Lumberman's Knot

DMcCoy · May 31, 2015, 10:13:45 AM

A friend of mine showed me this and I find it very helpful when dealing with small pieces such as fence boards, 1x4, and batten strips for board and batten siding. I bundle 5 boards together and trim them all at once, making it worth the time it takes imho. I'm having a little problem getting my pictures to rotate and stay.

I use old plastic binder twine. First step-

Pull this loop tight-

I move this knot up to the top of the board and pull down on the tail. If the knot is tight enough it will cinch up and hold fast and allow you to let go and trim the tail.

I slide my knife blade under the twine to allow room to pass the tail under. Make another loop, which when you pull tight will secure the knot.

Bundle of battens. I like to trim mine at a 45 for overlapping. I can cut a whole bundle at once saving time over 1 at a time.

justallan1 · May 31, 2015, 11:19:32 AM

In cut-up mills we used basically the same loop as you are but instead of tying off the tail to the loop we would put a half hitch on the tail that you show in the second picture that is between your thumb and fingers. That way you aren't trying to fish your twine under the loop, which may just take longer to do than the entire deal. Try it, it's a lot faster.
We would race at it (of coarse punching, pushing and kicking each other) and the slow guy would have to tail off the saw or moulder and stack for us, which was the real PITA job. :D

redbeard · May 31, 2015, 01:32:47 PM

DMcoy Thanks for the info on lumbermans knot, also good tip on putting a 45° on short drying sticks making use of short sticks.

DMcCoy · June 01, 2015, 01:01:58 PM

Redbeard,
Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. I put a 45 on batten strips at the joint so any rain that might hit them will "in theory" wick away from the house.

Chuck White · June 01, 2015, 05:58:38 PM

That's the way most around here do the battens, DMcCoy.

Definately gives the rain somewhere to go, rather than soak in!

petefrom bearswamp · June 01, 2015, 06:19:23 PM

Chuck I take exception to your post, around here 99 percent of battens are square edge including mine.
Chamfering would take a lot of time.
IMO rain only runs off not soaks in..

beenthere · June 01, 2015, 06:24:26 PM

I suspect "most" battens are continuous and not butt joined.

I put the 45° on the batten if there has to be a joint, plus leave a 1/4" gap so the moisture can dry out.
It is an easy place for decay to begin as the moisture will wick into the end grain of both the lower and upper batten.

Prolly some anchorseal on the ends would be helpful too for the long term.

Magicman · June 01, 2015, 08:18:09 PM

In addition to that, the bottom edge of boards and battens need an angled cut so that water will drop off of the outside edge and not run/wick back. This same method is used on lapped siding to form a drip edge to encourage water to drip off rather than run back to the top of the board below.

samandothers · June 01, 2015, 08:30:15 PM

DanG! Now you tell me about the 45 on the bottom of the boards... oh well. :

Gives me something to do years down the road once the ends deteriorate! :D

Magicman · June 01, 2015, 09:57:12 PM

:D Sorry.

Chuck White · June 02, 2015, 06:47:16 AM

Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on June 01, 2015, 06:19:23 PM
Chuck I take exception to your post, around here 99 percent of battens are square edge including mine.
Chamfering would take a lot of time.
IMO rain only runs off not soaks in..

Pete; If you have joined battens (end-to-end), cut them at 45°!

You would have to cut them anyway, so why not cut at the 45° instead of 90° and giving the rain a place to set?

DMcCoy · June 02, 2015, 08:44:53 AM

Quote from: justallan1 on May 31, 2015, 11:19:32 AM
In cut-up mills we used basically the same loop as you are but instead of tying off the tail to the loop we would put a half hitch on the tail that you show in the second picture that is between your thumb and fingers. That way you aren't trying to fish your twine under the loop, which may just take longer to do than the entire deal. Try it, it's a lot faster.
We would race at it (of coarse punching, pushing and kicking each other) and the slow guy would have to tail off the saw or moulder and stack for us, which was the real PITA job. :D

So...
A half hitch around both the lower strands, pull the tail like I do and then cinch up the half hitch you mention?

justallan1 · June 02, 2015, 10:33:35 AM

We did basically the same thing you are in the first 3 pics. In your 4th pic use the end that you are about to cut and put a half hitch around the tail from cinch knot. In doing so you will be holding the short tail in one hand and tightening your half hitch with the other, then cut off the excess.

DMcCoy · June 02, 2015, 11:07:45 AM

Ah, that would be a lot faster and easier. Thanks!

justallan1 · June 02, 2015, 11:26:07 AM

Your very welcome.

petefrom bearswamp · June 03, 2015, 07:51:22 AM

Chuck, my misunderstanding
I thought you were advocating beveling the sides of all battens, not end joining.

hackberry jake · June 03, 2015, 11:16:47 PM

One of my first paid jobs was to remove a bunch of old wooden fenceposts from a womans yard. My dad showed me a similar knot and multiple half-hitch knots. I used a high-lift jack and a rope to remove all of the fence posts. It is one of the only knots I remember. Probably because I used it a thousand times and it was so handy.