I like the 8 strand herringbone braid because it’s unique in appearance, easy to produce, and easy to customize.
First off, it has a square cross section. Most things made from cordage are either flat like the Solomon Bar (cobra stitch) or round like the snake knot.
Secondly, because you are working with 8 strands, there are a lot of ways to play with your colors.
Continue reading “8 Strand Herringbone Braid exploration.”Transform the classic paracord cobra stitch into a vibrant accessory with creative color combinations and unique knotting variations.
All the cool paracord kids call it the cobra stitch. Ashley calls it the Solomon Bar (ABOK 2496). In any case, it’s simple & fast to tie and makes a great sized lanyard or bracelet.
But it’s boring AF. So I had to see about making it fancy.
Continue reading “Embellishing the cobra stitch/ Solomon’s bar.”I’m going to try to document this build a bit more thoroughly than I did with the drill press cabinet.
Step one is to cut the main pieces out. I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid enough to try to wrangle a sheet of 3/4” plywood onto my portable table saw.
I use a circular saw to cut the pieces slightly oversized out of the 4×8 sheet. Then over to the table saw to cut them to the exact size.
Make sure you keep track of which parts are which.
Continue reading “Band saw cabinet build”So I wanted to be able to safely drill into the end of a piece of round stock, but couldn’t figure out a decent way to hold my work that kept my fingers away from sharp steel bits spinning at high speeds.
Then I went to Harbor Freight and found this cradle vice.
But now I need to be able to secure the vice to the drill press table and the hole on the vice don’t line up with the holes on the table at all.
A piece of 3/4 plywood will allow me to put holes anywhere I want to, so I grab a a scrap and cut it to match the table.
Continue reading “Adding cradle vise to the drill press”There’s tons of old tools sitting in people’s basements & garages. Tools that granddad or dad used to use, but that the current generation doesn’t have time or space for. Once people learn that you enjoy restoring and using old tools, they start being offered to you, as most people would rather see their tools being used than collecting dust & turning to rust.
A buddy of mine is retiring and moving into a condo. Last week at a party he asked me if I wanted his grandfather’s lathe.
Continue reading “Free Lathe”I noticed recently that when Plan A goes all pear shaped, Plan B usually does as well.
I end up going with Plan C.
Continue reading “Plan C”Sorry, this one happened too quickly for pictures. Seriously, once I started tying it just flew between my fingers.
The band saw project was almost as much electrical work as wood work. I replaced the power cord & switch for the saw and added lighting .
Continue reading “Band saw cabinet electrical”I’ve been playing with rope/cord/line for my entire life. Sometimes more successfully than others. After making the lanyard for my wife’s cane, I decided that my hat needed some color as well.
So I started playing with paracord and wanted to do some experiments with color.
This is an eight* strand herringbone braid in two colors. I find it interesting how changing the order of the colors changes the overall appearance of the project.
So far, the eight strand herringbone braid is my favorite braid. The biggest reason is that when it’s evenly tensioned, the finished braid is square in cross section. It’s quite striking visually and feels very interesting.
Continue reading “8 Strand Herringbone Braid Variations.”
Modern Anachronist 