Medieval rope making with bast using a reel and a stick

[@j5300]

I feel like the struggle of trying to do something while a cat is on your lap is something that would resonate with people from across many thousands of years.

[@gatergates8813]

Sewing while my cat is in the room is almost impossible. She can't help it- if a piece of string is moving, it must be attacked

[@platedlizard]

One of my favorite medieval manuscripts has a paw print on it because a cat knocked over the ink and walked across the page Cats have been cats forever

[@michaelmoceri1118]

I've seen people using a reel like this to make rope, but no one ever stopped and explained what they were doing. Thanks for that.

[@simvrod]

Cat needs to play with string, nothing better than to see an artisan at work with his kitten👍👍

[@Donnies_lil_ding_ding]

I’ve got yucca plants in the yard that I can’t kill, but I’ve recently read they can make some decent rope fibers. So, I’m about to build this setup and take a stab at it. Thank you!

[@Just_Sara]

Hey, did you end up trying it? How did it go?

[@dce040186]

“Stab” being an appropriate word when dealing with yucca.

[@Donnies_lil_ding_ding]

@@Just_Sara I DID try it, and it worked. I abandoned the project. Because unfortunately I’ve got bigger fish to fry, but it DID work. If you have yuccas, and if you need rope, then definitely give this a shot. The small length of rope that I made is dried, still slightly green colored, and strong as all heck.

[@DaysofElijah317]

@@Donnies_lil_ding_dinghow did you extract the fibers I got one myself I might try it out on

[@Donnies_lil_ding_ding]

@ I laid them on a plank and scraped them with a steel brush. Lost a lot of fibers in the process and made a huge mess, but I got enough to make one 4 foot rope out of. Building a dedicated rake into a table would be a good investment if you intend to do more than just try it out. Also, before raking them, hammering the plants with a wood mallet broke up a lot of the juice and plant meat around the fibers. Definitely worth taking the time to help get the raking started.

[@tauIrrydah]

Oh this is delightful I've been looking for low impact activities to demonstrate at events!

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

Thank you, yes I think this would be really nice to show at events! One of the reasons for making this video was to use as a 'sales pitch' for an event next summer.

[@piccalillipit9211]

THAT was way more interesting then I expected

[@MissGroves]

I have never seen rope made like this before, only with some strange toggle things and later with a hook or crank. I have to try this way of spinning! Looks so fun and soothing

[@totocologne7824]

Excellent video. I have the highest respect for everyone who teaches me something new and practical. Thank you.

[@pegrande6545]

I have never seen this technique before, that’s simple, yet a very clever and faster than the previous form (probably) of twisting and turning by hand, thanks for sharing and love your cat XD

[@aaronburson1427]

Never seen this method before. Thanks. Mouth harp was a nice touch.

[@DigiLab360]

Came for the rope making, stayed for the kitten 😻

[@MichaelMarko]

Very labor intensive. But great job!

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

Thank you! It sure takes a lot of time to just make a few meters this way

[@glenngibson9201]

Thank you for letting your human show us how rope was made. It was entertaining and educational. 😊

[@jeffreydustin5303]

Well done, sir. Makes rope making from bast so clear. Very clever!

[@barbadoskado2769]

love rope making, it's very meditative work. common nettle also works very well

[@christopherstein2024]

Amazing cat footage

[@abcstardust]

Thank you for showing and explaining how it’s Done!! Excellent video! Cute kitten!

[@jodsvelis9819]

nice, thank you for the video! i always wondered how smaller ropes were made. all other videos were with only by hand or the big sea ropes

[@astorniit7524]

Tack! Äntligen en bra video som demonstrerar denna tekniken i mer detalj! Mycket bra jobbat

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

Tack så mycket, det var roligt att höra!

[@astorniit7524]

@@BrinkmanCrafts Om jag får fråga, hur fick du tag på bastfibrerna? Jag skulle vilja bygga en vikingabåt och det vore kul att fixa riktigt bastrep.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@astorniit7524 jag har ännu inte lyckats hitta lindbast utan använder bast från palmträd som jag köper på Hornbach. Då jag jämför det med "riktig" bast så är det förhållandevis likt.

