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How to braid the Egyptian sling ? (Read 3702 times)
krippp
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How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Jul 1st, 2004 at 7:36pm
 
Hello everyone. You have a great site here. I found it accidentally a bit over a week ago, and after reading the articles and some more information about slings, I couldn't stop myself from creating and trying them when I went to my summer cabin for 6 days.
During my time at the summer cabin, it took me two days to realize that with the material I had with me, sewing the pouch to the cords was simply the only way to effectively use the sling without any unwanted side effects, for exampe, the sling 'eating' the stone. I created a total of about a dozen different slings during the time at the summer cabin, all using a pouch made of leather taken from an old leather jacket. Now I'm back home, and would want to create the kind of a sling that I wanted to do from the beginning, but just didn't know how to. The sling I mean is the ancient Egyptian braided sling that looks so simple and crude, but still so beautiful and stable.

Here's a picture of what I mean:
...

Today I noticed that 'Paul' had actually made a sling like that, because there were pictures of it in the gallery. Here's one of those pictures:
...


So, does anyone know a good guide on making a sling (especially the pouch) like that, or could someone maybe even create a short guide themselves ? I've tried to search for any guides from this forum, from the articles and the links on the main site, and with google, and so far haven't really found anything useful. Of course I could try to create an improvised braided pouch, but I'm afraid that it would simply be a big waste of string, and that's why I'm asking you.  Wink
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #1 - Jul 1st, 2004 at 9:42pm
 
Sling Braiding of the Andes. Good book about braiding slings. It is not however about egyptian slings just peruian. You could still learn a great deal from this book. You can get it for under $20 (former topic). Good luck and hopfully the other people can help you better than i can.
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krippp
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #2 - Jul 2nd, 2004 at 11:50am
 
Hmm... I could actually buy that book. It's just that I can't seem to find it here where I live (Finland). Or at least not in any of the online catalogs of the biggest Finnish bookshops. Undecided Then of course I could order it from a foreign bookshop... Just not sure which one. I've found places that sell the book as expensive as $100, and then I've found places that sell it for $12,90, but to order from them, I would actually have to send them a letter via normal mail. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy it, then ?  ???
(And of course a guide to braid the egyptian sling is still welcome) Wink
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ZaQ
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #3 - Jul 2nd, 2004 at 1:22pm
 
krippp,

You could try www.amazon.com

They have a HUGE variety of books.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #4 - Jul 2nd, 2004 at 1:25pm
 
Ok, the whole is not so much so much braided as woven; the cords are of course braided, I think it is something like an eight strand braid.  This is not so difficult to learn, just search on the internet.  Difficult to describe.  Anyway, the important part is the pouch.  weaving equipment: a comb, and a stick.  This is the easiest way to begin weaving, the way the iroquois used to do it, and is ideal for small things.  Make sure that the stick will be bend like a bow.  Tie the cords to each end of the stick (only one side will be braided, the other will naturally have to wait until after the pouch is completed) so that the cord is under some tension.  Put the comb in between the cords; on a fine comb, the spacing between the strands should be about three or maybe four of the spikey bits.  Make sure they separate nice and easy.  Maybe a bit of blu-tac to hold the strands in place, and you should be ready to weave.  Take one of the strands out of the comb, and weave up and down between the remaining strands, as tight as you can.  Once you get to the comb at the middle, take another comb and put in the same place as the original comb.  Then take the original comb and place it in the weave, behind where it was before.  Then remove the second comb.  The original diamond shape will remain, so you can complete the weave.  Then remove the whole proto-sling from the "bow" and finish off the braiding.  That, I think, is the easiest way to do it.  If you can find your way through my muddled instructions.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #5 - Jul 2nd, 2004 at 7:45pm
 
Sling braiding of the andes for 12.95 from www.unicornbooks.com. The person email me and said they have plenty of copies in brand new condition. I have bought one book from this company. I imagine if you explain you cituation they would be more than willing to help you get your book. They might also have japanse braiding book from the texts resources for sell there too.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #6 - Jul 3rd, 2004 at 2:57pm
 
I've now made a test sling out of wool, thanks to the extra confidence given by english's "muddled instructions".  Wink
The sling looks quite nice, when you remember that it's my first fully braided/woven sling. Tomorrow I'm going to buy some hemp cord, to make an even more authentic looking sling. And hemp is also strong enough, so that I could actually dare to use the sling when it's finished.  Smiley Tomorrow I could also email the people at unicornbooks.com to see if they could sell me the 'Sling Braiding Of The Andes'.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #7 - Jul 7th, 2004 at 10:49am
 
I have had an opportunity to examine the Petrie museum sling up-close and personal. The photo at the top of this thread is one of mine. I have many notes and extra photos, so I may be able to help you further. I intend to attempt my own reconstruction just as soon as I can find the time! All I have so far is a few trial pieces. The original is beautifully made.

