Anyway, so I’ve been making bracelets for myself, teaching my family and my Venture Scout Crew, and plan to train some Cub Scouts in the near future. I decided to make a belt out of 550 paracord. Why? My (over ten years) old leather belt is falling apart, people have been talking about it. I needed a challenge, and got it it. I’m a big guy, but losing weight, so I’m looking at a 40 inch belt. I’ve picked up a length of 120 feet of 550 paracord in black.

Now I’m not going to go into the details of how to do the king cobra weave, there are plenty of tutorials out there about that. Instead I’m going to show you a little trick I picked up to keep the two 60 foot ends of cord from getting all tangled up. Right, at first I could tell you I put it on a spool (actually an empty spindle for blank DVDs) but it just was too cumbersome to work with effectively. My daughter made fun of me. Instead I figured out this trick…but I could attribute it to anyone who has ever knitted anything. Those folks know their knots!

First, get the length split into two sections. You can run it out and find the middle and mark it, or put it on a bigger spool, or just have it marked when you buy it at your local supplier. After you’ve got the middle marked, start with one end and make a “yarn ball”. You know, just wrap it around itself until it’s a ball, like so:

Next, take a sock, preferably nylon because it will slide easier on the nylon cord. Sorry for the black cord and black socks. I realize it would have been easier to see with another color, but I’m making a black belt, and I only have black nylon socks!

Once the cord ball is inside the sock, slide the ball to the bottom (toe) of the sock like this:

Now, just roll the tops down until the ball is near the opening, but still at the toe.

Finally you’ve got 60 or so feet of 550 paracord all nicely tucked into your socks. All that remains is to use the sock balls in your weave of choice:

Now that you know how to get a better hold on great lengths of cord, you can look into making longer bracelets, belts, gun straps… you might even try to weave a paracord shirt!

Thanks for reading.

Ryan
North Rockies Design

I’ve been using Google SketchUp version 7 Pro, and it’s just plain awesome! I use it for architectural rendering, fabrication and engineering planning, landscaping, hobbies, and even to build virtual studio sets for use in green screen video production. While I use the Pro version, the Free version is quite powerful.

Let me show you how I started and finished a 3D copy of my Hummer replica build in SketchUp.

Since I already have the plans for the TremorMUV Hummer replica, a real 1984 Suburban in my garage…or what’s left of it. I’ll follow along with SketchUp.

Start with this 1986 Suburban from the Google 3D Warehouse:

Remove the Body… like I already did to my 1984 Suburban:

Now in this case, I removed the engine already, and traded up from the model’s existing chassis to one I built from the dimensions of the one in my garage.

For fun, I added an engine, transmission and transfer case, and swapped the wheels. These wheels are 40 inch INTERCO Super Swampers I found in the 3D Warehouse here. The 454 Chevy engine was also from the 3D warehouse.

Then from a clear file, and using the aforementioned plans, I build the cage or body skeleton of the Tremor MUV, accurate to dimensions given, so I could test it out in pixels before I start cutting steel.

And incase anyone asks, no I’m not sharing this file, because of the license agreement I’m in with Rocky Mountain Coachworks. Anyway, legal stuff out of the way, back to sketching. Next, I put the cage on the chassis model.

Looks great! But of course, it’s not finished there. I need body panels, doors, a hood, and all that stuff. I found the taillights, seats, and doors from a Jeep Wrangler model (since I’ll be using the real parts for my real build.). I modeled the body panels, doors (with movable glass), hood (because all others I found were incorrect), bumpers, bumper step, front pushbar, and winch housing. The winch and hood lights were from another model, but I regret I don’t have the reference for it. But, here’s the steering wheel I found for now. I may change it later. That’s one beautiful thing about SketchUp. It’s easy to change a component at any time. You can literally destroy your model and start over without going over budget in the garage.

But, the beauty of SketchUp is that you can “fabricate” anything you want, to try it on for size, style, etc. Here’s a shot with a removable top, to turn the open top Hummer replica into a Hummer wagon replica.

For anyone who has been following my build, I’ve posted some screenshots of hypothetical look influenced by the new Batmobile, the Tumbler from the newer Batman movies.

The Tumbler model comes courtesy of the Google 3D warehouse, linked here.

What else can one do with SketchUp? Nearly anything 3D! I’ve used it for modeling before metal fabrication, small home projects, and in projects for real estate developers. Maybe I could even do something for you…(hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

Thanks for your time!

You get MyRefrigeratorArt.com!

The premise is this, my kids want a playground and they came up with an idea to make some money to build or buy one. Want to help them? Just go to their site, make a donation of at least $9.95, and you’ll get one original piece of artwork per week for 52 weeks. It’s that easy. You get some artwork to put on your refrigerator, they get a playground.

Check it out. In my spare time, I’m building a Hummer. Well, not an AM General H1 Hummer, but a replica.

I got the idea last year when I was looking around the internet and found two other people who had done it. Here: Built on a F150 Chassis, and here: http://www.tremormuv.com.

I thought, “hey, if they can do it, why can’t I?” So, I bought a 1984 Suburban for $50,, ripped off the body panels, and began the transformation.

As for the details, I haven’t decided what the details will be yet. I still have some time. From the side it will look like a Hummer. The front and rear views will give away the solid axle 4wd Suburban chassis. Otherwise, my goal is for it to look authentic, just as any other replica should.

The frame and body panels will be steel—none of that fiberglass kit stuff—mounted on a Suburban chassis. I may end up doing the plans build from TremorMUV, or I might just strike out on my own and build it all from scratch. Not quite sure yet. I have my two hands, some hard working helpers, a welder, and a shop that my wife doesn’t mind if I keep cluttered up with a project truck.

Some things I definitely need to do are the following. The engine needs to be relocated back a few inches and the front and rear of the frame rails will be cut to match the H1′s length. Actually I bought it without an engine simply because it would make tear-down easier and I haven’t decided on gasoline or diesel. I still have the THM400 that was sitting in the trunk. I need to fab up the entire body to sit on the frame. The body mounts need moving and then I’ll be looking for some surplus parts—hood, doors, etc., whatever I don’t build. The wheels will need replacing.

I’ll try to post updates regularly, but as this is a project based on extra funds, it may be slow going and far between.

Want to help me along?