[@astorniit7524]

@@BrinkmanCrafts intressant! Verkar det jämförbart i styrka också?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@astorniit7524jag vet tyvärr inte

[@ShotgunLlama]

I don't have access to a cat. Does it work just as well if you chew on it yourself, instead?

[@ginojaco]

Thus is far more difficult than just making twine and then doubling it to the required size. 👍

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@ginojaco yes, the resulting rope or string using this method has a much harder lay then a twine.

[@ginojaco]

@@BrinkmanCrafts In practical terms, does this outweigh the convenience of the twine method...? 🤔

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@ginojaco sometimes you need the harder lay, so yes

[@QuantumMech_88]

Thank you for a fascinating video with a beautiful cat.

[@GordonWrigley]

"it's held together by a twist"... I feel like that rather short changes the significance of the counter rotating twists in a length of rope.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@GordonWrigley Haha, you're right!

[@platedlizard]

Thank you so much! I like working with natural materials but while spinning yarn is fun for me I've always found rope to be challenging.

[@levistoner]

6:10 - RIP kitty

[@m.c.4785]

This is so much more compact and easy to understand than some of the other videos I saw that used complicated tools and/or multiple people!

[@misscdog]

My mom did this with yarn to make ties on a vest she knitted for me. She didn’t have the reel, but same technique.. cool to see this 50 years later and find out how old the method was.

[@potfur_z_bagna]

It's so delightful that your mother handcrafted a vest for you AND you remember how she created the ties 50 years later AND thanks to the wonders of the internet I can now read about it! It seems crazy that just by clicking on a video KZbin recommended to me I heard about this tiny crumb of yours and your mother's history. Life truely is wonderful.

[@jamesluebben5925]

Thank you, and thank you for not disturbing the cat.

[@werelemur1138]

What a cute helper!

[@Intelligence_Failure]

thumbs up for making rope for you cat 👍

[@foggycoast]

Mr Kitty, thank you for putting out a video showing how your cat toy was made in medieval times.

[@petejandrell4512]

The kitten represents the original use of the phrase 'You little BAST-ard!!

[@ianbruce6515]

Thank you! 👍

[@benjifiji2019]

very good demonstration

[@peacefulscrimp5183]

Great video 👍 This looks much easier than what I was doing. I will have to make one of those. You have a new subscriber 😜

[@giancarloperez9508]

🎉Wow anothere rooe making ideaa👍😍💕😊😊thank you for sahring.👌👌👌❤️

[@LoganStargazer]

I had no idea that rope could be made in this way. I may make a rig and test if it's good for twisting paracord into rope. What is the cute little grey furball's name?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@LoganStargazer you can try using paracord, but I think that will be hard. But you could use any twisted string and make stronger rope using this method. That is Matcha, she has grown into a pretty large cat since then.

[@anklebreaker648]

Thanks you for making this informative video i’d learned another technique in making rope👍🎊👍👍✌️

[@iainrussell4478]

Brilliant. Thank you

[@mrkultra1655]

Excellent, thank you

[@SamAlderDesign]

This is great, thanks.

[@thomasbentin2205]

Thanks, was looking for information like this!

[@FlintStryker]

Wonderful! Can you provide dimensions of your rope making jig. I'd like to make one. Thanks!

[@noivalencia]

Must wear also a medieval dress

[@sgg0003]

Now I understand. In the Middle Ages rope was made by cats.

[@abcstardust]

🤣😂🤣

[@DaysofElijah317]

That’s why dogs are their mortal enemies because they invented leashes

[@cayenigma]

So THAT is the famous yard-stick!

[@joseluisaltamirano1531]

wonderful!

