I made my first whip! (Pics)

LemonLauren · Post by **LemonLauren** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:45 am

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome in the wall of whips post! [:

Over the last few weeks, I made my first whip ever... and then made two more. And now I'm working on another one too. [: I thought you all might enjoy seeing them. What do you think?

I'm fairly new to whip cracking (just got my first whip, a 6ft Joe Strain, about a year ago), and obviously even newer to whip making. I'd appreciate any helpful comments or criticisms.

Many thanks to Paul Nolan for helping me get started! [:

-Lemon Lauren

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:54 am

They look awesome. How do they crack?

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:31 pm

Hey Lauren, not bad, not bad at all! In fact those snake whips looks pretty good, definitely better then the first whip I made

. Nice smooth taper, the sets and plaiting looks neat and even in width and well set, especially on the 2nd and 3rd whips. I'd give them a go, as a matter of fact, I especially like the black one myself!

Are you cutting your own sets by hand or using precut lace? Shot loaded bags inside?

Aside from maybe making the popper knot a little smaller, The best advice i can give you is to Listen to Paul. Don't tell him i said this, but he knows what he is doing and he won’t steer your wrong.

BTW feel free to post a picture or two of that 6ft Strain if you want

Dan

bleyd · Post by **bleyd** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:35 pm

Very nice job. A friend of mine keeps trying to talk me into making my own. He read somewhere that Indy made and repaired his own and thinks that's how I should go with them.

Nice job on the whips, btw.

racerx · Post by **racerx** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:23 pm

Great job!

I can tell by just looking at them , that they flow out and crack easy, I totally concer with Dan , really nice taper and plaiting.

And you can't go wrong with having a teacher like Paul, I can see his influence oosing out

Beautiful work indeed.

ATB

Jim J.

LemonLauren · Post by **LemonLauren** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 6:56 pm

Yep, they do all crack nicely thanks. [: They've each got their own personality of course... for example, my first red and black one is a bit heavier and beefier than my second red and black. But I'm so happy they do all crack well.

So far Paul has cut the strands, but I've done the rest - the lead loaded leather shot bag cores, skiving the strands, knots, wrist loop, braiding, etc. I'm in the middle of the overlay on a second black 4ft 8 Plait right now that is looking like it will turn out better than any of the first three. Paul's been a great teacher. [:

I'm seriously addicted to braiding now... It's a fun challenge to try and make each one better than the last. It feels a little like trying to speak a new language or learn a new musical instrument. However, I'm going to have to figure out what I can do with some of these whips - I'm in grad school and definately can't afford to keep all of them. I'll probably attempt to sell them to recoup some of the materials and lesson costs.

-Lemon Lauren

midwestwhips · Post by **midwestwhips** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:09 pm

BullWhipBorton wrote:Hey Lauren,

Aside from maybe making the popper knot a little smaller, The best advice i can give you is to Listen to Paul. Don't tell him i said this, but he knows what he is doing and he won’t steer your wrong.

Dan

Dan,

HA HA! You forget that I can read your post!

Lauren is doing an excellent job, and she is an extreemely fast learner! I really can't believe how well she is doing. Definitely has caught the Bug!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
MidWestWhips