whinging pom wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:15 pm
After seeing the video ive got the bug to try it, is there any info out there on different tapers, peg positioning etc
thanks in advance
pom
A net search will provide an avalanche of data. Some good, some not so good. It's just a fact of life that not that many people are good educators and the internet imo, lacks a personal approach with some practical procedures, which, I believe helps a lot with some things, & in particular furling.
However, if I was running a course room instructing on furling I would definitely begin with basic rope/string making technology. It is fundamentally simple and once the concept of how fibres are twisted one way and then allowed or assisted to twist the opposite way. It locks them together by their own internal twisted tension, ie the internal tension bonds them together. In other words, when you cut a piece of string it unravels right? Another way of saying that, is that it "unfurls." Do a little utube hunting and build a simple rope machine - actually make a piece of string. They use to get little kids to do it at school to make their own skipping ropes.
Then build a simple & I mean simple board with a few holes & dowels and follow what Kathy does - her technique is truly basic and uses gravity with a weight to get the furl - that's the important concept to understand - the furl and how it works to lock fibres together. You just need to actually, "get your hands dirty" and fool around with it. The basic tools most people have anyway or are incredibly cheap.
If you do that, the rest will fall in place rather rapidly. Go back over this thread and look again at Brad from Hog Creek Furling with his mechanical device made from a sewing machine motor - his peg positions are typical for a general purpose leader which works exceptionally well.
You just have to want to do it. But be warned - don't get mired down in theory, start twisting and look at what happens! Good luck