My new whip

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:49 pm

I'm about to take my new whip to the park to test it out. Here's a picture of it:

It's a 6 1/2 foot whip with a looong handle (12 inches).

xoxo

Louie

JoelM · Post by **JoelM** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:44 pm

AWSOME!

I wish i had the money for one but alas...college...

USNavyBlueAngel · Post by **USNavyBlueAngel** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:37 pm

That's a gorgeous whip, Louie!! I love the colors on it.....

Who made that one???

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:48 pm

USNavyBlueAngel,

Glad you like the whip..I made it.

I've been wanting to try one with a longer handle than the 8 inch that I normally make to see how it handles (pun possibly intended).

Here's a close up picture of it.

I worked hard on that whip, it was a test whip for a pair of whips that I am making now.

xoxo

Louie

RobbyT43 · Post by **RobbyT43** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:58 pm

WOW

I cannot believe that you made that beautiful whip. Excellent job, my friend. Your hard work has paid off tremendously

My best,

Robby

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:18 pm

Robby,

Thanks for the kind words. This whip was the first whip that I cut all the strands 100% freehand. I gave up my strand cutter and now there's no turning back!!

Honestly I am amazed this whip came out as well as it did...I keep thinking that I got lucky making this one...we'll see how the next one comes out.

xoxo

Louie

Herr Jones · Post by **Herr Jones** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:30 pm

Nice work!

I found that I cut my laces better freehand than with the strander on the one whip I made.

Did you intend to twist the seam?

K on the run · Post by **K on the run** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:47 pm

That's a beautiful whip you've made. I wish I could make a whip just as a test. Why is the fall so short, isn't it hard on the braiding when you crack it?
Best regards,
Kim

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:39 pm

The twist on the seam is accidental...I'm working on decreasing it. I think it's from pulling harder with my right hand than my left (or the other way around) while braiding.

The fall on this whip is 24 inches. Normally on my 6 foot whips I like 30ish fall, but I was out of the leather that I use for my falls. I got some more today and am going to change the fall to a 30ish inch fall this evening.

Here's a picture of a quick indy-ish style whip I made for my brother's attorney. She wanted whip to keep her interns in line. It doesn't need to crack, just for looks. So this whip has a core, 4 plait belly and a 8 plait overlay. I took it out and gave it a few cracks and it forward and side arm cracks just fine...but that's about it.

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:44 pm

Louie, Its not a bad looking whip. I really like to two-tone coloration, its got a pretty good taper and you did a great job cutting the strands by hand.

Your right the spiraling or twisting in the seems is mostly likely from pulling too hard on one side. It's definitely something you’ll want to work on and try to avoid as its not considered a desired trait on a professionally made whip. When you’re plaiting, Grip the strand in your hand and lean back pulling with your body weight not with your arm muscles and put it in place. This will give you a much more even tension on both the right and left side. It takes a little practice at first to get the feel, but once you do it’s a much better method and easier on your arms and hands. If you find your seem is still twisting a bit, don’t hesitate to undo that portion and re plait it. Also it will help if you can keep the whip stationary in a vice or tied on a sturdy hook while plaiting to keep it from moving around.

I like the attorney bullwhip

Great website too, I enjoy seeing your progress.

Dan

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:48 pm

Currently my wife forbids me from putting up hooks in her new home, so I have a wacky setup in my home office, that is definately not a sturdy thing to hang it on.

Basically it's a strip of kangaroo with a slip knot in it that is wrapped around part of my desk. Then I hang the whip from the slip knot whip I braid it.

Louie

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:10 pm

Thats understandable, don't upset the wife.

I've used a similar set up in the past, but had much better results when I started using a more stationary and sturdy method to the hold the whip.

Ingenuity is the mother of invention or something like that. Do you have a shed or a garage you can set up a workstation in?

Dan

Mountaineer Lasher · Post by **Mountaineer Lasher** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:04 pm

BullWhipBorton wrote:Ingenuity is the mother of invention or something like that.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:22 am

I have a hook on my deck, but it's use is limited by daylight and weather. Now the summertime is here and it's my busy performing season, I don't get a lot of time during the day to use my hook.

I think I understand what you mean by leaning back to create the tension in the strands. What I tried with a 4plait belly was I grab the strand, then put my elbow against my side to anchor my arm and lean back. That way my arm muscules are pushing against my ribs and not pulling the strand.

I've got straighter results with that method, but I'm sure my "lean technique" will take a bit of practice.

I might get a vice today that I can put on a table in my home office and see how much of a difference that makes.

Dan, thanks for your help!

xoxo

Louie

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:32 pm

BullWhipBorton,

I just did the overlay for a 4 foot whip using a vice and leaning and it got great results. The whip is at least 87% straighter than Elton John.

I'll post pics of the 4 footer when it's finished.

THANKS!

Louie

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:06 am

No problem Louie, Happy to help out and glad to hear your getting better results.

If you check out http://www.aussiewhipmaker.com/ and click on the “How to plait your whip” link in the video section, it will bring up a nice video showing Gayle Nemeth plaiting a 4 plait redhide stock whip, It gives better idea of that leaning back to pull tight method i mentioned.

Look forward to seeing your next whip.

Dan

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:50 am

It looks like gayle is doing pretty close to what I was doing, but visually seeing it really helped!

I've got that 4 foot whip, but I forgot my wife took the camera with her on a trip to the east coast, so pictures will have to wait until tuesday.

Louie

Captain Ron Solo · Post by **Captain Ron Solo** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:56 pm

The whip is at least 87% straighter than Elton John.

Indiana · Post by **Indiana** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:15 pm

Great looking whips, Louie. Love the twotone one.

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:37 am

Here's a picture of the whip that I made over the weekend. The seam is much straighter than the two tone.

This whip is a 4 foot whip and it's a little harder to see the seam's lack of twist because it's one color, but I assure you the seams twists much less than chubby checker in 1960.

You can see a couple more pics on my site http://bullwhips.org

xoxo

Louie

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:44 pm

Currently my wife forbids me from putting up hooks in her new home

Man, if my wife paid for our house completely out of her pocket I certainly couldn't complain either.

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:51 pm

She didn't pay for it completely...but I see why she doesn't want hooks in the house. The vice I got is working out nicely!

Louie