Finally got my GRAIL WHIP!!!!

[Marhala]

So... a couple of months ago, there was a thread about our dream "Grail whip". I then posted (not that I post much) that I wanted a "Classic Bullwhip" like the one David Morgan offered a couple of years ago.

The thing is, I really got into making my dream come true. So I researched and asked a couple of whipmakers if they could do the replica, and finally decided to go with Ben Scott. I had heard little from him, but just good comments. What I wanted most, was his foundation made out of a steel pipe and a spring. Oh, and the 3 plaited bellies, as Morgan made them. I know it is not an exact replica, since Ben makes his whips with three bellies, no bolsters, except for the layer between the 3rd belly and the overlay. But the whip is sound. Ben sent me a couple of pics which I'll share with you! It isn't yet in my hands, but it will be in a couple of days.

I didn't go with the others, not because they were not good, but because they had then very long waiting times, which in the end didn't matter much, since for personal reasons, I had to cancel the project and ended up waiting 6 months! . I have an old Joe Strain, around 15 years of age, so I thought that if I had a Strain already (not that I think that his work has not changed in such a long time, LOL!), I could buy from another maker to get some variety.

So, here they are:

This picture I love the most:




And here's a comparison: 16-20-12 plait. The one in the middle is Ben's Australian Style Bullwhip. Of course, mine is the first one from left to right.



By the way, I asked Ben for a whitehide fall, because I wanted to get to know that tannage, since I haven't found it in my country, Mexico. This fall was courtesy of Paul Nolan from Midwestwhips, as Ben told me. Here you can see the whip in day light.



I can't wait to give it a try!!!

Did I mention I ordered one of his nonslip whip holsters?

[Hollowpond]

Looks nice! Now someone explain the pipe and spring .


Travis

[louiefoxx]

There's a good picture of the pipe and spring handle foundation in Whips and Whipmaking by David Morgan. I'm going to assume that he's using something similar.

xoxo

Louie
http://bullwhips.org

[Marhala]

Hollywoodpond, as Louie said, you can see an illustration of that same foundation on Morgan's Whips and Whipmaking, either the previous or the Second Edition. Instead of using a steel spike and making the transition from solid cores of leather, Ben uses a tapering spring to get the taper, but most importantly, to give a firm, gradual and very strong foundation for that part of the whip which takes the most stress. His theory being that the whip will never get the "wet noodle" syndrome. Morgan says: "This foundation provides an excellent transition from handle to thong and is durable".

I even remember seeing some pictures taken by Liontamer at Morgan's shop, of some pages of an Australian catalog depicting whips having that same principle. If I recall well, it describes whips with the spring in the transition as "hard hitting".

All the best,

Aldo.

[Canuck Digger]

Looks amazing! Congratulations!

Franco

[tomek9210]

Could somebody post a pic of this spring transition?
Great whip by the way! The plaiting looks very smooth. Hope you will be happy with it

[Hollowpond]

Hollywoodpond, as Louie said, you can see an illustration of that same foundation on Morgan's Whips and Whipmaking, either the previous or the Second Edition. Instead of using a steel spike and making the transition from solid cores of leather, Ben uses a tapering spring to get the taper, but most importantly, to give a firm, gradual and very strong foundation for that part of the whip which takes the most stress. His theory being that the whip will never get the "wet noodle" syndrome. Morgan says: "This foundation provides an excellent transition from handle to thong and is durable".

I even remember seeing some pictures taken by Liontamer at Morgan's shop, of some pages of an Australian catalog depicting whips having that same principle. If I recall well, it describes whips with the spring in the transition as "hard hitting".

All the best,

Aldo.

Thanks for the explanation! And heads up guys...according to Marhala, I have gone Hollywood!

Regards

Travis

[Marhala]

Thanks for the explanation! And heads up guys...according to Marhala, I have gone Hollywood!

Regards

Travis

Hahaha! Sorry Travis... I sometimes forget to press the PREVIEW button, check my post, and then SUBMIT.

[BullWhipBorton]

Congrats Marhala, Thats a pretty sweet looking bullwhip!

I remembers Ben Scott from years back, back before he retired from whip making for a bit. It was really good to see him making whips again, He always did very good work. The whip looks pretty true to form too, love the dark color and really like the way he did the 8-seam work coming off the handle before switching into the 4-seam plait like on the classic bullwhips.

Dan

[Marhala]

Thanks Dan! I'll post more pics when I have the whip in my hands... And perhaps a video showing how it performs.