Tapering a nylon whip

[willthebold]

I've made a few nylons, and I'm always unsure exactly how to get a good taper in them. My construction is an empty cord with BB's, then 8 plait, then 12 plait. I guess I'm wondering how to taper things nicely other than just dropping strands. I've used a little bit of electrical tape to get a taper started in the first layer, but I didn't really like how the tape on the inside made the whip feel.

-Will

[Dalexs]

Speaking as a complete newbie in the nylon whip making department...

I've been working on making nyloins whips recently and I find that on the strands you drop,
they really need to be cut a decent length in difference and try not to bunch them.


The first whip I made, I cut the strands almost the same length and you could definately see where the "taper" is.

Probably make sure your core is really well rolled and not all lumpy too. That'll probably make things look all
snake eating a mouse-ish...

Dalexs

[willthebold]

Are you dropping 2 at once, or just one at a time? I was thinking it might be better to do 2 at once, so you'd have fewer drop points, and it might make it a little more even. I guess I just get a little confused by how the taper happens. Say I'm working 8 strands, and they start to get bunched up, so I drop one or two strands into the belly and keep going. Does the thong start to taper at the drop point, or not until the dropped strands run out? I would assume the latter...

-Will

[Canuck Digger]

There are two schools of thought on this matter, but keep in mind I have never made a nylon whip, so there might be some different approaches to strand dropping with nylon than with leather, as I believe there is some amount of "fusing" going on with nyon, which obviously doesn't apply to leather.

The first is dropping both strands at once in an effort to minimize drop points. This is especially convenient if you are working with very thin and narrow strands, but doesn't work so well with larger strands on a lower plait count. Dropping two strands together on an 8 palit whip will be trickier than on a 24 plait whip, because on the higher plait whip, each strand being so small, its effect on the geometry of the plait is less than on the lower plait whip.

Also, the number of drops you have is slightly more important in nylon than it is in leather because in leather you can always make a whip in 8 plait from begining to end and just taper the strands and so have no drops at all. This is important when you talk about a short whip, let's say shorter than 6 feet, because (at least with leather - I believe the technique is a bit different with nylon), you need a few inches everytime you drop a strand for the plaiting to "stabilize" as I call it. This is the minimum distance a plait needs to achieve a harmonious balance where the strands are evenly distributed around the core, this takes, I would say, a minimum of two full cycles of the strands going around the core. So on a short whip (ex. 5'), you do not have a lot of space in which to "stabilize" the plait every time you drop a strand on account of the length of the whip being so short, so it is easier to work (in leather because you just tapper the strands all the way) with a lower plait count (like 8 plait) and either plait with 8 all the way through or just drop to 6. On a long whip this is irrellevant because you have so much space in which to drop your strands and stabilize the plait before dropping the next one. But since you can't taper the strands on a nylon whip, that means you either stick to a slim core in an effort to minimize the number of strands you will have to drop in the overlay, or you try to make your whip a bit longer (at least longer than 5'), so as to give yourself plenty of room to maneuver in.

The second school of thought is dropping one strand at a time. This is the one I prefer. I like it better because it allows me to make the drop points more invisible and there is less of a disruption in the plait and the plait angle, because there hasn't been that many strands taken out of the plait suddenly. I drop one strand then plait over the dropped strand for at least six inches before I drop the next one. This is how I like to work because it's not rushed or cramped and I only have one thing to deal with at any given point. This lets me concentrate more on the taper and not be so busy manipulating all these strands at once.

But that's just me.

[G-Roberts]

Check out http://www.whip-basics.de/gallery.php Go to the bottom of the page and you will find a nylon snake whip . This helped me a lot. It shows you how to drop your strands and how long to cut them in the core. You can work out different length cores and such for different length whips off it
G-

[Dalexs]

I concurr. Tonmy did a nice job on that tutorial. It was what I used for my first whip.

[willthebold]

Thanks for all the input folks! I think I wound up using a mixture of all the different ideas I've come across (plus a couple of things I made up on the fly). I think it turned out okay. I took it outside today, and was cracking pretty nicely. I still need to tie the transition knot on it.

-Will