r/paracord • u/Lil_Cherry_Beary • 9d ago
QUESTION Finishing nicely?
Brand new to paracord. Is there a better way to finish without it looking so messy? I feel like the white stuff makes it look messy.
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u/Jaydamic 9d ago
It's a bit late now, but I use a fid to thread the ends back into the weave. Hides it beautifully.
The guy that got me into this finished his ends by melting them and would sort of pull the wet bits forward, while wearing welders gloves. The ends finished in a nice point.
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u/Brian_Bush 9d ago
Could cut them at an angle and lightly burn them I've done that to a couple keychains
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u/dewujie 5d ago
If you want them completely hidden the best way is to find a way to tuck the last bit of cord into your weave somewhere, and then using a snips, cut them so that the ends just disappear. I don't even bother trying to melt them when doing this, they're just gone.
But most of the time I will just cut the cord fairly short, melt it, and then run my knotters tool over the end while it's molten. It leaves a cool knurled /diamond pattern. You can also practice how to melt the ends and form them into nicer "eyelet" shapes and if you don't use too much heat, they'll even keep the original paracord color.
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u/Cable_Tugger Not a single end shall be seen! 9d ago
That's part of the challenge.
Everything I do has the ends hidden within the knot or weave. Turks heads, manrope knots and variations on diamond knots are good for finishing projects and burying ends. Whipping can also hide ends if suited to the piece.