Adventures with Apprentices

[T Collins]

"A knot is either exactly right or hopelessly wrong, make only one change and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result." Ashley Book of Knots.
I believe that I understood about a third of Kenny's lesson. In the world of knots 33% there is 100% failure. After this I'm convinced I must crack the books and grab a hank, because I have got to study, practice and learn.
Thanks.

 

[T Collins]

This one is called "Getting the Cart Before the Horse" or "All Bark and No Bite". It was 2004 I had just harvested a bunch of Ohia on the island of Hawaii and was hired to build a series of antique Hawaiian style timber frame structures on 15 private waterfront acres. I had an apprentice 4 years my junior, I was only 25 so you can imagine that we worked like we were going to conquer the world. I was so naive and sought out to complete a 4 year project at a brutal pace. The money was great and I was grateful. I got to ply the trade that my dad taught me and in Hawaii no less. I was knocking most of the wood out of the notches and jointery with a chainsaw. We had dozens of loops of chain and multiple saws. The moment that a chain would dull I would holler for a new saw. My apprentice would clamber up the scaffolding with saw in hand and swap me out. It was hot as hell and I was hot on it. I laid into the timber to finish a blind mortise and tenon joint, but goddammit why won't this chain cut?!? It didn't take me long to see that my apprentice put the loop of chain on the saw backwards. I ran my hand over the backwards chain and got an idea. I called my apprentice over and started talking to him. Amidst the conversation I drop started my saw. I stood on the scaffolding still talking to him just loudly, hanging the saw from the rear handle, finger on the throttle slowly picking up revs chain spinning all the while. Accelerating the saw and raising my voice higher. Until I brushed the running saw against my leg and feigned a fall to the scaffold deck screaming bloody murder. That kid looked like he was about to whistle beef! I almost died laughing, shut the saw off and told him to put the chain on the right way. He is a real deal journeyman timber framers' guild member now in Bellingham, WA!! BTW that's how pro jugglers juggle chainsaws, with the chain on backwards.

 

[ruel]

How does one whistle beef?

 

[T Collins]

It's vomiting, but I suppose it could be case of the green apple quick step if one ate some rancid meat. Bad meat can give you a real case of the backdoor trots or as my sons would say since they were 5&6 respectively, "making numbers 3",

"oh yeah boys what is that?" Asked 29yr old me

"It's when you make a number 1 out your 2 chute," answer my little boys

Life is perfect when your children can be vulgar and never have to swear.

 

[ruel]

Lol, glad I asked!

 

[T Collins]

To original scenario (after stealing Blacksmith pic)
Clove is a continuous direction crossed turns on host,
Of "Double Bearing" , so can accommodate some side loading/ doesn't require right angle grab to host.
Can walk like doubled version: 2/2 Taut Line that needs mechanical stop/stopper.
These pull at side tho.
.
So even if double Half Hitch Clove to Standing Part as stopper strategy distorts Clove strength by pulling more from center, so problematic .
.
i favor choker sling, Cow + 2Half Hitches, Round Turn + 2. But not Clove w/o Half Hitch preceding and dbl.stopper chaser to get stop and center pull w/o distorting Clove.
Continuous turns want to walk or tighten to stopper.
Backhand Hitch type : Cow (both legs thru off host crossing of Backhand Turn) walk less due to counter torque(theory) but still should be stopped 2xHalf Hitches, and don't tighten as hard to this backstop. Choker is closed Cow w/o stopper. Even inwards Clove type continuous half's after a turn on host (Buntline) tighten harder as thet walk than similar 'innie' opposing halfs (Lobster Buoy).
.
Right angle pull on anchor/rail or HORIZONTALLY hanging load, is the ONLY single/simple angle of pull, and only type pull that should get simplest, single arc on host opposing load pull. Any other projected angle of pull is then complex by comparison, and as like should get at least 2arcs on host directly opposing load pull direction as a compound/non-single/more complex solution allowance to a complexities angle pull beyond simplest right angle.

So I sat myself down and studied and can now really appreciate this post. Thanks I have been reading your "rope" thread quite a bit too.