What is the easiest method to tie knots in those ties attached to sails used to secure sails when furled.

[jgplarnold]

It is easy to tie a knot in rigging 'rope' but when they are attached through a sail (those ties for securing furled sails) I am having trouble tying a knot close to the sale ie tie knot in rigging 'rope', pass end through sail, pull tight and tie a knot on the other side.

Is there an easy way to do this?

 

[VitusBering]

I haven't done that particular operation but when I need to snug a knot up close to something I start with a simple overhand and put a pin in the resulting loop. As I take up the slack I guide the pin close to where the knot will live and it usually works out well. If I don't get it close enough on the first try,  I wiggle the pin to loosen the overhand knot and try again. Once I'm happy with it I usually dab it with a touch of CA to seal the deal.

[Bob Cleek]

Since you are experiencing difficulty, yes, there is an easier way to tie in "reef points" on a sail. Real reef points have a "figure-eight knot" tied into the line on either side of the sail. The figure-eight knot will not jam and is easily untied, no matter how much tension has been placed on the knot.

 

Figure-eight knot, also called by some a "stopper knot:"

 

 

At all common modeling scales, a simple overhand knot is sufficient to portray a reef secured to a sail.

 

Simple overhand knot:

 

The easier way to tie overhand knots in scale rigging cordage is to employ the surgical suturing technique known as an "instrument tie." This requires the use of a surgical instrument called a "needle holder" or the equivalent, which could be some sort of tweezers or the like. A long needle holder works best for modeling, since its length permits access inboard of the stays and other hard to reach places. Another handy instrument to have is a long tweezers or a second needle holder. These instruments take the place of fingers, which are much too large (and perhaps short) for the delicate tasks at hand, be it sewing up a wound or tying scale rigging knots,

 

A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is better than that, so I've attached three videos of various flavors produced for the purpose of instructing medical students in performing a basic instrument tie.  Get yourself a needle holder or three. They are handy for all sorts of modeling tasks. (eBay is full of dirt cheap ones or ask a friend who works in a hospital to obtain one for you.) Watch the videos and practice until you get the hang of it (which should take one or two tries... it's very simple.) Once you have the basics down, you can then apply the instrument tie technique to a wider range of applications than just simple overhand and surgeons' knots.

 

As for tying in reef points, the simple overhand knot is tied first, then the reefing line is sewn through the sail with a needle, making sure that you've left yourself enough length to accomplish the following exercise. Approaching the single end of the reefing line from the knotless side, the bitter end of the reefing line is held in the non-dominant hand while a turn (or two if you prefer to use a "surgeon's knot" for the purpose... which is explained in the videos) is thrown around the needle holder. (This is sometimes more easily accomplished by grasping the line with the needle holder and twisting the needle holder to wrap the line around it, which is why you need to leave yourself some surplus line at the beginning.) Then, instead of grasping the other end of the reefing line as in the case of suturing knots shown in the videos, you grasp the standing part of the reefing line with the point of your needle holder (the same way as if making an overhand instrument tie) with the needle holder clamped on the reefing point as close as possible to the point on the standing part where it comes out of the sail.  Then, with the needle holder clamped to the standing part of the reefing line as close as possible to the sail, using your fingers, a tweezer, or another needle holder, carefully slide the line wrapped around the needle holder down the jaws of the closed needle holder and over the standing part of the reefing line to form the overhand knot and then carefully coax the bitter end through and pull it tight. Easier done than written, but you should be able to figure it out once you have the principle of the instrument tie down. (This is similar to the method described by VitusBering above, but the point of the needle holder replaces the needle he uses in his method. The "needle method" works fine, so long as you have the room to get your fingers where they need to be.)

 

Needless to say, all knots should be secured after they've been tied with a dab of shellac, thinned PVA, or CA. Myself, I prefer shellac because if the knot needs to be untied for further adjustment, the shellac can be softened, and the knot untied by simply applying alcohol to the dried shellac. I don't like thinned PVA because it takes a while to dry, can get messy, and is hard to reverse if need be. I avoid CA adhesive wherever possible because it's just nasty stuff, expensive, and hard to clean up if it goes where you don't want it. Another thing I like about shellac is its adhesive properties. When modeling reefing points, they will inevitably stand straight out or up or everywhere other than in a plumb fashion hangling down against the sail like the prototype. I use shellac, which is very viscous, to saturate the reefing line. As the alcohol in which the shellac is dissolved evaporates, the line will become increasingly stiff and sticky, but still pliable. (This is a very quick process, since the alcohol evaporates very quickly.) When it becomes pliable and sticky, the reefing line can be pushed against the sail and it will stick where you want it, making it very easy to achieve realistic looking reef points with all your reef lines hanging straight down and parallel to one another.

 

There are many YouTube videos on surgical instrument knot tying and much to learn by watching them. Learning use surgical instruments to tie knots will significantly speed up your rigging tasks and reduce the level of frustration that rigging often otherwise occasions.

 

Learn how to Tie a Surgical Knot with an Instrument - Bing video

 

Instrument Surgeon's Knot Tying - Bing video

 

How to make a square knot and a surgeons knot - instrument tie - Bing video

Edited February 24, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[CPDDET]

During my days of learning to sail through classes with the ASA, we learned to use a reef knot to secure the 2 ends of the reef lines. This is a common knot also known as a square knot. Easy to tie: right hand over left and then left hand over right.