Unique Bullwhip

[louiefoxx]

Here's a bullwhip that I finished last week:

It's got a 20 plait kangaroo lash and a stingray handle. Here's a close up of the handle:

This was a fun project to make! You can see more pictures on my blog at http://bullwhips.org

Louie

[John Vaughan]

Now that is so cool!

[kwad]

Beuatiful whip, Louie!

[pmgilmer]

Haha! WOW! That is extremely sweet! Very creative. What does the stingray skin feel like?

[IndianaBravo]

That is truly unique and amazing. Why not a whip plaited entirely from stingray?

Cheers

IndianaBravo

[louiefoxx]

IndianaBravo,

Stingray is a very weird skin, it's covered in bumps that are very hard, but smooth. It feels like it's covered in small glass beads. I think I read that they are calcium deposits...or at least the large white one is. Those bumps make it very difficult to cut (and you'd wear through a lot of blades).

One of the challenges in making the handle was the seam of the stingray on this bullwhip because the bumps when they are cut can get razor like edges...and that's a bad quality in a whip handle. I ended up taking my dremel and grinding them down to where they weren't sharp.

Also the stingray skin is only about 13-15 inches tall by about 8 inches wide:

so you'd be doing a lot of splicing!

Louie
http://bullwhips.org

[Vaderbreath]

Crazy stuff, my friend. I can honestly say that I've never seen a stingray skin before. Well, I'm impressed as usual.

[IndianaBravo]

Ahá! , thanks for the explanation Louie!

[tomek9210]

Crazy idea Louie! I saw it before on your blog. Crazy, but effect is more than fine, I love it!
Have you worked with other exotic skins?

[louiefoxx]

Tomek,

I've haven't done much with exotic skins. I want to do a whip that is either entirely made from shark skin, or more realistically just the handle. The thing with shark is that I've never seen it in person so I don't know how braid-able it'd be, or what the texture would be like. I imagine at the very least I could use it for the handle.

Shark is a very weird shaped skin:


So that would probably rule out doing the lash of the whip with it....also it's super expensive!

I'll probably never get around to making a whip with a shark handle. But it's be a fun project!

Louie
http://bullwhips.org

[tomek9210]

I have also seen crocodile skin grips on stockwhips' handles. But I have also read somewhere about dolphin's skin, but I don't remember website.

[louiefoxx]

I felt some crocodile skins and thought about using them...but I didn't think the smooth and lumpy texture would feel good in the hand.

Louie

[bobm2004]

I have o say I am drawn to the unusual and a handl made out of a ray is just toooooooooo cooooooooool!!!

[Gaucho]

Nice whip


It's really unique design.


God work Louie.



Regards.


Gaucho

[Indiana County Jr.]

Very Nice Louie!



Allen

[pmgilmer]

I felt some crocodile skins and thought about using them...but I didn't think the smooth and lumpy texture would feel good in the hand.

Louie

My experience with croc skin (from a non-whip making stand point) is that it is hard to maintain. For instance, I have a bunch of croc belts that my grandfather got me in Australia. They have all cracked and fallen apart under the stress of the flexing. I'm sure there is a way to keep it up, but everything I've seen (even boots) seems to deteriorate fast... it this true across the board, or have I only handled cheap imported products?

[louiefoxx]

That's exactly why I only did the handle in stingray (besides it probably being impossible) was that the handle doesn't really take much stress compared to the lash of the whip.

Most of the stress on the handle would be from it rubbing against your hand and not really any flexing. I did use spring steel handle foundation, so this whip has a slight bit of flex in the handle, but I think the affects of it flexing would be virtually non-existant.

Louie