Making Rope on the Homestead

Duration:

3 minutes, 41 seconds

The most cost and time efficient way to acquire rope for the homestead, for many years, was to make it oneself. Lois Butler demonstrates rope making as her father, Richard Brunkow, taught her. Mr. Brunkow volunteered hundreds of hours over the years at Homestead demonstrating to thousands of visitors the skill of making rope. This video was made possible by the Richard Brunkow Memorial.

• Bonus Audio Description

  
  

  Listen to more detail of how rope is made in this short podcast.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS/Jessica Korgie

  Date created:

  10/14/2020

  Audio Transcript

  A detailed description of the mechanics of the rope maker follows.

  The rope maker is a six inch diameter by two inch thick cast iron housing that holds a central gear. The rope maker stands vertically fixed to the top of a 3 foot saw horse.

  A crank with a wooden handle protrudes from the middle of the rope maker on one side. It turns three, 1 inch long, cast iron hooks on the opposite side, the hooks are spaced like points of a triangle. 12 feet away is a 4x4 board standing 4 feet high. It has a crank fixed towards the top that turns a mounted 3 inch metal hook on the opposite side. The 4x4 with the hook is also called a sled.

  Threading the hook. Tie the end from a bail of twine to one of the 3 strand hooks on the rope maker. Then walk it back and loop around the 4x4 hook, then walk back and loop over the 2nd strand hook on the rope maker, then walk the twine back and loop around the 4x4 hook again, then walk back and loop over the 3rd strand hook on the rope maker. Walk it back one more time and loop around the 4x4 hook again, then walk back and tie off around the first hook you initially tied on to on the rope maker.

  The rope wrench tool or frog in this case is a separate wooden piece. A 6 inch wide by 10 inch long by 1 inch thick board that’s been shaped. On the narrow end, a one inch wide by two inch deep notch has been carved out the middle. On each long side, a notch is cut 3 inches from the narrow end. The bottom is shaped to a handle and the whole thing looks a bit like an upside down frog. When woven into the twine each notch keeps each of the three strand hooks’ twine separated. The frog begins threaded closest to the single 4x4 hook.

  Hardening On the rope. One person turns the rope machine several times while another person holds the frog threaded in place 12 feet away by the 4x4 hook. This allows the looped twine on the 3 strand hooks to each twist together forming 3 twisted strands stretched to the 4x4 hook.

  Making the rope. The person behind the 4x4 hook cranks the hook three times, followed by one crank of the rope maker twelve feet away. This pushes the frog away from the 4x4 post by twisting the 3 strand hooks’ twine into one rope. This action is continued until the frog gets pushed all the way to the rope maker leaving behind finished rope. Each rope end is bound by tape and cut off the hooks and the rope is ready for use.