No, this was an amber shellac, although I'm really starting to favour just the plain old clear I think.

kwad wrote:Mlawson,

Your whips keep getting better. Keep it up!!
I love the way the color gets gradually darker towards the tip.
(Are you still using the same old can of shellac?)

My latest... an 8 footer, with Raiders-ish dimensions.

No sorry, I don't. I thought about making one, but I can't commit to taking orders so I kind of think, "what's the point?" Maybe in the future...

mike

Gaucho wrote:Mlawson


You have website?


Thanks.



Gaucho.

Thanks, that's quite a compliment. The thong dimensions of both of these whips are very similar to my Strain, the weight is just a little bit heavier. My Strain is about 1lb 8.8oz, and these whips are about an oz heavier. They are not light, but I would not say that they are heavy either. Mlawson I ...

Just completed today! http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4860946391_70d620b27c.jpg As soon I can get a minute to find appropriate shipping boxes, I will be selling this and the 8 footer below in the bazaar or on e-Bay, or you can message me beforehand if you are interested. mike http://farm5.static...

Where in Ontario are you lee? I have some whitehide sent to me by midwest that I have used to cut some unfinished falls, I could sell you a some for cheap if you're interested.

Haha! It's actually a clear shellac on this one.

kwad wrote:Mlawson,
Very nice color on that one (Amber shellac?).

I agree with thefish, how it handles is the most important thing.

Just remember, perfectionists never achieve perfection. They just end up with alot of satisfied customers.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Dan. I've already figured out that I will always be chasing "perfection". What I really meant, is that I almost got it "perfect" to my expectations of what I wanted it to be, I can always accept the eccentricities of a hand-crafted product an...

There's just a few minor cosmetic things, the strand drop from 8-6 is not as clean as I would like. I also had to drop a strand that broke, and pull one from the core; it's a clean drop but not invisible. Otherwise it's good I think. :TOH: I agree, it's awesome. But you say it's "almost perfect...

I almost got this one perfect! I'll probably be selling it in the next month or so, but I want to hang on to it until I make another, for comparison purposes. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

Here are a few new whips, a 5' with 10" handle, and a 6' with 11" handle. The 6 footer I finished today and the 5 footer a few weeks back. The short, long handled whips are a lot of fun! Next up is another 8', proper Indy style. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1110/4734149557_25a10784f9.jpg

I thought it had a very light point too. But hey, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. ;) Anyway, perhaps you've already thought of this, but you should try to keep a record on what this whip is good for, and compare it to your next whips. That way you can determine if it works better for multiple cra...

Yep, never too tight with kangaroo. I wondered about the last 1/3 of the whip not being heavy enough. But if you are producing thunderous cracks with a lazy underhand, then you nailed it. Good job! Jim I actually agree about the taper at the end, I think it's a bit too light and I plan to beef up t...

Well, how does it crack? Looks like a million bucks!! I was only able to crack it for the first time today. It is plaited super, super tight, maybe too tight actually. But it cracks like thunder, I was throwing lazy underhand flicks that were really loud. It worked out pretty well I think, but I do...

Wow! Do you sell these ? Beautiful stuff! I'm sure that I will be selling some in the near future, I'm not in a position to take orders, but I will sell them as I complete them. For now, I want to really focus on the 8' Indy and perfect my process for just that one style, then maybe I will move on ...

Here is the result of my latest build which I completed today. It is 8' long, made from kangaroo. I used some old shellac that has browned with age, so the whip is fairly dark even though it is natural tan.

I have not made a lot of whips, but I have improved a great deal since the first. The first was a 9' calf skin and the other is an 8' kangaroo:

So here is the result of my 9th build, created with a saddle tan skin that I received from Joe Strain last week. This time, I hand-cut the strands for the bellies, and the overlay was a mix of hand-cutting and a lace-cutter. I ran out of material at the end for the knots, so I cut the strands from a...

I don't know, but I imagine that it takes a while, it is inhumanly tight. When I unpacked it and held it by the handle, the whip did move from its coiled position, it was frozen in place, THAT'S how tight it is! As I said, I am incredibly impressed with his work. I used it briefly today, it cracked ...

I am really impressed with it, it's an incredible level of refinement. I have so much more to aspire to now with my own whip making.

My Joe Strain whip came in today and I took some photos. 8 foot, saddle tan. I also ordered some kangaroo skins for a few upcoming builds of my own. It looks terrific, thanks Joe! http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4576201223_889cc21354.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4576835698_5c66ce4ace....

It's been a few years since I made a whip, but I have been feeling the urge to make another, so about a month ago I put this one together with kip bought from my local Tandy. Unfortunately I cut the strands too wide and did not taper them quickly enough so the braid is a little crowded and it did no...

Thanks Craig, that's exactly what I was looking for. I was thinking about this a bit today and I was wondering about how you whipmakers out there do in fact balance your whips? Do you have a standard amount of weight that you add for a given length or do you evaluate each whip seperately? If so, how...

Thanks for the insight guys. I understand that the weight is a variable that could be dramatically different from whip to whip. I have experienced this with many guitars, where the weight between the same model could vary dramatically, as much as 2-3 times, despite the same construction and material...

I'm curious about the weight of the Morgan whips. I have read a few times that the Morgan 10 footers weigh somewhere between 2.5 and 3 pounds. That seems a little bit heavy to me, has anyone here actually weighed one? The 9 footers that I have built, which seem well balanced (to me anyway), weigh in...

Thanks! The I'm pretty pleased with the shape and size of the turkshead, the last one I did was just slightly larger than I wanted.

Here is my second kangaroo whip, a 9' Indy style. I just finished it last night and gave it a few cracks today. The first kangaroo whip that I made a few weeks ago turned out well, but I thought that the thong was a little light, so I beefed this one up a bit, I think it's better. It's definitely my...

It was one of his whips that inspired me to start making my own since I was sure that I could do better.

Thanks! I dunno exactly how long it took. Maybe 15 hours??

Earlier this week I finally received the kangaroo hide that I ordered and I finished my first kangaroo whip, my fourth whip to date. The kangaroo is pretty amazing and it was a lot different to work with than the cowhide. Overall it was a much more pleasing material to use, but I have to say that I ...

I'm definitely open to alternative methods of balancing my whips. The method I have been using has worked well enough, I am able to wrap it pretty tightly and the butt is solid, but it's definitely less than ideal. Any suggestions?

Tandy is where I've been getting my hides. The calf is very strong but as I say it is small and there is a lot of waste. I've looked at every other thin hide they have there and never found another hide strong enough. Where do you get your kangaroo from? Also, while we're on a materials discussion, ...

Thanks! I am really looking forward to trying the Kangaroo, the calfskin is thick and there is a lot of waste on the small hide. The kip I have tried so far has been too weak and not at all suitable for whipmaking so far as I can tell. Does anyone know of any good sources for hide in the Toronto area?

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and to the world of whips and whipmaking. I've been browsing this forum the last week or so and have found it to be a wonderful resource so I thought I'd join. I started making/cracking whips about 2 months ago so I am completely new to this hobby and I'm sure t...