Rope

My great grandfather was a mechanic. More than that, he was a tinkerer, and inventor, a Renaissance man. He came up in the great depression, and his uncommonly bright mind was put to use making his daily life easier. He invented all kinds of things that were ingenious ways to make work easier, or to make store-bought products at home.

One of Great Grandpa Gus's inventions was a simple rope maker.

It had 3 metal hooks attached to a triangular plate with a handle on it. All of this was mounted on a frame, and came with a spanner paddle. You tied twine  onto the three hooks, cranked the handle, and used the spanner paddle to keep tension on the twine strands. The twine would twist on itself, making it want to coil, which it would in turn do, around the other two strands of twine.

With an hour's work, you could have 50 yards of rope.

My dad ended up with the device after Gus passed, probably because dad had a farm, and there's always a need for rope around a farm.

Now, in this day and age, an hour of work is generally worth more than 50 foot of rope, but that wasn't always the case, and I can remember making rope as a pre-teen, because dad needed some, and we were a 40 minute drive from the nearest hardware store. With a big hank of twine, we had rope in less time than it would have taken to drive to the store and buy it.

Well, about 2 months ago, my brother happened to be travelling by our old farm, which pop sold off 10 years ago, after getting out of the business of raising cattle (and children). He stopped, and asked the owner if he could look around, and the owner didn't mind. While kicking around, brother found the old rope machine hanging on a nail in the barn.

He showed it to the owner, and explained how it worked. The owner was delighted with the simplicity. Brother asked if he could take it,  and the owner seemed glum, but said he could. Brother explained how it was a part of our family history, but he would be happy to have a replica built, and he would bring back a new rope maker for the farm owner.

The owner again seemed delighted, they shook hands, and Brother brought the project to me. (He's a genius with metal, but my skill at woodworking exceeds his... which is scary. A carpenter, I ain't. )

Today, my son and I completed the little project, tightening all the joints on the original, so Brother can hang it in a place of honor in his shop, and making 2 new ones (or at least the wood components thereof). I will bring them to Brother, and he will make all the little metal parts (metal is his specialty) and finish the machines. Then he's on the hook to make a pilgrimage back to the old farmstead, and keep good on his word.