Three Indy Style Bullwhips...

[louiefoxx]

Recently I found three calf skins that looked good at a local leather joint. So I made three bullwhips with Indy look in calf. Here's what I came up with:



The are 7 foot, 7.5 foot and 8 foot going from left to right.

Louie

[riku1914]

[quote="louiefoxx"]Recently I found three calf skins that looked good at a local leather joint. So I made three bullwhips with Indy look in calf. Here's what I came up with:



The are 7 foot, 7.5 foot and 8 foot going from left to right.

Louie

Is calf skin better than regular cow hide?

[louiefoxx]

Typically calf and kip will be better. They are younger animals, so less scars, etc and you can find them in very thin weights. Also it's easier to find calf and kip locally (for me) as a full skin, where cowhide I can usually only find as a side. By getting a full skin I can use the stronger areas more effectively

Louie

[DarenHenryW]

Lookin' good, Louie! Very nice stuff!

Daren

[Hollowpond]

SWEET!! That color kinda backs up Darren's idea about the Raiders whip! Nice!

[riku1914]

Typically calf and kip will be better. They are younger animals, so less scars, etc and you can find them in very thin weights. Also it's easier to find calf and kip locally (for me) as a full skin, where cowhide I can usually only find as a side. By getting a full skin I can use the stronger areas more effectively

Louie
http://bullwhips.org

oh, i see, though the place i use sells cowhides and has very little scars, if at all, for awesome prices. I usually buy them as a side, (

$85 for a minimum of 22sq. ft. guaranteed, and US shipping is included in price ). They also sell full hides for $155, again shipping

included, and quarter hides for $50. I just looked and found 23 sq. ft. calf hides @ 3.5oz thickness $125, again shipping included.

I don't know if that's good because i've never used calf skins before.

edit:

just found this site, seems a little too good to be true, what you guys think?

http://www.dangerousthreadsinc.com/serv ... TAN/Detail

[louiefoxx]

Riku1914,

What weight cowhide are you buying? I try not to think of cowhide's thickness by the ounce weight, I use it's thickness in mm. When I'm ordering through the mail I'm sure it drives people nuts because they have to take their caliper with them when they pull my orders.

However with cowhide for a bullwhip you are probably making something that'll be cheaper than roo (that's probably why you are using cowhide, not kangaroo) and you don't want to waste time splitting it. So I try to keep my cow/kip/calf at 3 ounces or under. Usually I buy 2-3 or 2.5-3 ounce and that keeps it at about 1.2mm or thinner.

Now for the pricing of a 23 foot calf hide, you might want to double check that. Most leather places have a specific size that calf has to be smaller than. I don't remember what that size is. I think kip is typcially under 18 or 20 feet and kip is bigger than calf. The calf skins I made those whips out of were 6-7 feet.

Also that link you posted is a bit expensive for what it is. That's a veg split which isn't very good for braiding. A good price for splits is about $1 per foot.

When buying leather over the phone I'd pay more per foot to have someone who knows what I need pull the leather for me. That's why I don't buy over internet, if you submit your order online you don't get a chance to actually talk to the person selling it. Simply mentioned you need it for whips in the comments part online won't necessarily get them to call you and say what you are getting isn't right for you. However when you are talking to them on the phone they may suggest something else...or straight up tell you they don't have anything that's right for what you are going to make. Of course if you can find a place where you can personally go in (and has a good price) that's usually the best way to go.

Louie

[riku1914]

Riku1914,

What weight cowhide are you buying? I try not to think of cowhide's thickness by the ounce weight, I use it's thickness in mm. When I'm ordering through the mail I'm sure it drives people nuts because they have to take their caliper with them when they pull my orders.

However with cowhide for a bullwhip you are probably making something that'll be cheaper than roo (that's probably why you are using cowhide, not kangaroo) and you don't want to waste time splitting it. So I try to keep my cow/kip/calf at 3 ounces or under. Usually I buy 2-3 or 2.5-3 ounce and that keeps it at about 1.2mm or thinner.

Now for the pricing of a 23 foot calf hide, you might want to double check that. Most leather places have a specific size that calf has to be smaller than. I don't remember what that size is. I think kip is typcially under 18 or 20 feet and kip is bigger than calf. The calf skins I made those whips out of were 6-7 feet.

Also that link you posted is a bit expensive for what it is. That's a veg split which isn't very good for braiding. A good price for splits is about $1 per foot.

When buying leather over the phone I'd pay more per foot to have someone who knows what I need pull the leather for me. That's why I don't buy over internet, if you submit your order online you don't get a chance to actually talk to the person selling it. Simply mentioned you need it for whips in the comments part online won't necessarily get them to call you and say what you are getting isn't right for you. However when you are talking to them on the phone they may suggest something else...or straight up tell you they don't have anything that's right for what you are going to make. Of course if you can find a place where you can personally go in (and has a good price) that's usually the best way to go.

Louie

It isn't too much of a hassle to split leather, I was talking about this website, i've spoken to someone over an email, but what would make it good for plaiting and not good? I would be using the:

http://www.brettunsvillage.com/leather/sides.htm

INDIE'S PULL-UP SIDES

and the :

Black Full Calf Hides

are what i was talking about

[louiefoxx]

What makes something good or not good for braiding depends on the project you are working on. For example I made a 4 plait bullwhip out of whitehide (the same thickness I use for falls). It worked...but I wouldn't use that leather to make a 16 plait bullwhip.

The easiest way to learn what's not good is to try something and have it not work. Generally Veg Tanned or Latigo is what most whip makers use...but it mainly depends on the project. You don't see a lot of 64 plait bullwhips in latigo.

My thing with splitting leather is if it's cowhide it's going to have a lower retail value, so I need to not add extra steps to it...also it's silly to split cowhide for a 4 plait whip (which most of my cowhide ones are). Splitting takes time, but the real time killer is keeping your blade sharp!

[Holmes]

Those are some nice whips!! It always amazes me too see how screen accurate some the whips posted here are.