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the bible of knots, a freebie

teef

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anyone interested in a free PDF of the complete Ashley Book of Knots?
it's here: The Ashley Book Of Knots : Clifford W Ashley : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
scroll down a bit and there is a sidebar on the right of the full book in various formats. the PDF is 28.5M.

i've spent many an afternoon -- and much of my youth -- with my nose in that book. thousands of knots on offer, all organized into areas of use and application.
630 pages, lovely old drawings and peppered with anecdotal tidbits of life in port and at sea.
a must-have for any knot lover, and a great way to settle knotty arguments around the campfire. :p
 
anyone interested in a free PDF of the complete Ashley Book of Knots?
it's here: The Ashley Book Of Knots : Clifford W Ashley : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
scroll down a bit and there is a sidebar on the right of the full book in various formats. the PDF is 28.5M.

i've spent many an afternoon -- and much of my youth -- with my nose in that book. thousands of knots on offer, all organized into areas of use and application.
630 pages, lovely old drawings and peppered with anecdotal tidbits of life in port and at sea.
a must-have for any knot lover, and a great way to settle knotty arguments around the campfire. :p
Thank you Teef.
 
Blimey Teef !! That rolls the years back. It's on a bookshelf 10 feet away...
A present from my then girlfriend when I passed my AB's exam in 1964 under the old Board of Trade (Merchant Shipping Act) qualification.

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Blimey Teef !! That rolls the years back. It's on a bookshelf 10 feet away...

you've been a lot kinder to your copy than i have to mine. used the thing a bit harshly i'm afraid. we had a bit of bush out behind our place when i was a kid and i used to drag it out into the woods for an afternoon of knotting. started to fall apart after a few years so i tried my hand at sewing the binding. it worked but i knew nothing about book binding and this was decades before the internet so it ended up being a bit of a bodge. to be fair i was in my early teens so i hadn't quite absorbed the wisdom of doing a job right.

still have my copy though, and in one piece, so i guess my ham-fisted effort did the job, esthetics aside.
 
My copy lived in a canvas cover that I made for it when it was stowed away in my sea going gear. Brings back memories of a few of us being off watch, sitting on the hatch, all staring at the book and trying to follow the illustrations. Long ago and different times too, there were still seaman that I sailed with who had been in square rigged ships as young men, so it was a matter of pride that anyone calling themselves a Seaman could walk the walk.

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I got my leg pulled by one old Shellback because I had used " Modern" nylon to make my knife belt, but he went easy on me because at least I'd sewn the canvas sheath and used Hemp on the knife handle. So I got off lightly....:lol:
 

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one of the few projects from back in the day that i still have kicking around. inspired and made all thanks to the Ashley book.
it packed a lunch, water, some project stuff and something warm to wear: good for a day in the woods when you're 14 or so.
these days it keeps my spare hammer handles all in one place.

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Ha! That's really very nice Teef. If I had a £ for every Bell Rope or Belt made on voyage and flogged to Aussie or Kiwi Dockers, I'd be rich.. :D
 
recently dug my old copy of the ABoK, sadly discovered that it had gone to mold while in storage these past few years. gutted, but ...
discovered that the hardback has been updated since i last looked -- admittedly about 20 years ago -- and was available on Amazonk for £35. given that the usual price is more like £50 ... i'll bet you can guess where this is going.
bought it, got it, quarantined it for 2 weeks and just got to crack the cover this morning. like a visit from an old friend. i do love that book.
 
My copy lived in a canvas cover that I made for it when it was stowed away in my sea going gear. Brings back memories of a few of us being off watch, sitting on the hatch, all staring at the book and trying to follow the illustrations. Long ago and different times too, there were still seaman that I sailed with who had been in square rigged ships as young men, so it was a matter of pride that anyone calling themselves a Seaman could walk the walk.

P1040761.jpg

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I got my leg pulled by one old Shellback because I had used " Modern" nylon to make my knife belt, but he went easy on me because at least I'd sewn the canvas sheath and used Hemp on the knife handle. So I got off lightly....:lol:






That’s a cracking looking knife sax 👍🏻
 

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