6' Indy, Natural Tan roo

[ag04]

Hi all! I know I'm quite new here, and still quite new to leather whip-making, but I figured that I'd post of what I just completed in the past few days. I know Riku and Gio from another website, and both have some excellent talent! Definitely aspire to create whips such as theirs one day.

Here's the whip I just completed today. It's a 6' Indy, in a semi-raiders style trim, (longer handle length(between knots) of 5 5/8", 1.67" dia heel knot (was off by .01 from the spec!) in Natural tan roo. Unfortunately, I was making pretty good use of the hide, (too good apparently haha) and I had to use kip for the heel knot covering (lighter portion). It's only my second roo whip, and third leather whip overall, as I was primarily a nylon whip-maker until about 2 weeks ago

It's not perfect, but I figure you all would be able to pick out the flaws, constructive criticism is always a plus, always trying to improve! (please excuse the dirty fall from test cracking )







With her sister, a recently completed stockwhip:


Thanks all!

[Canuck Digger]

Hi and welcome to our little corner of COW!

Well it shows you've made a few whips before! Your overall shapes are pretty good, the plaiting is fairly straight from what I can tell and the heel knot has a nice shape to it. Your fall hitch is pretty good too. From the color of the whips, i can tell you use plenty of plaiting soap, so i can only deduce that the whip is fairly well-lubricated inside as well... Well done!

One thing though, would it be possible to see some head-on (overhead...) shots of the whips? It easier to tell taper that way as the angle shots tend to distort the taper...

Don't be shy, we love pics here (ok maybe that's just me).
Cheers,

Franco

[Adventure Dog]

That's a great looking whip! It looks really good coiled up (the "Off" position) with the fall wrapped around the handle. I don't know a lot about whips, but the extra space between the handle and the knot is a neat and it makes the handle taper in a cool way.
The important question is, "Do you like it" and "what would you change?"
Also, how does it crack? Is it responsive?

[whiskyman]

Nice job! It took me ages to get my whips to look that nice. More pics?

[riku1914]

He's made a lot of nylon whips, but this is only his second leather whip! First leather bullwhip

I'd say he's doing really great, and the strand sizing seems really good.

[ag04]

Thanks for the kind remarks all! I will get some more pics taken later today, so you all can get a better idea of the taper and overall shape of the whip.

Adventure, there is some strand bunching in certain sections, and next time I'll make sure to cut my strands a little smaller, additionally, I've got a few sloppy drops, which I think will go away the more experience I get with leather. I left the transition floppier than my other whips, as I knew Morgan Indies (sp?) are a little floppy, compared to say... a Jacka I will say that floppier transitions worry me for some disconcerted reasons, but each to his own. As far as cracking, this is my first leather Indy whip, and it does about everything I can do with no real issues, 'cept that darn volley and arrowhead (and techniques more advanced), but I blame my skills more than anything else. Additionally, I think I need to fine-tune my falls a little, haven't found a length I really prefer as of yet.

You all seem like pretty nice folks, I think I'll stay a while!

Adam

[ag04]

Well, you guys said you liked pictures, I've got a few of the taper, as well as some measurements, hopefully I'll get some more "artsy" pictures of it when I go out to crack next time.

And while my quality isn't quite the best yet, and will get better over time, I wouldn't mind selling this whip so I can buy more hides, 'reckon this thing is sell-able?

Taper:


Transition (I'd say ~100-150 cracks)


Tip Dia.


I had mentioned some strand crowding, (gotta post the good with the bad!) here is is :


knot length


Knot width! I'm probably most proud of this


Thanks all!

Adam

[riku1914]

That strand crowding you showed was more than acceptable. I definitely think it will sell. What were you hoping to get for it?

edit: it looks like, in the picture you posted of the strand " crowding " that some of the strands were beveled with a less than sharp

blade. Depending on the length of the strands, I like to break off a tip every 3-6 strand lengths ( just one side ) so when beveling

a long overlay I may go through a whole blade, or more, but it's needed to keep a real sharp edge on the strands, which can help

with how they fit together.

