it is a little more loose or
flexible but also has a nice look.The bottom picture is the French Sennate, It is a very tightly interlocked Sennate and has a nice
appearance, the inside is flat.
I am amazed at how well the Belfast cord has held up after almost 55 years. it is a shame that all of the manufacturers of Belfast
Cord have gone out of business. There is nothing out there that can match it for sennate or square knotting.
Jack Cross BM2 (USN ret)
Thanks, Boats!
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Chief Petty Officer's Hat box decoration by Chief Boatswain's Mate
David Considine, USCG (O.I.C. of Chatam MA USCG Facility.)
"This is the anchor I made for my Chief's Initiation hat box. I
basically tied the rope anchor that is the frontispiece of the
'Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work' by Graumont and
Hensel. Since the Coast Guard Chief's Anchor has the shield I had
originally planned on making the shield overlay the anchor. That
was almost impossible... I ended up cutting the shank of the anchor
in two and used a wood cutout of the shield to place in between the
new top and bottom. For the shield I used several different sennits
and straight ropes."
David Considine, USCG (O.I.C. of Chatam MA USCG Facility.)
"This is the anchor I made for my Chief's Initiation hat box. I
basically tied the rope anchor that is the frontispiece of the
'Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work' by Graumont and
Hensel. Since the Coast Guard Chief's Anchor has the shield I had
originally planned on making the shield overlay the anchor. That
was almost impossible... I ended up cutting the shank of the anchor
in two and used a wood cutout of the shield to place in between the
new top and bottom. For the shield I used several different sennits
and straight ropes."
| ................................................................................................................................................................................... |
2006-05-12: More from ChiefConsidine...
"I had done this for my brother ten years
ago while underway on a Coast Guard
Cutter. He had received the harpoon from a
friend and asked if I could put some fancy
work on it. Looking through Ashley I found
what he had for Harpoon fancywork. I
didn't want to drill through the wood so I did
the best to secure the trail line in
accordance with the pictures in Ashley
(#2062 and 2063) making the mount on the
handle rather than the actual iron. "
"I had done this for my brother ten years
ago while underway on a Coast Guard
Cutter. He had received the harpoon from a
friend and asked if I could put some fancy
work on it. Looking through Ashley I found
what he had for Harpoon fancywork. I
didn't want to drill through the wood so I did
the best to secure the trail line in
accordance with the pictures in Ashley
(#2062 and 2063) making the mount on the
handle rather than the actual iron. "
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| 2 |
| 4 |
| 1 |
| 3 |
| 5 |
| 6 |
(6): A Boatswain's Call (whistle) that would have been suspended from the lanyards. (The instrument is a
"Call"... the tunes played on it are the "Pipes"...only a lubber refers to the instrument as "A boatswain's
pipe".) (Here's an explanation of the instrument written by a Dutchman in Australia about the RN call...)
"Call"... the tunes played on it are the "Pipes"...only a lubber refers to the instrument as "A boatswain's
pipe".) (Here's an explanation of the instrument written by a Dutchman in Australia about the RN call...)
Playing around with the site has given Boats Cross the impetus to
do some more stuff! Here we have (clockwise) a sample portion of
a square-knot belt, a ringbolt or "Spanish" coxcomb capped by two
three-strand turksheads, two more Boatswain's Call lanyards and
a detail of the seventeen-braid sennit he used to make 'em, a
knotboard he made for a reunion of the USS Manuel and a larger
knotboard replacing the one at upper left, which got "appropriated"
by a nephew. He wrote and cussed me out for getting him back into
the "game".... well, I'm just pleased as punch that he is back and is
doing more stuff... his lanyards are just finer 'n froghair.
There's a tutorial by Bud Brewer on the 17-strand sennit that is
similar to the method Jack used here. It's at the Tutorials pages.
do some more stuff! Here we have (clockwise) a sample portion of
a square-knot belt, a ringbolt or "Spanish" coxcomb capped by two
three-strand turksheads, two more Boatswain's Call lanyards and
a detail of the seventeen-braid sennit he used to make 'em, a
knotboard he made for a reunion of the USS Manuel and a larger
knotboard replacing the one at upper left, which got "appropriated"
by a nephew. He wrote and cussed me out for getting him back into
the "game".... well, I'm just pleased as punch that he is back and is
doing more stuff... his lanyards are just finer 'n froghair.
