Made a new Snakewhip!

[Dittmer]

Today I finished making my fourth whip. It's my second attempt at a kangaroo-hide whip and I'm quite pleased with the results.

The whip is a 4' long, 8-plait, shot-loaded snakewhip in brandy and saddle tan.
-Mark

[Canyon]

Very nice!

Out of curiousity, how easy is that to do and how long does it take?

[Mola Ram]

I wont talk for him, but you can read how he made it
on his website at:
http://www.dittmer.ca/whips/snakewhip1.html
-Adam

[Dittmer]

Out of curiousity, how easy is that to do and how long does it take?

Thanks, Canyon! That's a tough question to answer. If you go to my site that Adam listed, you can see that in terms of actual time it took me about a week to make. But to get to this point I've spent a lot of time reading everything I could on whipmaking, asking as many questions as I could, and practicing! My first 2 whips were made out of nylon parachute cord and that gave me the foundation skills (plaiting, tapering, dropping strands, etc) that I needed.

Is it easy? It's a real challenge to make a whip but it's doable. To make a whip that even approaches the same level as a professionally made whip, well, that's something that going to takes years and years of practice. Cutting perfectly tapered and skived (bevelled) laces is very, very, very difficult.

Hope that answers your questions,
-Mark

[Dittmer]

I wont talk for him, but you can read how he made it
on his website at:
http://www.dittmer.ca/whips/snakewhip1.html

I wasn't planning on mentioning the site but maybe some others here can get some use out of it.

The site is primarily for my reference and it's a record of all the dimensions and steps I used in the making of my whip. So, next time I go to make another snakewhip I'll know exactly where I can change or improve upon things. I just kind of threw my thoughts up on the page so in spots the wording may not be very clear.
-Mark

[Mola Ram]

I just kind of threw my thoughts up on the page so in spots the wording may not be very clear.
-Mark

Mark,
thats about the 5th time you have talked about the wording. Why are you so worried about it? it looks fine to me. Mark thats a really nice whip. You did a good job on the pineapple knot, I still have Knot( ) gotten that down. As soon as I get the chance Ill have to show you what I am capable of . I still Have not started my 6 foot Indy, hopefully I can soon.
Adam

[Dittmer]

Mark thats a really nice whip. You did a good job on the pineapple knot, I still have Knot( ) gotten that down. As soon as I get the chance Ill have to show you what I am capable of . I still Have not started my 6 foot Indy, hopefully I can soon.
Adam

Thanks, Adam! The knot was tricky and I actually made my laces slightly too wide for them to fit properly. When I went to weave in the saddle tan lace I really had to work with it to get it to fit. Overall, I'm happy with it though.

Anytime you have pictures of your whip, Adam, I'd love to see them. I probably won't try to tackle an Indy style whip myself until I can cut my laces in gangs.
-Mark

[Paul_Stenhouse]

Mark,

Nice job you've done there. Are you finding it addictive like whip cracking? I remember when I was doing my initially learning, I couldn't think of much else.

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse

[Dittmer]

Are you finding it addictive like whip cracking?

Thanks, Paul. Yeah, before I even finished this snakewhip I was looking forward to making the next one! I'll probably start my next one within the next day or so.
-Mark

[Canyon]

Dittmer, thanks for replying.

Will have a look at your site real soon.