Chinese Handle Wrapping
Oct 1, 2010 6:56:40 GMT
Post by ineffableone on Oct 1, 2010 6:56:40 GMT
Chinese Handle Wrapping
Reproduced with permission from Thøger Kari from his original post on Sword Forum International forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59451&highlight=chinese+handle+wrapping
*I added a little bold and color coding, I also did a small bit spelling correction. Now the rest is Thøger Kari giving instruction on this wrapping style, enjoy.Thanks to Marc Ridgeway for obtaning the permission to repost, and to Thøger Kari for letting us repost this great info.
When I wanted to learn how to do Chinese handle wrapping I did a lot of searching on the web and was unable to find any useful info.
Recently someone brought to my attention that it still wasn't easy to find, so I thought I'd post some pictures of how you do it.
I didn't have any flat cord available unfortunately, and my camera is built into my mobile phone (says it all, doesn't it). So I've added some blue and red lines so that it is easy to see which cord goes where.
Starting up, the inner loop needs to be made (doesn't *need* to be, but I find it much easier).
I attach it with tape, and make sure it's tight. Then you just remove the tape along the way. You would think the entire wrap would get shorter, but it doesn't, at least not by more than 1-3 millimeters depending on the elasticity and thickness of the cord.
Also, don't do this on polished wood like this, it should be slightly coarse.
And finally, if you can find a couple of flat metal pieces you can press over the ends of the cord as clamps, they are much easier to get down under the loop.
There probably are tools for this sort of job, but i have found it unnecessary to invest in, as it can be as tight as you want without.
Now, on the front side (A):
The loop runs from the "blue" side of the cord to the right, down to the pommel, back up to the left and crosses over to the right, ending in the red cord which continues on the back. So lets turn the saber 180 degrees.
On the backside (B), the red cord makes a loop identical to the one on the front side, once again crossing over itself.
Turn the saber another 90 degrees and retrieve the blue side of the cord from side A and let it cross over the red.
Next, guide the blue cord under the nearest side of the loop and over the next. Then turn the saber 180 degrees again (of course turn it so that the blue cord doesn't bend back, but simply continues onwards to the other side)
Back on side A, guide the blue cord under both of the loop cords. Don't tighten it just yet.
Pull up the cord in the middle of the inner loop, so that it forms a loop of its own. Then guide the red cord over the inner loop and through the new loop, in direction from the guard to the pommel as in this picture.
when you tighten it, it will look like this:
Next, you simply turn the saber around again and do the exact same, except this time you guide the red cord under the inner loop and the blue one over.
The order is always so that the cord that was on top of the inner loop on the previous side goes under the loop on the next.
When you tighten the construction, always do it on the backside like this. If you do it on the front side, you'll mess up the shape of the inner loop and will have to do a lot of correction.
Tighten the construction at least after every second repetition, and tighten it hard!
Also correct the inner loop when it gets pulled out of shape. Use something pointy like a fork or similar.
When you get to the end of the loop, it should be difficult to get the cord through it to make a loop once again. I hope you've adjusted the inner loop satisfactory by now!
The last wrap, before you finish off, should be loose enough to let you guide the ends of the cords underneath, so don't tighten this too much.
Finish the wrapping by creating a loop with the first cord (blue in this picture) and guiding the second cord through as usual.
But instead of continuing on the other side, let the red cord go underneath the last two-three strips of cord.
As for the blue cord you can guide it under the last two-three cords on the same side as you did with the red. The point to do this is indicated with the blue arrow.
Then, you simply tighten the construction from the backside as usual, and as tight as humanly possible!! You will notice that the cords sustain each others strain more effectively, the more you tighten.
The other option for the blue cord can be useful if the inner loop on the other side of the handle is a bit looser. It will be shown in the next post.
As said in the previous post, this option is useful if the inner loop one the other side of the handle is a bit more loose as it is in this example.
You simply bring the cord through the last bit of the inner loop as seen in the picture, and then tuck it under the last two-three strips of cord where the blue arrow points. Then tighten the wrapping as hard as possible and you're done.
In the end it will look something like this...