There's a tutorial by Bud Brewer on the 17-strand sennit that is
similar to the method Jack used here. It's at the Tutorials pages.
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
1st Sgt Michael Sink USMC is stationed in the eastern part of the US and has been doing some fancywork as well.... I'm pleased to
say that he figured out how to do the split turkshead from this here very site, so don;t nobody never say ya' can't teach a Grunt nothin'!
Although, in fairness, he DID pick this up all by himself, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for some Squiddy-types I knew (and
know!) Mike....ahhhh, FIRST SERGEANT...that's some pretty nice work! Got any more like them there at home?
Going across:
Mike's first helm: a damn nice job! Then a paddle which has some arcane meaning to a Marine that us non- Marines will never know
about. I think it's like the Masons.... Then a detail of the helm, showing a St. Mary's coxcomb running into a split six-strand turkshead
and coming out as a Spanish coxcomb (or ringbolthitch) and finally a side view of the split turkshead.... Good On Yer, Mate!
say that he figured out how to do the split turkshead from this here very site, so don;t nobody never say ya' can't teach a Grunt nothin'!
Although, in fairness, he DID pick this up all by himself, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for some Squiddy-types I knew (and
know!) Mike....ahhhh, FIRST SERGEANT...that's some pretty nice work! Got any more like them there at home?
Going across:
Mike's first helm: a damn nice job! Then a paddle which has some arcane meaning to a Marine that us non- Marines will never know
about. I think it's like the Masons.... Then a detail of the helm, showing a St. Mary's coxcomb running into a split six-strand turkshead
and coming out as a Spanish coxcomb (or ringbolthitch) and finally a side view of the split turkshead.... Good On Yer, Mate!
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
New addition from Sgt. Sink: another paddle handle, but
THIS one is a doozy: he's managed to do square-knotting
AROUND the shaft of the paddle. This is not only tough to get
even, but sizing the knotting so as to be tight to the surface
while retaining the orientation of the square-knots shews a
fine touch and skill with paracord! Nice turks- heads as well!
Ah, well... the Navy's loss was the USMC's gain!
THIS one is a doozy: he's managed to do square-knotting
AROUND the shaft of the paddle. This is not only tough to get
even, but sizing the knotting so as to be tight to the surface
while retaining the orientation of the square-knots shews a
fine touch and skill with paracord! Nice turks- heads as well!
Ah, well... the Navy's loss was the USMC's gain!
| ................................................................................................................................... |
Retired HM1 (Corpsman) Mark Lemke seems to have also been bitten by the "paddle bug", possibly as a result of patching up
all those holes in Marines from dodging about with the FMF (Fleet Marine Force). He has done some very nice stuff and you can
see some of them below. Also, there is a small knotboard which shows that ALL the "Navy" didn't wear off him, after all.
All the paddle handles are done in what looks to be "550" (Paracord) in many colours and finished with turksheads. As I said
before, I'm not really sure of the significance of the "wrought paddle"... perhaps it's so the recipient can make it to his next
station, regardless of the travelling conditions? Perhaps something to do with disciplining Gnus?
For those who don't know, the Corpsman is the "Medic" for the Marine Corps and possibly the only Navy person most Marines
will treat as an equal. They bloody well better, innit?
all those holes in Marines from dodging about with the FMF (Fleet Marine Force). He has done some very nice stuff and you can
see some of them below. Also, there is a small knotboard which shows that ALL the "Navy" didn't wear off him, after all.
All the paddle handles are done in what looks to be "550" (Paracord) in many colours and finished with turksheads. As I said
before, I'm not really sure of the significance of the "wrought paddle"... perhaps it's so the recipient can make it to his next
station, regardless of the travelling conditions? Perhaps something to do with disciplining Gnus?
For those who don't know, the Corpsman is the "Medic" for the Marine Corps and possibly the only Navy person most Marines
will treat as an equal. They bloody well better, innit?
Go HERE for some pictures of fancyworked handrails aboard the
USS Zuni/USCGC Tamaroa!
USS Zuni/USCGC Tamaroa!