You can see extra length of the strand that I used for the butt on the whip on the left at the transition and fall, I plan on taking it off and using a wider strand.The ends of the handles have some extra machining which allows them to be connected and taken apart very easily. I would have liked to use brass to match the color of the hide but I didn’t have any so I improvised with some aluminum stock and washers. I have a better but more complicated quick disconnect idea but I wanted to see if it is worth the trouble . . . it’s not! It’s totally unwieldy; the only thing it does well is spin around its mid point. The only way I can see it working is if the handles were twice as long and the thong shorter 3 feet max or if was built as stock whips.
Here is a summary of the construction process and specs for the whip.
This is my 2nd and 3rd whip after a few years from making my first, but it sure felt like it was. The 2nd is the one with the darker more elongated butt, the round paler one is the 3rd. I did keep notes from my first just as Paul S. suggested but they got destroyed by a nephew so back to the drawing board. These are 6 footers compared to the almost 10’ of my first so I don’t think the measurements would transfer to these. I’m going to put them into some kind of electronic document so that doesn’t happen again.
These were made almost simultaneously. I made the cores at the same time, then cut the first belly of each (two sets each were trashed because the strands were weak,) skived, then those were plaited and rolled. The second bellies were much easier and I didn’t waste anything on those. The overlay was then cut for each – it was a mistake to do it without a break because my hand started to cramp up and I cut one too narrow as I was on the last couple of strands. It ended up making a big gap in the final overlay. I planned to make a 4th so I cut the two bellies out for that since it would be easier to make the wider strands while my hide was still large. I plaited them using a different soap, I don’t like lard, it made the strands really, really dark. It also didn’t help that I replaited those sections over and over because dropping strands was new to me again. My 3rd whip has better results in dropping strands – less lumps.
I had my first experience breaking a strand on the 2nd whip. It gave me no warning – it broke with less than half my pull on it. It happened about 2 feet from the end so I just undid a bit and slipped a new strand in but forgot to slide it down before it got locked in place, I finished it at 5’8, the 3rd is exactly 6’. This was a very dry hide and I had to pre-grease it several times, mostly as I plaited and the end of the 3rd had so much that as I pulled it looked like beads of sweat running out of the pores. I also broke a strand while I was putting on the knot for the butt of the 2nd whip. I need to make a metal fid because one out of scotch tape isn’t so good but it did work that time.
I was lucky to find a splitter for $10 +$10 shipping that was all rusted from a bloke in Florida. With a little shock therapy and brushing I think it’s a good buy. I was able split the overlay of the 3rd whip and I think it helped in not having huge lumps as I dropped strands. My strands end up at 1.5-1.6mm double the thickness of medium weight roo – so I’ve read. I’m going to try for a bit thinner for my 4th but I don’t want to have any breaks.
I built up the knobs considerably more than my first and they still look strange to me. It’s easier to crack than my 10’ (of which I still need to taper the fall better) and seems louder since the cracks are closer to me. I think my 1st is better than these because I was more interested in making a double ended whip than making a good whip – no excuses, even though it didn’t take 50+ hours for both like my first one did. Having to drop strands seemed to happen much sooner and obviously so since it is shorter. The strand drops are in different places so they don’t taper equally. I hope my 4th is better than these but I’m not sure how long I want it – back to the good ol’ drawing board.
they do it with multi tailed whips though rather than a single tail.....