Do i have to mention you have to cut of the ends of the cord before you're done btw, or is this painfully obvious?
Enjoy.
Reproduced with permission from Thøger Kari from his original post on Sword Forum International forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59451&highlight=chinese+handle+wrapping
*I added a little bold and color coding, I also did a small bit spelling correction. Now the rest is Thøger Kari giving instruction on this wrapping style, enjoy.Thanks to Marc Ridgeway for obtaning the permission to repost, and to Thøger Kari for letting us repost this great info.
When I wanted to learn how to do Chinese handle wrapping I did a lot of searching on the web and was unable to find any useful info.
Recently someone brought to my attention that it still wasn't easy to find, so I thought I'd post some pictures of how you do it.
I didn't have any flat cord available unfortunately, and my camera is built into my mobile phone (says it all, doesn't it). So I've added some blue and red lines so that it is easy to see which cord goes where.
Starting up, the inner loop needs to be made (doesn't *need* to be, but I find it much easier).
I attach it with tape, and make sure it's tight. Then you just remove the tape along the way. You would think the entire wrap would get shorter, but it doesn't, at least not by more than 1-3 millimeters depending on the elasticity and thickness of the cord.
Also, don't do this on polished wood like this, it should be slightly coarse.
And finally, if you can find a couple of flat metal pieces you can press over the ends of the cord as clamps, they are much easier to get down under the loop.
There probably are tools for this sort of job, but i have found it unnecessary to invest in, as it can be as tight as you want without.
Now, on the front side (A):
The loop runs from the "blue" side of the cord to the right, down to the pommel, back up to the left and crosses over to the right, ending in the red cord which continues on the back. So lets turn the saber 180 degrees.
On the backside (B), the red cord makes a loop identical to the one on the front side, once again crossing over itself.
Turn the saber another 90 degrees and retrieve the blue side of the cord from side A and let it cross over the red.
Next, guide the blue cord under the nearest side of the loop and over the next. Then turn the saber 180 degrees again (of course turn it so that the blue cord doesn't bend back, but simply continues onwards to the other side)
Back on side A, guide the blue cord under both of the loop cords. Don't tighten it just yet.
Pull up the cord in the middle of the inner loop, so that it forms a loop of its own. Then guide the red cord over the inner loop and through the new loop, in direction from the guard to the pommel as in this picture.
when you tighten it, it will look like this:
Next, you simply turn the saber around again and do the exact same, except this time you guide the red cord under the inner loop and the blue one over.
The order is always so that the cord that was on top of the inner loop on the previous side goes under the loop on the next.
When you tighten the construction, always do it on the backside like this. If you do it on the front side, you'll mess up the shape of the inner loop and will have to do a lot of correction.
Tighten the construction at least after every second repetition, and tighten it hard!
Also correct the inner loop when it gets pulled out of shape. Use something pointy like a fork or similar.
When you get to the end of the loop, it should be difficult to get the cord through it to make a loop once again. I hope you've adjusted the inner loop satisfactory by now!
The last wrap, before you finish off, should be loose enough to let you guide the ends of the cords underneath, so don't tighten this too much.
Finish the wrapping by creating a loop with the first cord (blue in this picture) and guiding the second cord through as usual.
But instead of continuing on the other side, let the red cord go underneath the last two-three strips of cord.
As for the blue cord you can guide it under the last two-three cords on the same side as you did with the red. The point to do this is indicated with the blue arrow.
Then, you simply tighten the construction from the backside as usual, and as tight as humanly possible!! You will notice that the cords sustain each others strain more effectively, the more you tighten.
The other option for the blue cord can be useful if the inner loop on the other side of the handle is a bit looser. It will be shown in the next post.
As said in the previous post, this option is useful if the inner loop one the other side of the handle is a bit more loose as it is in this example.
You simply bring the cord through the last bit of the inner loop as seen in the picture, and then tuck it under the last two-three strips of cord where the blue arrow points. Then tighten the wrapping as hard as possible and you're done.
In the end it will look something like this...
Do i have to mention you have to cut of the ends of the cord before you're done btw, or is this painfully obvious?
Enjoy.
Then you can post another tutorial on how it is done! 
