WHO: Gerald L. Findley, scoutmaster for the past 28 years of Boy Scout Troop 27, Canton, retired Edwards-Knox Central School fifth- and sixth-grade teacher and author of "Rope Works," "Rope Works Plus," "Fingerweaving Basics" and "Cherokee Style Double Walled Basket," available online at www.ropeworks.biz.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WRITING BOOKS ABOUT MAKING KNOTS AND WEAVING? "I've been with the Boy Scouts it seems like forever. I had a particular interest in the area called pioneering. I didn't particularly like the diagrams provided, so I starting drawing my own. People started asking me for them.
"In 1995, I started with the book. I got it copyrighted in 1996. It has literally sold all over the world. I'm running an international company from the north country. The last printing brought it up to 5,000, and I probably have 250 of those left. I thought I'd sell maybe a hundred.
"The first 'Rope Works' book has probably 40 different things. The second book has 50 or 60 total. The big difference between the two is I added text describing the diagrams and other interesting information I found, such as other names for the knots."
HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR DIAGRAMS SO CLEAR? "I spend hours on each one. Sometimes I take photographs. If I'm interested in something, I will work at it, find the resources, talk to people, learn what I've got to learn. The diagrams on the Web site are animated. I think I have one frame each two-tenths of a second. Each frame is a new drawing."
WHERE DID YOUR INTEREST IN KNOTS COME FROM? "It started with Boy Scouts when I was 11. I found it fascinating what you could do with them. Each knot has its purpose.
"If you do what you're supposed to do with them, it's safety. With knots and lashings, you can build structures, such as towers, bridges, gateways, tables and chairs. You let your imagination run wild.
"The Scouts can build a bridge across a stream and be able to walk across and say, 'I've constructed this.' We can span a 30-foot stream.
"I know a case where a truck slid off the road on a bank and they used poles and rope to move the truck sideways back on the road.
"Attaching leaders and flies for fishing, it's all done with knots. That's a whole field of its own."
WHO ELSE MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN KNOTTING AND WEAVING? "There are two or three different power companies that have bought my book to use as a training manual. It's for sale at the gift shop at Old Ironsides in Boston. It sort of blows me away that I have a book in the gift shop of a ship as famous as Old Ironsides.
"The Navy used to use knots a lot. They are phasing them out because of modern materials. You can't tie a knot in steel cable. Truckers used to rely heavily on knots. Now the load is secured with nylon straps. Knots are still used a lot in recreational things.
"One of the things that bothers me is when people use bungee cords to secure a canoe to the roof of a truck. That canoe may be bouncing up and down five and six inches.
"The finger weaving is used by re-enactors, people like that. The Iroquois in particular is what I'm looking at. They would use them either as a belt or a bandolier, in some cases just a decoration or an arrow quiver. It can be fun."
