Coming shortly on my Fire King is the fire hose. Most of the models I have seen use plain black rubber tube. But this is what Cherry Hill made, which looks much more authentic. So my question is "How on earth do you set about making it?"

Google "Braided cable sheathing" Should be what you are looking for.

Off the shelf cable sheathing as such will invariably be a plastic material.

However, the principle is correct. The cable on a domestic iron is braided in a similar material.

Many of the vintage car restorers use fabric-braided wiring harnesses, and the companies supplying the looms have the braiding machines to put any design of sheathing onto a wire (some have mostly black with a coloured stripe, for example). So if the OP can find a material (thread) that mimics the canvas of the full-size hose, they will be able to braid his length of rubber.

Can't believe Cherry Hill would stoop to use a commercial braid! I imagine she made a Maypole Braider, which recreates the way dancers weave ribbons around a maypole. Same principle as a sock weaver but with fewer needles. Quite an interesting challenge and not too difficult I think.

Always thought it odd that Model Engineers don't pay more attention to textile machinery. Textile machines require considerable machining skills to make, they pre-date steam-engines considerably, and it took decades of development to make a steam-engine smooth enough to drive them. Our workshops are full of tools and techniques dating back to making early textile machines of various sorts.

Dave

Dave

When I worked at Thomson Marconi Sonar, I visited a firm who supplied custom cable harnesses

Their machine was a beautiful old sock-knitter cleverly adapted.

MichaelG.

Is she the one in the picture here?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cool-Maker-6053898-KumiKreator-Multicolour/dp/B07NFP361M

You might have to drill a hole in the bottom of it to allow the hose to enter from below.

There are designs for maypole braiders on thingiverse for the hot plastic squirting enthusiasts.

This is what I hsve used mainly for over steem pipes.

RS PRO Braided Acrylic Fibreglass Red Cable Sleeve, 6mm Diameter, 5m Length

It comes in different colours and it can expand and contract to fit pipe.

David

You may also be able to coax the outer off one of the many "retro" cables that are about such as these

If you also need to make the suction hose then binding rubber tube in wire and then covering in white tape or heat shrink will do the job.

You could make a braid to cover the hose? A marudai or tassle twister/winder would do the job. That way you could make the hose sheath any pattern/colour you could imagine.🙂

Even a cotton reel, with 4-panel pins inserted, could be used to french knit a hose cover. Thinking outside the box can be productive.

Should you decide to follow the DC3 1K route , I would suggest contacting Outhwaites Rope Works in Hawes on 01969 667487 . They have a number of suitable machines . You could always sell on any unwanted product.

Fire hoses are believed to be invented in the Netherlands in the late 16^th century, which were nothing more than long tubes made from hundreds of strips of leather sewn together

Fabric hoses have two different fiber yarns that are woven together to form a hose jacket. The yarns that run lengthwise down the hose are called warp yarns and the yarns that are wound in a tight spiral around the circumference of the hose are called the filler yarns.

A hose with a square/radial weave will not stretch and expand like one with a diagonal weave, like on cable braid.

Having taken the trouble to look for tubular cotton braid you get this in various sizes. Note the width is the flat measurement and not the radius.

Depending on the scale you are working with this may give you an idea of what's available Link

MichaelR

My wife has one of those. I expect it will eventually go to the grand children. A novel design. She has taken it to the spinning and weaving group on at least one occasion, where some of the ladies were surprised at its abilities.

Thanks chaps for all your suggestions. I had already thought about French Knitting but would need a lot of testing and experimenting. Have seen some cotton braiding in a cream colour which might be near to khaki. Not sure what happens when you spray paint such that you can still make it flexible. You have pointed me in the right direction but still have a bit of work to do.

Bob

If it's cotton it should take dye easily, Google Dylon

I can't tell what size your hoses need to be, but I'm experimenting with cotton shoelaces for recreating 1920s braided wire harnesses. (It's not an original idea - I've swiped it from the interwebs).

There's a huge variety available in terms of length, colour, diameter, materials, density of weave. All I do is snip off the aiglets, pull out the inner strings, and push the braid over the wire. It takes a bit of practice, but it's really easy once you've developed the knack.

And if you fancy a bit of bling, there are pink and other bright colours available, with metallic threads in the weave!

George

Thanks George. That sounds interesting. My hose will be about 8mm dia and I can see there are Big Laces that would fit. Might buy some and see what they look like.

Bob

You'll find that the original diameter of the lace isn't critical - they can be manipulated (within reason) to be shorter and fatter, or longer and thinner.

George

Cotton sash cord has a braided outer sleeve and can be bought in several diameters. The beauty of cotton is that it can be dyed any colour and then using clear cellulose dope "fixed" in shape. The core strands can be extracted an replaced with rubber tube and brass end fitting to make true working hose.

CS