How do you carve a loop of rope?

[jartzh]

Actually I can carve it. but how do you strenghten it so it doesnt break at the 2 cross grain areas. life size rope. about a 18" coil . and it is hanging from the hand of the indian (see gallery) to the head of the horse. cedar wood.

my thought is to carve it then route out a groove in the back and put in a ??? to strenghten it.

[Mitchell]

I have carved a thin straight piece, steamed it and bent it to make a loop.

[Just Carving]

I've been thinking about the same thing sinec I carve walking sticks with a twisted rope pattern. I wantd to carve a spliced eye in the rope for a handle. I thought about laminating 3 pieces of wood--the outer two being cross grain at the top of the stick with the stick being notched to receive the outer pieces.

Bob L

[Donald K. Mertz]

I soak thin and prone to break areas on a carving with super glue (the fumes are an eye irritant, so be careful)) I carve small figures, under two inches, three inches, 4 to 6 inches so there are areas that can be weak, like coils of rope. Check out my Blog site to see examples.

[mark yundt]

No matter how you do it ,,the piece will naturally be fairly fragile. At least a two ply laminate would help greatly,,three would be better. What I have done in other cases is to make a laminate,,but bury a piece of wire inside the carving. This way you don't have to try routing a groove or finding a way to fill a slot if you route it in the outside of the piece.

Simply put,,cut out the shape you need in two matching pieces of wood. You could if you like do the bulk of the roughout and get it close to finished. Then make a groove along the inside of the two mating pieces to accept the steel wire reinforcing piece.I used an epoxy mix to hold the wire secure and fill any voids to ensure rigidity then clamp them together.
You can make the groove only in the area where you are cross the grain,,or go completly around the piece for some real strength. If you use the two plies this should work pretty well and is about the most you can hope for.

[kitaye]

Does it have to be a wooden rope? A natural fibre rope connecting the two pieces would add texture and a bit of realism as well. You could coat the rope with spar to stiffen it and match the gloss look of the finished carving.

[AlArchie]

I have NOT tried this so it's just a suggestion. The problem with making a rope loop out of any wood is that at the cross grain section, there is an inherent weakness. A huge weakness. Are you in an area where you can find honysuckle or grapevines? If so, look around for one that is about the same diameter as the rope you want. Cut that, strip the bark, then carve the rope lays into it, wet it down till flexible and loop it into the coil size you want, hide the ends in the hand and you are set.

Just an off the wall thought.....these vines will have absolutely no weak points as you carve.

Al

[jartzh]

Well I cheated. I put the top piece of cross grain in the indian's hand and the lower piece of cross grain was covered and strengthened by carving the end of the rope over it. And then I broke the top piece when drilling it for the hand so I ended up gluing it back together and the hand will support it.
Thanks to all.

[dryheat]

Use chair canning or basket weaving material of the appropriate size and Woodburn or vee tool the rope texture in. Then soak in hot water and when pliable wrap around a bottle, dowel, whatever you can find in the right size and let dry. This technique usually produces a rather natural looking rope. I’ve never tried but I think one could make the loop and wrap the other end for a more realistic look.
Ed

[Baldy]

Just a suggestion. Use a piece of straight grain wood of the size you want. First round the stick and carve the rope pattern. Soak in ammonia for an hour or more and then wrap around your form. When dry it should hold it's shape.
I have used this method to make very tight bends in pine (1/8 to 1/4" thick). Hope it works for basswood. For long pieces I used 1/2" sprinkler pipe and capped each end to hold the wood and ammonia. When the wood is well soaked the wood is limp as spaghetti.
Naturally it takes longer for thicker wood to soak and then dry.
Dick