New nylon target whip

[kwad]

Just finished this one.

"Acid Dark Brown" para-cord, 7 foot with a 12" handle.
BB loaded core with a 6mm thick, hardened steel rod for the handle foundation (made out of the cleaning rod from my Mosin Nagant rifle).
16plt. overlay with a 4plt. point.
The accent ring is made out of polished copper (found in the plumbing section of HomeDepot).
Latigo fall was purchased from midwest whips.


I really took my time on this one, and I think it paid off.
One thing I did that I think really helped the performance of the whip was lining up the seams from the bellies and overlay (I'd turn it 180 degrees between plaiting each layer). It rolls out smoothly and falls straight.

I've never had a whip with a handle longer than 8 or 9 inches.
Man, what a difference! It took a few minutes to get used to, but now I love it!
It takes little effort to crack and I have much greater control over the thong when it is in motion.

I'd love to have one with similar dimensions made out of leather.

[darksideman13]

Looks good. I like the longer handle and thats a great shape for the turks head. IMO i am not a fan of braiding down to a 4 plait. It shortens the life of the nylon greatly. I always stop at a 6 plait. You also do have that awkward transition bump. Over all it looks like an excellent whip. Keep up the good work.

~Luke
http://www.meyerwhips.com

[kwad]

Thanks DSM,

Depending on the whip, I will either use a 4 or 6 strand point. It just depends on how fine or thick I want the point to be.
I wanted a finer point on this whip, so I went with 4 strands.

Not too worried about it breaking there. It is plaited tightly, plus, I extend the core strand all the way up and include it in the fall hitch (it is the lighter colored strand in the middle of the hitch).


I'm not sure what transition bump you are referring too?
If you mean the bump right before the fall hitch, that is actually an extra half hitch knot.
After tying the hitch, the last strand was pulled back through the eye of the fall and tied into a half hitch.

[rawvoodoo]

Excellent looking whip Kwad. I like the look of a whip with the accent ring.

[kwad]

Thanks Rawvoodoo!

I love the look of the Zorro/Alex Green style whips, so I thought I'd give one a try.
I would have really liked to have a silver colored ring, but, I had to use what I could find.

Luckily, my dad-in-law just picked up a lathe so, I'm going to try machining some more decorative ferruls out of aluminum tubing next time I'm up there.

[rawvoodoo]

I wonder how hard it would be to find a ring like that made from Damascus

[kwad]

"Damascus" steel would look really cool.
Unfortunately, having the steel billets forged, then having them machined into the desired shape would be awfully expensive.

I've seen wedding band style rings made of Damascus go for $200 and up.
I couldn't imagine what a 1" I.D. by 1" long tube of it would cost!

[darksideman13]

I'm not sure what transition bump you are referring too?

I was just saying on most nylon whips I have bought/used when the maker drops from a 6 plait to a 4 plait, the transition is awkward and leaves a strange bump. It comes from when you drop your strands and braid over them. Just what I have noticed. But hey, if you can get it to work well than excellent

~Luke
http://www.meyerwhips.com

[kwad]

Oh, I see what your talking about.

I find that if I drop one strand at a time, and cut off the dropped strands at the right time, It minimizes the bump near the point.

[riku1914]

on your handle diamond plait, did you pull 2 strands at once?

[kwad]

Hi Riku,

You are correct.
The pattern I used for the handle section is Under 2, Over 2, pulling two strands at once.

[Mustafa]

Very nice looking whip!! Love the copper accent piece!

[IndianaBravo]

Just noticed this Kwad, outstanding

[kwad]

Thanks guys!

This whip is quickly becoming my favorite to crack.
It handles sooo differently from my short handled, Indy style whips (but, in a very good way!)
Yesterday I was finally able to pull off a nice, evenly timed volley (10 cracks in a row) without feeling like I was loosing control.

After I get my whip from Graeme, I think I'm done with 8" handles for a while.

[Mustafa]

Hey Kwad, I am looking for a tutorial on how to make one of these. Did you use a book, online tutorial or something. Any info you have would be appreciated.

Thanks

Justin

[riku1914]

Hey Kwad, I am looking for a tutorial on how to make one of these. Did you use a book, online tutorial or something. Any info you have would be appreciated.

Thanks

Justin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sZq0LmV ... QL&index=1
i used bernie's youtube tutorial, and his tutorial on his website, he mentions his website during his videos so it shouldn't be difficult to find.

[Mustafa]

Hey Riku, I found Bernie's website but could not find any reference to a whipbuilding tutorial.

Great video though!!

Justin

[kwad]

Hi Justin,

I made my first whip using a snake whip tutorial available from http://www.whip-basics.de" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and by watching Bernie's videos on youtube.
After that, it was much trial and error (that's where the real learnin' is).

Here's the tutorial that got me started;
Part 1: http://www.whip-basics.de/images/galler ... part_1.pdf
Part 2: http://www.whip-basics.de/images/galler ... part_2.pdf


I'm not a fan of the electrical tape bolsters (I prefer to use either artificial sinew or the discarded threads from the paracord as binding and to help build the taper), however, it does give you the general idea.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a PM.

[rawvoodoo]

The Paul Stenhouse sticky up at the top of this forum is invaluble for figuring out what lengths your strands and bellys should be.

[kwad]

RV,

I totally forgot about Paul's tutorial!
ALOT of good info up there. It is specifically for leather whips, but, strand lengths are the same for nylon.

Another thing I want to add to anyone wanting to get into whip making is, keep a journal!
Write down ALL of your info as you go (strand lenghts, binding lengths, strand drop locations....etc)
Over time, it will help you remember the things you did right (and help you avoid repeating the things you did wrong!)

[riku1914]

Hey Riku, I found Bernie's website but could not find any reference to a whipbuilding tutorial.

Great video though!!

Justin

well, here is where he shows the layers ( helpful when not doing shot loaded core, just for some visual aids) :

http://www.em-brand-whips.com/insidebull.htm

and here is the actual tutorial:

http://www.em-brand-whips.com/bulltutorial.htm