The sling was reconstructed by Burgess way back in the 50's. His reconstruction is also at the museum - it appears in some of my photos in the gallery here:

    http://www.slinging.org/gallery2.html

These photos don't show the finger loop clearly. I have found reproducing the finger loop particularly tricky.

Burgess' very detailed paper was published here:

    Burgess, EM 1958 An Ancient Egyptian Sling Reconstructed.
    Journal of the Arms and Armour Society 2.10 June: 226-30.   

With a supplementary note here:

    King, F H 1960 A Note on The Square Sinnet,
    Journal of the Arms and Armour Society 3.7 September: 187

You can get these from the British Library for a small fee.

The sling has also been reconstructed by Thom Richardson. The following article discusses his experiences:

    The Ballistics of The Sling, Thom Richardson,
    Royal Armouries Yearbook, Vol 3, 1998. pp44-49.

You can get this book from the Royal Armouries, Leeds, UK. See here:

    http://www.armouries.org.uk/

There is a shop and a photocopying service. 

The text of Richarsons article appears here:

    http://www.slinging.org/25.html

I have not checked to see how complete this version is, but I see that Richardson's pictures have been replaced by mine!

The sling is almost certainly flax (I said in another thread that it was hemp but that was not right, although hemp would produce a very similar result). The braiding of the arms is a 12-strand eliptical sinnet with some fancy work for the finger loop. The end of the other arm is missing. The cradle seems to have been woven rather braided, Burgess made a diamond shape loom (which also appears in some photos). Although the loom is speculative, the resulting reconstruction is indeed very much like the original.

For more help and/or exchange of information, please contact me directly.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #8 - Jul 7th, 2004 at 11:20am
 
Quote:
For more help and/or exchange of information, please contact me directly.


No no no! Add any and all wisdom to the collective. I for one (and guarantee not only) will find any exchange of info on this type of sling construction interesting - no matter how seemingly mundane!

Matthias
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #9 - Jul 7th, 2004 at 1:04pm
 
Yes, please.  Although I realize that it may be a bother for some folks to keep checking the forum, I (and others, I think) greatly appreciate any and all braiding/weaving info.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #10 - Jul 7th, 2004 at 4:37pm
 
I want to thank Gaius for his help in providing me with photos and material with which I can attempt my own construction. But it may have to wait some time as I continue to create Roman kit (both Gaius and I are Roman re-enactors in the UK)!

Looking forward to slinging that first authentic Egyptian stone ...!
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #11 - Jul 8th, 2004 at 10:55am
 
Quote:
No no no! Add any and all wisdom to the collective. I for one (and guarantee not only) will find any exchange of info on this type of sling construction interesting - no matter how seemingly mundane!

Matthias


The trouble is, I have access to copyright material that I cannot post, lots of photos and uncollated notes. But I do want to help. I can be contacted at graham.cole@bt.com.
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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #12 - Jul 8th, 2004 at 12:08pm
 
Understood. You were very fortunate in being able to examine the sling in person. It is nice when museums do actually fufill their purpose of preserving and sharing knowledge. The push for privitisation (and the subsequent focus on cost and "efficiency") is eroding such access in many places.

I hope that you are documenting your reconstruction with lots of photos (even of your samplers - mistakes are info too!)! Do you find that you are working more from the photos or the written info?

Maybe it is just the photos but doen't it look like the original carries more "frame" cords in the sides of the cradle than the reconstruction? It looks like you probably have quite a few high quality photos of your own to base your stuff on.

Look forward to your report! I have a nice big ball of hand spun linen sitting here with this project's name written all over it...

Matthias

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Re: How to braid the Egyptian sling ?
Reply #13 - Jul 9th, 2004 at 8:03am
 
I have always found Museums in the UK to be very helpful provided that they know you are taking a serious interest. A little patience is generally required, it can take a while to get in touch with the right person and nothing seems to happen very quickly. I think it must be the case that all the large museums in the UK are publicly owned or owned by a university, I have never had to deal with a private museum.

The Petrie Museum is a part of the University College London, they set aside Mondays for students and invitees – the Museum is closed to the public on Mondays. If you go on a public day, the sling is on display in a glass cabinet and you can even borrow a torch (flashlight) to get a better view!
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