Making hammocks has been a handcraft business for Twin Oaks since 1967. Our rope hammock designs are traditional; some of our methods of production are not. Should you wish to make and/or design your own hammock we hope the following introductory instructions will be helpful. At the end of this tour (bottom of page) you'll also find reference to the only book we know of on the subject of hammock making-- Hammock
: How to Make Your Own and Lie in It
1.
Obtain the rope. We produce most of our own rope on twisting machines from
various yarns. Hammock rope can be purchased from a few wholesale vendors
as well. There must be retail sources of such rope, though we haven't made
contact with any of them.
2.
Put the rope on weaving shuttles. Originally we used handmade wood, then
plastic, now custom-made welded stainless weaving shuttles. The rope can
be wound onto the shuttle by hand - in our shop a small motor and counter
assist the process.
3. Weave the hammock bed. With our weaving
technique a hammock is started in the middle. Two shuttles are used for
each hand-woven hammock produced.
(Note: technically a hammock bed is a knit stitch, not a weave)
4. In our shop wooden jigs are used
with slotted pegs. The curved measuring outriggers make a shaped hammock
bed.
5. Finish off the hammock edges. A
crochet stitch piece is used in our shop to finish off and strengthen the
hammock edge.
6. Prepare the harness. Rope
is wound around pegs and clamped prior to cutting with a hot wire.
7. Macrame the harness. The trimmed ropes of a single harness
are slipped into a welded plated hammock ring, then placed on a tapered
wood holder for knotting.
8. Thread harness into drilled
and oiled oak spreader bars. Only white oak is used, milled from local trees,
then planed and drilled. Other woods are not sufficient strong and weather
resistant (photo below.)
9. Trim harness. Sythetic
olefin and polyester ropes are cut & sealed with a hot iron such as
a soldering iron.
10. Tie completed harnesses to hammock
bed. Bowline knots are used to complete this process .
11. Hammocks hanging, ready to
bag.
After tying on both harnesses, the finished hammock is removed from weaving
jig and hung for final inspection before packaging.
There is an out-of-print book
on the subject of making your own hammock. This title may be obtainable
from your local used books dealer or online from sellers such as Powell's
or Amazon.
Hammock : How to Make Your Own and Lie in It by Denison Andrews Paperback (May 1978) Workman Publishing Company ISBN:
0894800280
1.
Obtain the rope. We produce most of our own rope on twisting machines from
various yarns. Hammock rope can be purchased from a few wholesale vendors
as well. There must be retail sources of such rope, though we haven't made
contact with any of them. 
2.
Put the rope on weaving shuttles. Originally we used handmade wood, then
plastic, now custom-made welded stainless weaving shuttles. The rope can
be wound onto the shuttle by hand - in our shop a small motor and counter
assist the process. 
