New matched pair of stockwhips

[tomek9210]

They're 4.5ft, 12 plt in black paracord, double keeper on thong side, single on the handle side. Handles are made from fiberglass, tapered, also in 12 plt, lead weighted, knots have neon yellow highlights. These whips are very lightweight, great for two handed cracking, they won't tire your arms.







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What do you think?

[riku1914]

They flow really well. I like the "random" heel knot, everything's black then you get the bright yellow interweave. It's a nice touch

[lelec2]

Great whips my friend! I also like the Butt knots.

[WildWhips]

Tomek9210, The stock whips themselves look finely done but I find the turkhead style knots too large for my personal tastes. For a sports whip enthusiast who might wish to use these in routine work, large knots may make the grip awkward and uncomfortable. If you examine the most popular stockwhips used in competitions and sport, you will find the heel knots are very small and form fitting against the hand.

WW.

[riku1914]

Compared to most stockwhips that's true, they are large. I find that very large heel knots are very comfortable though. Small ones just make my hand hurt. If I were to make myself a matched pair or stockwhips they'll likely have heel knots just like tomek's as far as size goes.

[tomek9210]

I also like them to be large, they sit in palm very well, the grip is nice. And I had somehow put the lead there to balance the thongs

[riku1914]

I don't put lead in stockwhip handles. I don't like the feel of it ( I tried it on the first one I made, and even just adding 30 grams made it wrong. I added a little more and felt even more off ). Stockwhips tend to be light enough that a little nose heavy feeling doesn't put too much stress on the wrist. I actually like a nose heavy whip. The less weight in the handle, the more stress it puts on the wrist but it cracks louder. I still balance the whips I sell unless requested otherwise, because that's what most people like. But for mine I don't put a whole lot of lead in the heel ( speaking in terms of bullwhips now ).

[tomek9210]

I have a roo stockwhip, which have both thong and handle very light. The handle has no lead in it, which makes it very nose-heavy, the balance point is at 7/8 of the handle. It cracks fine, I like it, but when I tried it with other one in two handed routines, it failed that test. It was too nose-heavy, my wrists were on fire and the cracking was harder.
That's why I put lead in those whips, they're still very light, but cracking them is a pleasure.

[riku1914]

I have a suggestion. Crack a bullwhip that has no lead in the heel for the next 5 or 6 times you crack a whip. You'll get used to it, trust me! A whip I made recently had no lead in the heel, and I ended up keeping it for myself. When I started cracking it, the first and second time my wrist was, as you mentioned, on fire. Now several weeks later, I'm very used to it, my wrist doesn't tire, and I love the way it handles ( I was so close to undoing the heel and putting some lead ). Now when I crack a whip with a lot of lead in the heel, I don't like it much, even when I crack it a lot. There's nothing wrong with a balanced whip. I've just been slowly learning toward the nose heavy preference. I don't like them jacka nose heavy, I still use steel for my handle foundations, I just don't put as much lead as I do in other's whip in my own.
It does take a while to get used to, but trust me when you do, it's awesome! It's much louder cracks with less effort, plus your wrist doesn't hurt when you get used to it.

[tomek9210]

I've cracked bullwhips with no lead and I liked them too. It all depends on how heavy the thong is and if it needs to be balanced so it isn't too nose heavy. In lighter whips I put leather foundation as the base of the buttknot and in heavy ones, like Indys, always the lead, because they would be too noseheavy and they would try to slip out of my hand, what I don't like.
Plus I've heard from the fellow whipmaker that when it comes to stockwhips for two handed cracking - the balance point nearer the butt, the better. So I followed his advice and I like the result.

[riku1914]

How heavy is heavy to you? ( you mentioned on heavy ones you put the lead in )

The one I've been using is an 8 footer that starts at 24mm thick and ends at about 7mm thick, so it's pretty heavy and it's an all leather heel knot foundation. I love that whip! It took a while to get used to the balancing, but when I did ( mainly when my wrist did ) the whip feel awesome

[tomek9210]

Heavy is for me a bullwhip with weight of over 500 g I think. I don't remember the weight of my whips, I'm shooting.

[riku1914]

Oh ok so you're talking about literal weight. I can understand that. I tend to judge lead amount by length and thickness. The only whip I've ever weighed ( when it wasn't in a box ) was a stockwhip because I wanted to be able to see the weight of the handle and the thong, separately, so I guess it technically wasn't the full whip then anyway

[tomek9210]

Weight is weight, not thickness or length, because it can be misleading. You can make a short bullwhip that is very heavy or long australian bullwhip that is featherlight. Thickness depends on materials used. Only by weighting and finding balance point you can find out if the whip needs lead or no.
BTW, could you do me a favour and weigh your whip that has no lead, Riku?

[riku1914]

Sure thing, I'll be right back.

I kind of said this before but I determine how much lead it needs by comparing the length to the thickness. I have a system I use and it works well.

Ok the weight in grams is about 475. If I were balancing this whip, I'd have put about 100-120 grams in the whip. If I were making it somewhat balanced, I'd do about 50.

When I last did a 6 ft. whip, it was thick ( 26-27mm at the thickest ) and I believe I had 85-90 grams in the heel and it felt well balanced. I just look the whip and I know about what it needs. I've never had one feel too heavy in the heel, except for my second leather whip, which had way too much lead in the heel. Ever since that one I've done a pretty good job with the amount I put in the heel.