A trick I learned from Grant Tomlinson (for tying fret knots, but the principle is the same), is to work the string back and forth over the length that will be part of the knot. That softens up the gut and makes it easier to tie a tight knot. It probably reduces the strength a bit, but not enough to matter.
Guy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Eugene C. Braig IV Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 10:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] Re: tying two strings of different thickness together? The one problem I have with fishing knots that involve many twists (like the blood knot or uni-uni knot) on gut is that the stiffness of gut imparts difficulty in cinching knots. Depending upon how pliable your strings are, this can even be pretty prohibitive. Most fishing knots in use now were designed around nylon monofilaments, however, and so work great for that material or for fluorocarbon, I suspect even for Nylgut. For joining lines of substantially different diameter, the surgeon's knot is often a better choice and, with far fewer twists, I find it a little more gut-friendly. The surgeon's knot is a little square-not like in appearance, but only a little. Best, Eugene > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Guy Smith > Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 11:19 AM > To: [email protected]; 'Anthony Hind' > Subject: [LUTE] Re: tying two strings of different thickness together? > > I use a grapevine knot. I learned that in my rock-climbing days as a > bombproof way to tie into a rope. Probably overkill, but if it can hold a > twenty foot leader fall, it should be able to handle a lute string:-) > > FWIW, the traditional knot for joining two lengths of fishing line is a > blood knot, which would be another possibility. I tend to avoid square > knots. They can easily be turned into a cats paw knot, which isn't secure > at > all. > > Here's a good reference for all sorts of knots: > > http://www.layhands.com/Knots/Knots_KnotsIndex.htm > > Guy > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf > Of Martyn Hodgson > Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 8:05 AM > To: [email protected]; Anthony Hind > Subject: [LUTE] Re: tying two strings of different thickness together? > > I use a reef knot - but secured with a drop of super glue.... > --- On Mon, 22/11/10, Anthony Hind <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Anthony Hind <[email protected]> > Subject: [LUTE] tying two strings of different thickness together? > To: [email protected] > Date: Monday, 22 November, 2010, 15:28 > > Dear All > I may need to lengthen a string which does not quite reach > the > peg, but goes well beyond the nut. I would like to attach it to a > slightly thinner short piece of gut to reach the peg in question. I > remember that Stephen Gottlieb had done that for several strings on > my > lute; but I can no longer remember the type of knot he used. Can > anyone > advise me, or tell me of a page where this knot is described. > Regards > Anthony > -- > To get on or off this list see list information at > [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
