Videos

In this tutorial I will demonstrate how to craft a wooden netting-needle from a piece of birch. A netting-needle is essentially a hand-held spool that is loaded with the desired cordage needed in net-making. The cordage is unloaded as one makes consecutive knots to create the mesh of the net.

Netting-needles can be made of various materials such as shown here, wood, bone, stone, metals, and plastics. They are usually used in tandem with a gauge stick. The gauge stick helps keep the spacing of the mesh in a net uniform.

The one I made here is about 7" long by 1-3/4" wide by 1/4" in thickness. When loaded it holds about 40' of 1/8" diameter cordage. The smaller one in this video is about 5-3/4" long and 1-1/4" wide and holds about 16' of similar diameter of cordage.

I am using modern tools to demo for expediency, but knives can be replaced by stone tools, and coal-burning can also be used in a completely primitive scenario - they just take longer to use.

Since I am using a few sharp knives I want to be sure to say that if you choose to try this EXTREME BODILY HARM CAN OCCUR to yourself or others, if you are not safe and careful, with knives, utility-blades, and other sharp instruments. If you choose to try this, you do so at your own risk.