[@juliewilborn-barth7]

We like the cat❤😊

[@kiskarakter]

Hello, could you give me a reference for the 1350 crank you show at 0:32 please? Thanks in advance

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

Sure, but this is just a textual reference and the image shows what I understand as the same kind of crank. In the article 'Zukunft der Seilerei' Weber 1971 writes about a will from a Ropemaker in Lübeck where they are listed.

[@kiskarakter]

@@BrinkmanCrafts Thanks. Where is the image from then?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@kiskarakterI'm sorry for being unclear. That image and the next was just to distinguish between nongeared and geared cranks.

[@kiskarakter]

@@BrinkmanCrafts I see, I just thought maybe you could help me find references from the 14th century for non-geared cranks. I'd like to make one, and it would be nice to be able to verify it with some real proof of how it looked back then, but it turned out to be very difficult. I hoped that the one one the image may be a real finding from the age, or at least a close one.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@kiskarakter yes it's really hard to find these early references! I honestly do not think we know how they looked backed then. The earliest depicture is, in my knowledge, from 1420 drive.google.com/file/d/1n5KOEtVk6OpUkJ6dvfSFNp76UQWdbPea/view?usp=drivesdk

[@AdamBechtol]

Nice, thanks.

[@kirielpapillon9169]

Thanks!

[@AdmiralStoicRum]

Have you considered doing a softening process for your rooes?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@AdmiralStoicRum kind of, what softening processes are you thinking of?

[@AdmiralStoicRum]

@BrinkmanCrafts buenas kind of like wailing it and drying it by stretching it across a board or something for a couple of days, then basically running it through some kind of loop or hook and then wrapping the rope around itself a couple of times and kind of doing a sort of sawing motion and working your way the full length of the rope and then torching the fuzzies off and then rubbing some oil onto it.

[@AdmiralStoicRum]

Not too much oil

[@epicnamepwns1242]

Dunno why the algorithm would show me this now, but I think I'm going to attempt spinning some strips of salvaged fabric into cordage if I can come up with a reel. I might try it with old yarn as well and be alert to what natural fibers might be growing unappreciated, too.

[@theodoretusbreen2841]

This is fascinating. How long does it take you to produce, say, 5 meters?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

It's the first part, the spinning, that takes most of the time and five meters would take me at least a full work day. But I guess a professional rope twister was quicker.

[@Apostate_ofmind]

Note: the kitty is integral to the process.

[@regular-joe]

Thank you for not editing out the kitten.

[@THErealLOWTEQ]

Stopped leaving how to make rope and started learning how to entertain a kitty 😂😂😂

[@jwrightgardening]

Did you make this reel yourself? When I try to Google it, I just find fishing reels or more complicated looking yarn skeiners.

[@jwrightgardening]

I've only ever made cordage by hand twisting and I'd like to try to use a simple machine like this.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@jwrightgardening Yes I made it. But I actually have not used it this year but started to hand twist instead to get a more even result

[@JamesLaChance1]

It is my understanding that in ropemaking "countertwisting" is important, which is twisting the rope together in the opposite direction that you twist the individual yarns. Pretty much anywhere you look up rope mentions this countertwist and its importance. Yet this method and making rope with a spinning club seem to work even though they spin the whole rope and the individual yarns the same way. Is countertwist not that important? Or is this type of rope weaker in some way than countertwisted rope? Even if it is weaker it's still a very useful method for making rope since you can do it alone and indoors. Also the fact that you can even start with fibers and feed them in as you go which seems harder/impossible using the rope walk method which I've only really seen used starting from yarns, I've never seen it used to wind the yarns themselves.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@JamesLaChance1 yes, counter twisting as you call it is very important as the rope would otherwise unravel. This rope has S twisted strands while the rope is Z twisted.

