flemish twist tut

[walkabout]

just about everyone has their way of making a flemish twist string, and techniques vary. some use extensive jigs to get staggered ends, while others just pull off what they need nd have a go at it. the strings arent all that hard to do, once you get the hang of it. so im gonna try to make one, take pics along the way and make it as foolproof as i can.im gonna emphasize the things that i had to figure out myself after much head scratching wherever i can too. First off here is my jig. nothing grand, no staggered posts just a board with holes and golf tees measured out to 18 inches apart. i marked the string path just for this post, to make it simple to see the way i use it.    the numbered lines are obviously how many lengths of 18 inch string i have. 5 rows makes a 90 inch string, giving me plenty to work with. i drill new holes or change the pattern of the tees depending on the length i need.the end tees are circled cus thats the end where i wrap back around to make the right number of strands for weight.
starting out, we have two groups of strands held in the hand with the short ends to the right and the long end of the strings to the left. im right handed so this is the direction i work. here i have two bundles, one with a strand of camo wool simply for accent so we can all see whats going on. the strands are waxed for about a foot down the length. this helps them stick together alot by helping to create friction. anyway, we take the top strand between the fingers of our right hand and twist them away from us(over the top).I like to hold very close to my supporting fingers and wrap till the string tries to slip back outta my fingers. its probably not nessecary but i think it helps. ive had a heck of a time unwinding a string ive done this way, especially with something rough like hemp. anyway after we twist these strands tight we grab the lower bundle with our ring finger and twist the top bundle toward us over it. obviously the twisted bundle is on the bottom, and the untwisted one is on the top now. we repeat the first step, twisting the now top bundle of strands between our fingers overhand and away from us, then once more we rotate this toward us and over the bottom bundle. id like to note here that im working outward toward the short ends, not toward the center.also i probably have a foot of strands to work with to make the end. im doing this as an example, so it doesnt matter how long i make this string but you may want to consider before you start just how much youve allowed yourself to work with. heres a pic of my starting bundles of strands before i begin to twist them  

[walkabout]

youll want to try to keep the tension even as you twist, and make sure youre not pulling more on one bundle than the other.loose strands are a pain, if you find one youll have to unravel and start over.also as you twist you want to creep your fingers along  from left to right(if youre doing it exactly this way) to hold the newest twist.here is a pic ofa good twisted length for a loop with the ends and direction of the string labeled. like i said we started toward the center of the string and worked our way out.   i found working outward instead of inward keeps alot of the backward twist out of the string, which we have to remove after we finish the loop anyway. so now we have enough to make the loop, we fold this section in half, making sure we have the colors of our strands coordinated. for example, the bundle with the camo wool goes on the corresponding side with the full length of this bundle(the one that has the camo wool). this helps to keep the color twist nice and even.   heres a pic showing this. i have my bundles separated with the matching colors and am about to start twisting the ends into the string, closing the loop.we simply start over again with the twisting of the top bundle, which now includes the ends, away from us and then rotating the whole bundle toward us and bringing the lower bundle up to the top. keep the same amount of tension as you started with, and proceed until you start running out of ends.(note;it helps to even the loops fade into the string if you trim your ends unevenly, say a half inch or so. its not really needed but ends up a nicer product.)now were working our way toward the center of the string,repeating the same twist and rotate pattern. if you twist and it loosens the loop strands at first, look at what youre doing. you may be twisting the wrong direction. keep twisting till all the loose ends are gone back into the string, then twist another inch or two.by now youre probably starting to run into backward twist on the length of the string, so just spereate your bundles along the length of the string by putting your hand in between them and running it toward the center of the string.when you have your inch or so done put a twist tie around it or put a half knot in a little piece of scrap string around it. this will keep the gremlins from causing it to unravel for the moment.  

