Terry Jacka CS whip specs?

[bearbeast]

I did a search of this section for details on the CS whip, but I only found some rough dimensions, in an old post:

"The diameter of the thong at the thickest point right after transition knot is just under 1 ¼" appox. The handle at the thinnest point just after the Turkeshead is 1" appox, there is a slight taper in the handle that thickens towards the transition. The space between the knots is 5”."

The pictures I find are low res and blurry at times, so I would not use photogrammetry to figure things out.

Can anyone help with a bit more details?

1) Heel knot diameter and length?
2) Plait count? From pictures it looks like 12 plait (O3U3 herringbone), but the strands look the same width as a Morgan bullwhip, which would mean it's 16 plait
3) Fall hitch strand count - is it an 8 point hitch or more?
4) Transition knot diameter?

Cheers,
Bear

[Western New York Indy]

I don't know how much help it will be, but here's a video of a guy who visited Anthony De Longis at Rancho Indalo and took measurements from one of Anthony's CS whips. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jvTWhsWVpZU I don't know how good his measurements are, but maybe it's a start.

-WNY Indy

[tomek9210]

808whips made a replica of Terry Jacka whip for a guy from the video Western New York Indy posted - try to contact him at https://www.facebook.com/808Whips/ and maybe he will share some measurements.

I also have some photos I saved over the years, there are some pics of KOTCS whip with a measuring tape along it so reach me at tomek9210@gmail.com, FB or IG and I will gladly share them with you. It's easier this way than posting them here.

[bearbeast]

I don't know how much help it will be, but here's a video of a guy who visited Anthony De Longis at Ranch Indalo and took measurements from one of Anthony's CS whips. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jvTWhsWVpZU I don't know how good his measurements are, but maybe it's a start.

-WNY Indy

Thank you for the hint, WNY Indy, I wrote him a comment, let's see if he can share some insight.

Cheers,
Bear

[bearbeast]

808whips made a replica of Terry Jacka whip for a guy from the video Western New York Indy posted - try to contact him at https://www.facebook.com/808Whips/ and maybe he will share some measurements.

I also have some photos I saved over the years, there are some pics of KOTCS whip with a measuring tape along it so reach me at tomek9210@gmail.com, FB or IG and I will gladly share them with you. It's easier this way than posting them here.

Thanks, Tomek! I reached out to 808whips, let's see what he can share. I will shoot you an email in a few moments, if you can share some pics with me, I'd be grateful.

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

If I remember correctly the handle diameter is around 25 mm and the diameter above the ringknot is nearly 30 mm. The handle is 7 inch fiberglass with short steel cable section extending to the thong, then two bellies and 2 bolsters made of chrome split cowhide and 12 plait overlay ending in 8 plait but with all 12 strands making the fall hitches. Plus heavy binding of course.

Well greased chrome split leather make it very heavy, around 1 kilo for a 10 footer.

I hope your CS bullwhip will be a beast

[Western New York Indy]

If all else fails, you could contact Anthony DeLongis and ask about the dimensions of his CS whips. His email is pretty easy to find online and, in my experience, he is very kind and willing to answer questions about all things whip related.

-WNY Indy

[Loneken]

PM me your email I'll send you some pics with measurements I had taken for somebody else on my Jacka

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[IJJTM]

Has your question been answered? I could take some measurements of mine after work if you need anymore.

[bearbeast]

Hey, guys! I just woke up with an email from Keanu, at 808Whips and he sent all the info I was missing.

Like Tomek mentioned the whip is 12 plait, with a 12 point fall hitch, but the thong actually ends in 8 plait.

The rest of the measurements are on this sheet:

https://i.imgur.com/qYhHlAS.jpeg

More comprehensive than I ever could have wished!

Thank you all for the help!

Cheers,
Bear

[bearbeast]

My friends, this is insane... 1.25 inches on paper sounds like a lot, but it's even worse in real life. This whip will be a monster:

https://i.imgur.com/F87KN4h.jpeg

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

Nice! Is it 6 or 8 footer? It's hard to tell because of that thickness :O

Will you dye it?

[bearbeast]

It's an 8 footer. It looks like a three foot whip, right?

Yes, I have to dye it. The roo hide is beige not natural, so it wouldn't age anyway. It'll be dark brown and I'd like to make the knots black.

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

Keep us posted!

Have you used fiberglass for a handle?

[bearbeast]

Keep us posted!

Have you used fiberglass for a handle?

Will do! I hope to finish tomorrow, if my hands don't cramp up.

Nope, I only had some spring steel around. 6 mm spring steel, I usually use 4.5 mm in my whips, but I was glad for the extra thickness.

