From falls & poppers to plaiting & cracking technique, this section is dedicated in memory of Sergei, IndyGear Staff Member and Whip Guru. Always remember to keep "Celebratin' Life!"
I was at the film convention in Malmö this weekend http://propworld.nu/ and there was a Indy whip on display (along with a ammo-box and a clapboard, I'll post pic's in General Prop Discussion)
I see a bit of taper on the handle right below the turkshead knot. I've never seen that on any screen whip. Usually the handle is pretty uniform in diameter all the way up.
That was the EXACT pic I was thinking of when Agent5 said he had never seen that taper before. A lot of older Morgans seem to have that hourglass shape to the handle, but it most evident on the ToD whips. I happen to like it -- it make the handle a better shape, rather that just a straight cylinder...
The handle is indeed tapered, I to was a bit surprised but I'm no expert so I didn't comment on it .
Indy_Railok, yes I saw it and the pic is here: viewtopic.php?t=17432&highlight=
I used to make the handles on my bullwhips without a layer of leather. I liked the look, and for some time, so did many other people. But, people stopped asking, and I stopped making them that way only for that reason. If anyone has a picture of one that I've made for them like that, throw up a picture.
K, Great Pictures. I am guessing that bullwhip was from the Last Crusade too? It’s not unusual to see a slight tapering where the handle gets narrower towards the bottom turkshead knot and bulges towards the top knot. I’ve seen it on a few other screen used Indy bullwhips and on some older Morgan bullwhips in general. With each one being hand made though there is some variation in the taper from whip to whip, some are very pronounced others are barely noticeable, if there at all. I rarely see that type of taper one newer Morgan’s made in the fast 5 or 6 years. Picture angles can make it a more noticeable too.
here is one of those whips. I bought it off from Jim Markell a few years ago. The handle looks good but is too thin for my hands and the foundation is twisting a little. But the whipthong itself is the best bullwhip I have ever held in my hands (I had a look and crack on several Morgans and pageys, winrichs, a Duke and a Bernado, they only who seemed equal in quallity was Winrich, but this speccial 9ft. Stenhouse I owe is the best ballanced whip you can think of:
Here's a pic of a Dave Morgan I purchased in 2002. This is one of the last whips he said he'd do with the original handle design as in the films. Two of them where made which I eventually owned, but this one went to Chris King. The one I kept had a much more uniform hadle but this one here looks to me to be exact to that TOD pic posted above.
The handle is being compared to a 2001 Morgan (darker,left side) which has the newly improved handle design.
I just had a look at some photos from earlier film convention in Malmö and found an other pic of the same whip from a different angle. It doesn't look tapered at all in this shot