[walkabout]

that last pic is kinda blurry, but you can see how i matched my bundles and you can see from the bottom bundle which direction i twisted. btw sorry for the horrible spelling of the word separate.lol. the next step is to get all of the backward twist out of the remaining string, then to give it a lil bit of pre-twist for our second loop.i put the first finished loop over a clamp handle on the bench or on a tee in my jig if its clamped. whatever works for you and gives you plenty of room to work with the remaining string.

[walkabout]

and by the way this is a great time to check your string length before you add any pre-twist. if youre short obviously you took too much extra when you twisted the loop. if so just do the reverse of what you did to make it and then give yourself some slack to whatever length you need.Another thing while im thinking about it, make sure you dont get your strands mixed up as you twist.ive had one string do this because it tangled then while i was removing the backward twist i ended up crossing one strand from one bundle with one strand with the other. this probably wont hurt alot but it didnt make the one i did turn out well.its a mess and if you have to go back and start over chances are that itll ratnest.   here we have the end on a clamp and the string stretched in front of us. i use a piece of black tape around one bundle to keep them from getting mixed up. we lay the string in our palm and roll it away from us between our hands, taking out any backward twist and giving a little twist to help lock the ends later. you dont want to twist it really tight, just a little bit.      we then measure out how much were going to use for the loop and end, then start twisting it again, the top between our fingers overhand away from us then rotating it toward us, bringing the bottom bundle up. repeat till you get the desired length for a loop.    After you have enough, fold it in half and match up the color strands.   then start twisting that the same direction,same pattern as before top overhand and away, then rotating  toward and the bottom comes up(this changes if you turn facing the string with the loop to your left and the center to your right.) twist until the ends are woven into the string then keep twisting another inch or two again. youll start to notice the pre-twist actually compounds the twisting by now, and i have actually had to use a block to keep the bundles seperated to make it easier. this is helping lock the loops in.  the loop should look similar to this pic. the finished product should turn out well, if not then its probably the direction you twisted the loop.heres the string i made its got a loose bundle as you can see from the untwisted strands. this is because i didnt keep it as tight as i should have through both the bundles.this string was just an example, ill end up using it as lashing for something or other down the road so the loose bundle doesnt really matter. its still strong enough for me to stand on and pull up as hard as i can without unraveling.its an easy fix though, once you make your first string it will only take about 15 minutes to make another, then its just filling in the details to suit you. it might be easier to start at the ends and work in on the second loop,but im not really certain.ive done them both ways and depending on rushing or something else had varied results. i suggest just trying it and making your choice based on your outcome.lol thats my wax in the pic, threw that in there after i realised it looked like a clover.kinda fitting. hope this helps someone out anyway, its really not as tough as it sounds, all the pics and words can confuse easily, and sometimes its best to sit with string in hand and read as you go along. happy st pattys day again everyone.

[Roy from Pa]

Not bad for a rookie:)

[walkabout]

lol. thanks. just a quick wrap up, when youre done the body of the string may untwist a little bit, but it shouldnt very much. if it does just give it a loose twist to your liking. if you followed my instruction,the right direction to twist would be left side twists up or right side twists down. tomorow im going to undo one end of this and try working in from the end, then post my results so you guys know if its easier or harder, or if it fixes any problems. taking pics while i did this kinda distracted me from what i was doing,lol.

[walkabout]

the wool actually complicated this too, it didnt take wax well and it stretched too much throughout, more than likely half of the bundle untwisting problem. tomorow itll be fixed right as rain though.

[walkabout]

i couldnt leave well enough alone so i re-twisted the second end after unwinding it so i could get consistent tension, and indeed the strand with the wool in it had the same problem again,the wool stretches alot and the hemp isnt stretchy much at all so theyre effectively pulling against one another making the strands loose.to test the string i put my fingers through the loops and wrapped it around the arm of our treadmill, then lifted. picked the treadmill up without a problem and it weighs 80 lbs easy.

[walkabout]

starting from the end and working toward the center poses a few problems off the bat, but you could do it with some consideration first. one thing is that you need to have the length you need set, and give yourself enough to work the loose ends back into the string. this is why its easier for me to just work outward.