http://www.realknots.com/knots/

Most knot books at the library should have good instructions. MFs are relatively easy to tie once you have the basic idea. Doing it "properly" leads to a slightly tidyer, sturdier knot, but even when the transitions between dierections are wrong the knot looks pretty good.

Like any knot, it is easier to learn practicing with large diameter rope to begin with. Something like 1/2" would be good place to start - much easier to keep track of thatn smaller twine.

Matthias

Other than using up a substantial amount of cordage, what is the knot useful for?

Ok, it does look quite a beefy knot.  I will print off that picture I think, and then practise.

thanks forthe replies, I was going to make a set of bolas out of the money fist knot.  And i'm having trouble on the third set of lopes

Once the knot is "assembled", the easiest way to tighten it is to start at one "tail" and work forward, tightening it as you go. If you aren't worrying about exactly where on the rope the knot ends up this is pretty straight forward. Trying to put the knot on the end of a line with only one cord "showing" is a little tougher, but you have to work it the same way. This isn't a knot that you can "pull" tight, you need to pull on each individual loop as you work the knot into shape. The easiest time to add a core is after the knot is tied, but before you start to tighten it. I've tied these around cores as large as tennis ball sized for heaving lines. You can increase the nuber of loops from three to four or even higher if you are trying to cover a too-big core. The 3 strand version is stable without a core.

I still think my most important suggestion is to start with BIG rope. Cheap 3/4 inch yellow nylon makes a mean monkey's fist...

Matthias

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Funniest monkey fist memory for me is from the summer that I taught sailing... One of the drills I ran was to have the class (10-16 year olds in two-man dinghys) tie their boats to a towed line using a rolling hitch (good knot! one of 5 or so really usefull ones)

The monkey fist was to catch the boats after the improperly tied rolling hitches slipped and all 10 boats slid down to the bitter end of the tow rope. I always felt bad for the guys who had done it right but had three or four boats "up-rope" from them... Everyone always had a lot of fun, and the second time around (after some more class practice - paying attention this time! the slippage rate always went waaaay down)

Now I'm stuck inside in the summer... those were the days - young guys enjoy them while you can!

Just play with it.  Pick a loose loop and tug on it lightly, making it looser, watch to see what strands are moving, then pull on those to tighten the loop you were just pulling on.  It helps if you only leave the first three loops loose, and make the other 2 sets of loops as tight as you can.