Friday, December 30, 2016

A Wooden Fid

I finally finished up adding some knot work to a surprise gift in a package from knot tying friend Phil/Cord Craft of the Knot Everything Forums. A nicely done wooden fid that narrows down to a flattened tip for use with a variety of different sized cordage, even the thinner stuff, for tightening/dressing and loosening knots.

I know Phil told me the type of wood and finish he used on the fid, but I cannot seem to recall them at the moment, so I'll have to see if I saved the email or message he mentioned them in and update on that later, typing this as I come down from a two day headache...

I tried tying several different knots with different types and diameters of cord before I decided to go with some suede leather lace in a gaucho knot interweave.

I dug up the suede lace from the bottom of a storage tub.  I think I purchased the lace six or seven years or more ago for another project at the time and put it away and forgot about it.

Some of the knot work I tried were Turk's heads, headhunter, pineapple, herringbone, Hansen, and gaucho variations, with each fitting differently in the fid's cut out/channels, some too wide, or too narrow, where the 1/8" suede seemed just about right.

The original package of the lace had four colors, a light green or tan I think was the one I'd used up, leaving red, brown, and black.  The black is so dark, it can be hard to see the gaucho pattern in photos, where the design is more easily seen in hand.  I also like the soft textured feel the suede gives the knot.

And a side-by-side size comparison photo of the wooden fid next to a Jig Pro Shop stainless steel Knotters Tool II.

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2 comments:

ElHemo said...

Hi again Mr Stormdrane!

I am taking some time looking at your project on youtube and other place. I like a lot.

I want to know if you can tell me what is this "fid"? You say you use on small cord. For cut?

For cut cord I use razor blade I have from long time. For cut other things I use knife. I have many good knife I like. Do you have some knife you like? I can spend long time using stone to make knife sharp. I use time to think it is like meditate to me. With smooth sound and good result. Sharp knife cut so many things very easy. Sharp knife is very useful. Sometiem too sharp and then you have to make use hemostat. haha. Just kidding.

For real if you can tell me more about fid I thank you.


Stormdrane said...

A fid is a tool for tightening and loosening knot and rope work, similar to a marlinspike.

The fid in the blog post has a tip that makes it useful in working with a variety of cord sizes, from large to small, including the 1.4mm cord I often work with. Here's a wikipedia entry on a fid.