[@JamesLaChance1]

So like at 1:54 when you have the two sections of fibers; aren't the two sections being twisted counterclockwise individually and twisted counterclockwise together? I do see what you mean at around 5:47 now though. I saw the machine still turning counterclockwise and was confused but now I see that that's twisting the strands together clockwise since you're working your way back towards the machine. And then that makes sense why you turn the machine clockwise when you add in the third strand and are working back towards yourself.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@JamesLaChance1 yes, it's quite confusing until you really look into it! When doing it yourself it all feels natural which way you should turn as it just simply does not work if you twist the wrong way

[@patrickbollinger774]

Is a swimming cap necessary?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@patrickbollinger774 Knights wore similar padded ones under their helmets and this civilian version was popular to look cool. I do not feel cool in it.

[@patrickbollinger774]

@BrinkmanCrafts 🤣😂

[@gregsquires6201]

Good call. It would have been extremely rude to make the kitten get up to get your knife.

[@SandraG-e7f]

The cat is so cute😢❤

[@curtis1985]

This demonstrates in an unabridged form what skills I developed for my undergrad degree. Granted I went on from there and turned the products of those skills into baskets for my graduate degree, but I don’t want to toot my own buisine. (The collegiate level of work is quite adequate in its own right.) I better stop writing now . . . I wouldn’t want to string you along any further.

[@kazenostro]

Cool hat

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@kazenostro one feels so dorky in it!

[@kazenostro]

@BrinkmanCrafts It is interesting to know what clothes were the most fashionable among ancient people at that time🤔

[@xavierpaquin]

I have complete trust in this tutorial based on headwear alone

[@ZbigniewLoboda]

❤

[@Yeeleaf007]

I like your tunic where did you get it? Are you selling any tunics?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

Thank you! I sewed it and unfortunately I do not sell anything

[@Yeeleaf007]

@@BrinkmanCrafts can you make a video on how to make a tunic?

[@faithwalker5196]

Came for the rope, stayed for the kitten. ❤️

[@spaideman7850]

1:46 there's a bee singing into your microphone 🐝

[@DraftingandCrafting]

Sounds like the drone of a hurdy gurdy.

[@cerberus6654]

How does Svante Paabo find the time to this? Is this his hobby when he's not analyzing Neanderthal genetics at the Max Planck Institute. Good for him!

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@cerberus6654 That was actually quite funny, thank you

[@taylorbostwick2272]

I’m always blasting ropes

[@tippikuppi]

There is evidence that Bird's Cherry bast was used in Eastern Finland.

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@tippikuppi interesting, thank you

[@tippikuppi]

@@BrinkmanCrafts Tack till dig av intressant video!

[@ShavinMcCrotch]

Your next video- How to Treat Blisters 😏

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@ShavinMcCrotch that is so true!

[@ItAintMeBabe99]

I think that would become very unmanageable if you wanted a 50 foot, or longer, rope!

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@ItAintMeBabe99 yes,very much so!

[@simonphoenix3789]

i got distracted as soon as the cat showed up...

[@terryg4179]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@SkullDraizer]

We know the yarns that he made are real because the kitten went right for them.

[@ShavinMcCrotch]

I think of this time-consuming work every time someone in pre-1900s movies cuts a rope. Nobody EVER unties rope in movies! They just slash it willy-nilly like it grows on trees! 😖

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@ShavinMcCrotch Yes! It hurts to see how people handle rope in movies and tv series!

[@sciencesaves]

Bruh, what are you wearing?

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@sciencesaves its my 1320s outfit :)

[@c64116]

Im sorry but why are you wearing that on your head? Clearly you dont what it is used for..

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@c64116 this headwear was high fashion in the early 14th century, but you feel like a dork today.

[@olomad6722]

Tiger 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Mr71paul71]

Unwatchable due to the background music/noise

[@BrinkmanCrafts]

@@Mr71paul71 I'm sorry to hear that. The video has subtitles so you can mute it if you wish.

[@echowhiskey17]

Really annoying cute kitten.

[@MichaelZarklai]

medieval gimp :)

[@ФеофанЭтополедолжнобытьзаполне]

Home made rope AND the kitten? Meh, it's too much!

[@cobbledong]

what the..... hell?

[@That.Lady.withtheYarn]

I’m so glad the algorithm suggested this!🧶