How do you tie a spherical (Ball) knot

T

TPU

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Feb 25, 2003
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I think the ball knot looks really neat. The same one as pictured on "Ted Voorde's" thread picture. Can anyone direct me to a site that shows how this knot is tied. Thanks,
 
That's funny! I saw Ted's avatar, too, wanted to learn how to tie it, and ended up on the same page Esav posted. I still can't tie the knot as nicely as Ted has, though. Takes some practice.
 
Thanks Esav! I've wanted to learn this knot for a long time, and when I saw Ted's thread picture, I realized I have to learn this knot. I think it would look good on my mission wallet for a zipper tab pull.
 
The nice and popular Monkey Fist, pretty and easy once you learn it.

There are several links to the Monkey Fist in the Ropers Knot Page (great site as Esav mentions), IMHO the best instructions are found at the Frequently Asked Knots link:

http://www.realknots.com/knots/faqknot.htm

Or at this link from the International Guild of Knot Tyers:

http://www.igkt.net/beginners/monkeys-fist.html

Also, if you make one with more than three turns you should use a center core, such as a plastic bead.

To see some nice knots you can check the Alaskan Museum of Fancy Knots:

http://knotical-arts.com/
 
If you need something to tie it around, an old mouse ball works great. Here is one I did. The hardest part was getting the knot tightened up (took three tries).
 

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Ahhh... the monkey fist. I participated in a Boy Scout Advanced Junior Leadership course in my local council this summer, and what do you know? The monkey fist was a required part of the uniform (Advan.JLT is very traditional). Not very complicated to tie, but lets just say I messed up and had some help.
 
Hey I'm famous ;)

Important is to insert a small ball inside the knot. The ball diameter should be approx 2.5-3 times the diameter of the rope. I use small wooden-beads? that my wife buys at a hobby store.

Also, once you have everything in place, you need to start getting everything tighter. That means following the rope in the knot from the beginning to the end and tightening it as you go. A small (blunt) screw driver helps to get a grip on the rope. It takes about three turns to get it fully tight.

Ted
 
You guys like knots ?, here´s a few of my fobs, lanyards and a cat o´ nine tails:

knotknives1.jpg
 
I've been practicing. The first one looked like 50 miles of bad road, but now it only looks like 10 miles of bad road. The smallest ball I could find was a marble, which is slightly too large in diameter. I seem to get the hang of this the more that I practice.
Yester 5, that one on your knife looks awesome.
Don Luis, those fobs you tied look great. I see you are in Mexico City. I was there a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. Had lunch at the Soldadera resturant, one of the best steaks I've ever eaten. The waiteresses there were really hot too.
 
Thanks guys, this was fun. I tried 5mm para-cord first and found that too small. Standard para-cord worked great.

Ted, I'm assuming you use this as a key fob. How do you attach it to a key ring? I'm without a classy looking way of attachment.
 
Don-

You have any instructions for us on how to make those awesome key fobs? I know they are multiple knots, but anything you can point me to would be of help.
 
Callahan said:
Thanks guys, this was fun. I tried 5mm para-cord first and found that too small. Standard para-cord worked great.

Ted, I'm assuming you use this as a key fob. How do you attach it to a key ring? I'm without a classy looking way of attachment.
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Calahan, I've done it like this on my Arc AAA, I don't know what the knot is called. It's sort of a hangmans noose? I drew the picture in Paintbrush, I hope it's clear to you.

knot2.jpg


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Thanks Ted! I made two more last night for my oldest daughter (she wanted one for a necklace). My wife saw one and asked, "What's that do?". Gotta love her.
 
That knot on the Arc AAA is a Friar noose, I believe it´s like the one Chris Reeve uses on his knives.

I´m showing a five turn Monkey Fist with a doubled lanyard knot for a loop, it´s easier if you first tie the lanyard knot, then the Monkey fist with the rest of the cord.

For instructions on Knot tying I´d say start with the links page from the International Guild of Knot Tyers (see my first post above) , you may want to get a good book, "The Ashley Book of Knots" is the most well known and complete though not particularly simple to follow, there are some good ones for beginners such as "The Handbook of Knots" by Des Pawson.

Edited to add a link for the lanyard knot, this is for a single, I believe there is a diagram on how to double it somewhere on the same site, a PDF if I remember correctly: http://www.northnet.org/ropeworks/archive/boawhi.html

Mfist1.jpg
 
I'll second Des Pawson's "The Handbook of Knots" for a knot book. I own about 8 knot books, and it has the most clear photos and descriptions of any of them.

I make keychains out of monkey fists and use a seizing to make the loop for the keyring. Using a 1/4" rope and a wooden bead from Michael's (craft store) I end up with a ball that's about 1 1/2" diameter. I like this size since I can drop my keys into the front pocket of my jeans and the knot sits just outside the opening to the pocket. Then when I want my keys, I can just grab the knot and pull; no more digging in pockets. My wife had me tie a smaller one for her, since she likes smaller key fobs. When my mom needed two keychains, I tied a monkey's fist for one and a star knot for the other. She uses one for her "home" keys and one for her "work" keys; she can tell her keychains apart in her purse just by feeling the knot attached to each one. :D
 
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