[ag04]

Oh wow, haha I didn't realize one should go through them that quickly. I've got two break off knives and several spare blades, but I use one knife for beveling and re-sizing, and one for for hide trimming and other less-fine work. I think I'll start pre-treating my hides as well, maybe they'll cut better if they are more greasy. Just took her out for a couple of throws, and I shortened and tapered the fall more, so now it ends at around a 2.5mm point, and is 33" long (was 3.5mm point and 36). She cracks a good deal better, basic cattleman's and coachmans take almost no effort at all, but I think I'm going to taper the fall sooner, and trim my strand tails a shad bit shorter, as they're 1.5" right now, and I think I can gain some performance and not lose fall-changeability with .75 or 1" tails. I'm a little displeased with the section of white-hide I was sent, as the backside is really fuzzy, and makes my falls look bad as soon as I crack the whip for the first time in grass/dirt.

As far as price, I'm unsure what I could get for something like this, I'd prefer to be able to buy a couple more hides with the money, so at least I can replace it by making two 6' whips or 1 8-10' whip and then go from there. As much as I'd like to keep it, my burning desire to make a better whip takes precedence

Regards,

Adam

[Canuck Digger]

Adam,
you're doing great and you should feel at ease selling this whip; it's miles ahead of any of the stuff one usually finds on Ebay...

Louie pre-greases his dry hides and swears by it.

That fall sounds like it's right in the sweet spot!

One thing though, you'll need to make your turk's head knot lace a bit wider to properly cover the knot foundation, but otherwise I'd say you nailed it!

Transitions... Yes, what a subject of debate there!

Good job mate!
Cheers,

Franco

[ag04]

Thanks Franco!

I've already pre-greased my saddle tan hide, and she should be ready to be cut into tomorrow!

I practiced a few wraps on soft round things, and it sure does ACTUALLY want to wrap and hold, my nylon whips definitely don't do that. I was cutting it rather close on the lace available for my turk's head, which is why it ended up slightly narrower, but I will make note, and increase lace width for my next Indy for sure! I appreciate the observations guys, they're a great help!

Regards,

Adam O.

[Canuck Digger]

I often end up using the outside of the hide for T-H lace... I'm not going to do much with that leather anyway, may as well use it. One thing I do when I have time on my hands, is I'll go through my stash of scrap leather and I will sort the good from the useless. This usually means re-sizing test or broken strands so they are all even and ready to be used. This means I always have a selection of strands of various widths and lengths to pick from. You may not have this now, but after a few whips, you will. I prefer to sort the "scrap" leather into useful bits and throw out those bits I know will never be used for anything, because in a very short amount of time you end up with BAGS of the stuff and there's really no point keeping a lot of this, and if you stay on top of it, you can actually put together a system of "off-cuts" that you can sift through and quickly determine if there is anything in there that can be of use to you in a pinch, instead of spending an hour going through bags of leather scraps!

Whipmaking is as much about the craft and techniques as it is about being efficient and managing all your resources (time and otherwise). Otherwise you end up spending a lot of time not making a whip...

A final word on lace for T-H, you will find that it pays to have really well-stretched strands for this because as your knot becomes closer to being tied, you'll notice how it gets tighter and tighter... and while this may be exactly what you want for the knot, it does mean that you are pulling your strand through spaces that exert more and more pressure on the strand, and this in turn has the effect of stretching your working strand out. So if you are using a strand that still has a lot of stretch in it, or if you have cut out the strand too close to the money in terms of width, you will wind up with a strand that is narrower at the end than it was when you started, and this not only affects how the knot looks, but also how well the strand covers the holes in the knot. So while you don't want to use plaiting soap on your strand, you do want it stretched out as much as possible, or cut it a bit wider than what you would normally if the leather is very stretchy.
Cheers and keep up the good work!

Franco