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Netted
Sling Instructions - Matthias Borstad |
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article describes the basic technique of net making
applied to the construction of fibre sling pouches.
Advantages of the net pouch include ease of construction,
perfect “cupping” of the projectile, and low “sail”
area to catch the wind. Once you are familiar with the
basic steps, it is easy to work this style of pouch
construction into various designs and braid patterns.
The approach shown here is probably the simplest - and
it allows you to quickly put together a very serviceable
and elegant sling. Some variations I’ve worked up are
at the end of the article… I look forward to seeing
other’s efforts!
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This sling carries twelve strands throughout. I’ve used
two colours of fishing twine here, but the idea is adaptable
to most sling making materials including: sisal/jute,
polyester kite string, wool, embroidery cotton, Kevlar
and more. Both twines in my example are close to 2mm diameter,
which is about the largest that I’d want to use with this
design.
Measure out at least two “armspans” (about 12 feet or
3.7m) of twine for a 24” (31cm) sling. It is much better
to err on the long side! You’ll need 6 strands total,
since we’ll be doubling them at the retention loop. I’m
using three strands of each colour here to try to make
it easier to see what is going on. I strongly recommend
looking at Dan Bollinger’s Making a braided sling: An
illustrated guide if you are unfamiliar with three strand
braided slings.
To make a finger loop, find the middle of the six strands
and mark a spot about 3” (76mm) out. I like to use a twist-tie
to hold the strands together at this point. Alternatively
you can tie a knot. Flat braid the six strands for 5-6”
(125-150mm), forming the ribbon that will fold over to
form the loop.
Once the loop is braided, untie your twist-tie and match
the ends up strand for strand. Divide the 12 strands into
three groups of four, taking 2 strands from both ends
of the braided section for each.
Braid the retention cord using a simple three strand braid,
using what Dan describes as a “rolled” or round braid.
For this sling, I’ve braided about 19” (48cm). If you
are making a longer sling, remember that the braid eats
length, so you’ll need to keep plenty of unbraided twine
free. When you get to the pouch, divide your 12 strands
into two groups of three and one of six. Take one strand
from each of the original groups of four to make up the
side braids of the pouch. If you are careful about this,
you can separate them quite neatly from the rest - in
my example I’ve taken the green twine to be the frame
of the pouch. Braid each of these for 6-7” (15-18cm) and
secure the ends again.
Now comes the fun part!
Netting is easy once you get the hang of it. Watch Greek
fishermen mending their nets for a knot speed tying clinic.
Before machines took over, traditional diamond mesh nets
used to be made by hand using a netting needle to hold
twine and a mesh stick to gauge the size of the meshes.
The mesh in the sling is too tight for a needle, so you’ll
have to thread the knots by drawing the entire length
through each mesh. The mesh stick assures consistency,
but isn't necessary at this scale - you’ll quickly learn
to judge the correct size.
The first and last rows of meshes are formed by looping
the twine trough the edge of the frame braids. I’ve counted
3 full braids (or edge turns) between loops, passing the
net twine through the fourth braid. You can use a fid
(or a pencil/knitting needle etc.) to help open the braid
enough to slip it through. If you have trouble with the
ends fraying, either melt them a bit or use a little masking
tape to put a point on the end.
The size of the loops determines how deep / wide the pouch
will be. Keeping in mind that the knots will use up a
surprisingly large amount of twine, I find it is best
to make each loop a little more than a semicircle worth.
You’ll need to do both edges like this. If you’ve braided
the frames a little unevenly, skip or add a braid so that
the positions of the loops more or less match up for each
side. Those of you who are paying attention to details
are probably noticing that I’m going to end up using more
of the blue twine. If you can think far enough ahead,
you might want to compensate at the beginning. I find
it easier to just make sure to leave enough extra and
trim to length after the sling is done. When I try to
get too clever I usually end up short!
The second row is netted onto the first using Sheet bends.
When tied in a net they are known by various names, including
Netting Knot, Weaver's Knot, Mesh Knot... They can be
tied a few different ways, depending mostly on what village
or island you grew up on.
The drawings describe the process better than I can. Using
the technique shown is quite a lot faster and more accurate
than methodically tying individual sheet bends the way
most people are taught. The mesh stick (shown with the
hanging meshes looped around) gives you nice even meshes,
but it is easy to size them by eye. Care must be taken
when drawing the knot tight to avoid "capsizing"
the knot - each knot should look like a 3 petal pinwheel
when tied correctly.
I highly recommend practicing with larger meshes and twine
(rope even) before tackling a sling pocket - it will go
much smoother.
The first and last meshes of the second row are a little
tricky because they start at a point. Try to keep the
bar joining into the release cord tight - we won’t be
netting into these ones.
The third row is the same, except that we skip the first
mesh (the tight one). Don’t worry about the loose ends
- we’ll deal with them when we braid the release cord.
Next net the other side the same way. You’ll notice that
to keep the knots looking the same, you’ll need to mirror
the way you tie the knots. This is because you are netting
right to left instead of left to right like the diagram.
If you always loop the twine under the hanging mesh in
the direction opposite the way you are netting, it will
work out! If it doesn’t, it isn’t a big deal… the knots
will hold either way.
When you get to the last strand of twine, you need to
net back and forth between the two sides to join them
down the middle. If you’ve figured out the knot direction
trick, make sure to tie them the appropriate way. Those
of you on my case earlier have probably just noticed that
this particular blue strand is going to end up even shorter…
The rest is easy! Just redistribute the twelve strands
into the original three groups of four and braid away.
You can adjust the tension in the net a little during
the first couple of braids to even things out. If you
flip the sling over at this point, the two cords will
have their “chevrons” mirror image on either side of the
pouch. This helps shape the pouch as it has a slight tendency
to curl toward the side with the braid pointing away from
the pouch.
Tie a release knot or knots, and go try out your new sling!
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You can use the same idea with lots of different twists.
This design has relatively bulky cords - if you join strands
for the pocket, you can make them thinner. It is also
possible to net the pouch using only one strand of twine
worked back and forth, or even in a spiral. Vary the number
of meshes, or the width of the frame to suit your fancy.
Here are some other variations, with more in the gallery!
“Traditional” sling made with jute garden twine (sold
as sisal - don’t ask me why) to the same pattern. I really
like this one!
This pouch is one! piece of lead core braided fishing
line that has been worked “Turk’s Head” fashion in the
round (including the tricky braided crossovers at each
end) before netting with the same unbroken strand. The
cords are separate pieces, and can be interchanged. Pattern?
I’ll leave this one to you to figure out!!!
- Matthias Borstad
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