My first kip bullwhip

[Canuck Digger]

Here you go folks, a new pic for the new year.

It's my first and probably only kip bullwhip. I made it out of a second-grade hide from Tandy (it was on sale), and I had all the trouble in the world with this hide. Between the hidden and obvious tick marks and abundant scratches, it was hard to not cut through a bad patch of leather, with the resulting broken strands. I broke 4 out of the 8 strands of the overlay, mostly toward the tip of the whip, which is why I was forced to end the whip a little sooner than I would have liked. It should've had another 6" at the tip, but it was either end it here or make a bunch of splices really close to the end, and that was a no-no for me.

It has the standard construction; 8" spike, wear-leather, core, 4 plait belly, bolster, 4 plait belly, bolster, and overlay. The knots are standard too, overall the whip comes in at 6' 11", plus a 34" fall and a 7 1/2" cracker.

I made a few mistakes on this whip, most notably making the core too large with the resulting very heavy first part of the whip being a bit too slow in its taper. But otherwise it cracks very easily and feels very robust.

I did do a few things right though. This was the first whip where I got to try my new recipee for plaiting soap, and as you can see it's a lot paler in color (actually the real whip is even paler than the pic). I didn't so much change the way I make the soap, as I did the type of fat I use to make it. I finally got around to using beef fat (boy rendering that into clean fat was an adventure on its own!), and I love the result! It doesn't darken the leather nearly as much as lard did, but it is a pain to make. The lard I just buy ready-to-use at the grocery store, while the beef fat was purchased from a local butcher's and I had to go through many opperations and stages to turn it into clean fat suitable for a good-quality plaiting soap. Having said that, the trouble is well-worth it and I can't wait to use it on kangaroo!

All-in-all, I don't like kip for plaiting very much and have no desire to return to it anytime soon.

Oh and on this whip I also thinned down the shellac, and I really like the result. It isn't quite as shinny as before with the more concentrated solution, but at least it doesn't crack and flake. I think that my jar of shellac had been getting more and more concentrated due no doubt to the alcohol evaporating with use.

Well enough with the chit-chat, onto the pic:

[bobm2004]

Well first, it looks very nice and looks like it is very crackable. But that said I have a very dumb, newbie, non maker question which is what is kip? I assume a type of leather? Thanks.

[Canuck Digger]

Heheh, that's alright. Yes, kip is a type of leather. Specifically it comes from a more mature calf, a teen if you will, so it isn't as big a a full-grown adult, but larger than a young animal. It's vegetable tanned (which is a longer process than using chromium salts, but gives a very firm leather). As far as I know, the English make some of the best kip available, but I understand it is very expenssive.

I usually use kip for bolsters, but this was my first experience using it for plaiting. I should have used a better quality hide, I'm sure that would have had a effect on the breaking strand factor... Oh well, live and learn right?

[Cracker]

I think you did a fine job on it. Just think of the broken strands as a learning experience.

I'm impressed with the way you were able to work them back in. I know that is not easy, at least for me.

[Canuck Digger]

Thanks, I've had a bit of practice with splicing-in strands; when I first started making whips as a kid I only had relatively short lengths of leather to work with, so I learned how to make splices, and even if I rarely have to make them nowadays, I haven't forgotten how. Like I said, the hidden tick marks were a real pain because I didn't always notice them as I was cutting the sets, so some ended up in the final overlay, and those were the ones that broke. I would rather have to undo the entire whip and redo it as a shorter whip than to finish one knowing there are weak strands in there, and I also plait pretty tightly so there's little chances a weak strand will survive the plaiting process... But since this whip is really just a (functional) wallhanger, I won't loose sleep over it.

[DanielJones]

Very nice job indeed. Appears to have a very even taper as well. Beauty of a wallhanger.

Cheers!

Dan

[Canuck Digger]

Thanks Dan,
actually, I made the core a bit too big, so the taper in the first half of the whip is a bit too slow, and because of the broken strands, the tip ends a bit too abruptly and short of my ideal mark, but it WAS made to give folks who visit my local leather shop an idea of what the difference between a cheap Mexican whip and a proper whip is, with the hope that it might drum up some business )

I'm happy I did it though, because yet again, I learned something new and I do like the slightly more rustic look and feel of it. Once you work with kangaroo though you are kinda spoiled for other types of leather... Still, it's always fun to make a new whip )

[DanielJones]

Well, appearance wise in the photo it looks good. Hope it gets you the business you're after.

Cheers!

Dan