Tuesday 15 March 2011

Net Making Tools (p1)

Here are a selection of the tools I have made for net making, Including Mesh Sticks/Gauges, Portable bench or table clamps. and various pieces to make life a little easier. Click on the pictures to see them full size.

Mesh Sticks/Gauges.

I have made many sets of Mesh Sticks in various materials including Wood, Plexi Glass, Steel and Stainless Steel.

Below is my current favorite set of gauges, these are made from a selection of Strainless Steel sheet, recycled Bandsaw blades and Steel crate banding, the four on the left are made from 1.4mm Stainless Steel sheet, the top three on the right are made from the back portion of  bandsaw blades which is 0.9mm thick, the next one down and the bottom one are made from Steel Banding which is 0.63mm thick, with the two remaining made from the 0.9mm bandsaw blade, the length of most of my gauges is 130mm (5") this I find the best and most comfortable size for most uses. the last one in the set is only 75mm (3") long. the widths vary from 6mm up to 53mm in this set and all the corners are rounded.


This next set is made from hard Plexiglass; about 2.7mm thick, this was one of the first sets I made; and it was a chore to shape them as are all are feathered to a fine edge on both faces.
these vary in width from 25 - 65mm  the largest one being 150mm long the rest are 130mm long.


This next set is one from Jann's in the US, I bought a couple of these just to check out what was commercially available.
The gauges are molded from plastic, all the gauges are 150mm long and vary in width from 17-73mm.
the edges of the gauges are rounded but the corners a still pretty square, these are cheap and chearful and great if you don't want to; or can't make your own gauges.


These next gauges are some I made for use during Net Making workshops, these are all made from 0.63mm Steel banding, are 130mm in length and 32mm in width, the blue black colour is from heat treating and can either be left as is; or polished as in the second from last gauge in the picture. this and the last one are 19mm in width.


These next two Mahogany gauges are all that are left from a batch I made as workshop hand outs, off cuts from making my Sailmakers Bench, these are 41mm in width; and are tapered to a thin edge across the whole width.


The last is a set of spare gauges, the first two being rather thick 2mm  Stainless Steel sheet which were a  little heavy to use for any lenth of time. the next few are some of the workshop gauges which have been polished up, some Bandsaw blade gauges, Stainless Steel Strapping, and a guage made from Ash which has an eliptical form across the width.


Portable Bench Clamps.

I made these clamps so that I would be able to make nets or hold work shops any where without having to worry about finding places to attach the net being made.

Here you can see how a  a bag net is attached to the clamp using a swivel attchment and Stainless Steel button. the leather chaffing pieces are slid over the Stainless Steel post and are screwed to the clamp.


Here is a double screwed clamp, this one I now use as the base for my Netted Xmas Tree.


Net Making Buttons.

For want of a better name, these buttons are used by inserting the the button and loop though a grommet starting ring of meshes, and hold the net whilst making a cylindrical bag net, the use of a swivel makes for ease of netting.



A Cast Net Making loop.

This wire loop and adustable length lanyard; I used when making a cast net.
All of the starting meshes are held on the wire loop, which can swivel around as you net, the small cam cleat holds the line at any length, and the lanyard is shortened as the Cast Net body grows in lengh.


More To Follow.

Take care,
Barry ;-)

5 comments:

Rita said...

I love the swivel aspect of your net making buttons. I called my creations "anchors" and used string or thread and a bead. It would be nice to get some standardized terms.

The wire loop and adjustable length lanyard is also a great idea. Now if I can just find the time and parts to make my own.

Knotty Bear said...

How Do Rita,
Thank you kindly for your comments, much appreciated.
I aslo have many pieces of twine with either beads or just simple knots in the end too; which I use for smaller pieces of netting.
The reason I chose the name buttons over anything else is due to G.A Stevens description in his book "Nets How To Make, Mend and Preserve Them" he shows and describes making the item using a length of twine and an ordinary button, he calls this device a "Toggle" but I figured Button would have been a better decription because of the object used.
Your use of the word anchor would cover any item used; so is a good all round choice.

As for finding the time to make the tools, I have built up my collection over several years and did all the making at my old job during quiet times.

Take care,
Barry ;-)

Spicoli said...

I really like your blog, and I can't wait for a writeup/tutorial on your Hybrid Hammock.

Sylvia Hope said...

Yes,
When are you going to let us in on your art form? Love your work. want to be doing that myself.
Sylvia.....Thanks.

Knotty Bear said...

So much to do and so little time :-)
Hopefully some day before my time runs out I will find a quiet moment to enlighten you.

Take care,
Barry ;-)