Cheers,
Bear

[bearbeast]

All right, my friends, after three days work, here it is. My 8 feet Crystal Skull bullwhip, according to original specifications.

25 mm handle, tapering up to a 30 mm thong, which gradually tapers down to an 9 mm tip, just before the fall hitch (the specs were 8-10 mm tip for the original whips)
Five inches between heel knot and transition. The heel knot is just slightly larger than I meant, by 2 mm. 7 by 6 two pass turkhead's knots cover the transition and heel.







12 plait overlay, dropping to 8 strands, the 4 dropped strands becoming the core and part of the 12 point fall hitch:



This thing is huge and very heavy, here it is compared to my 8-plait normal dimensioned bull:



I am very happy with how it turned out. I would have liked to having the thong thin more earlier, but as it is the taper is very constant and of that I am quite happy.

Thank you all again for the help in acquiring the specifications for the Jacka whip.

Cheers,
Bear

[IJJTM]

Looks great!

[bearbeast]

Looks great!

Thanks, IJJTM!

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

Awesome job!

Did you add more layers inside or used thicker leather to get it such thick?

[bearbeast]

Thanks, Tomek!

Most of the thickness comes from the core, I built that up as much as possible. It is a braided roo hide core, over which I put a roo hide bolster and on top of that a 2.5 mm thick cow hide one. Up from there it is the basic 2 belly, 2 bolster construction. But one of these bolsters was a thickish cowhide, just to reach the right size.

Here is a section through the handle:



Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

Now show us how it cracks

But watch out for your arms, they might get tired quite fast while using such a monster!

[bearbeast]

If the grass is dry in the next days, I'll try for a quick vid.

Yesterday I tried a few cracks, but it was a bit hard trying to keep it off the ground. It is very heavy and stiff. I can only do single cracks, very hard to change direction for figure eights for example. And the heel knot is bulky, which makes it even more cumbersome.

I am thinking of making a 'thinish' CS version in the far future: for example 22 mm thong, 19-22 mm handle.

Cheers,
Bear

[IJJTM]

I may be in the minority, but I find volleys to be a lot easier with my Jacka compared to my Morgan-styles Indy’s. But it took a bit to get used to the weight.

[IndanowskiJones]

Beautiful work, bearbeast!

[bearbeast]

I may be in the minority, but I find volleys to be a lot easier with my Jacka compared to my Morgan-styles Indy’s. But it took a bit to get used to the weight.

Well, I am not a great whip-cracker by any means, so take what I said considering this also. I can just do some basic stuff

Normally the stiff, long transition should help. I have another whip with a transition this long and it definitely helps a lot.

I think for this one it is only the weight and big diameter of the heel knot that hinders me. I'll try some more, weather allowing...

Cheers,
Bear

[bearbeast]

Beautiful work, bearbeast!

Thank you loads, IndanowskiJones!

Cheers,
Bear

[Tremolo]

You seem to be on a run lately, bearbeast! That whip looks beautful!
Just by looking at it I can imagine that it is quite a workout to keep it off the ground, but it probably feels very satisfying when you get it to crack. Great work!

[bearbeast]

Thank you very much, Tremolo!

I just managed to get a few overhead cracks out of it. It can be very loud! And yes, quite tiring on the shoulder.

The underhand crack did not work. I need to practice a bit more. I can do it with my other whips, but this one is too heavy to give it that wrist flick.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xnrY0f3IUG4? ... _SEqPuIvoH

Cheers,
Bear

[Tremolo]

In the video it looks even more impressive, the graceful rollout reminds me of a 10ft whip. That´s a beautiful combination to me.

Regarding the heaviness, I felt the same when I got a 10ft whip at the beginning of the year after only owning an 8ft for 10 years. Even now it is still quite tiring but the weighty rollout is kinda addictive and lets me bear the extra work it takes

[bearbeast]

The rollout and nice slow movement of a ten footer is amazing indeed.

I tend to favour shorter whips lately due to space constraints. I don't really have where to crack longer whips. This 8 footer kept hitting the fence when I didn't pay enough attention. A 6-7 footer though? I can almost crack it inside!

I need to practice some more and get used to the weight of this CS whip. It is about ~250 grams heavier than a ten footer I had a few years ago. And almost double the weight of some of my regular crackers.

But I agree with what you say, it is worth the effort once you get a nice loop and a clear "POP" at the end.

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

Great! It cracks pretty much effortlessly. Weight does its work. By the way - how much does it weigh?

[bearbeast]

Great! It cracks pretty much effortlessly. Weight does its work. By the way - how much does it weigh?

Thanks! Yeah, I need to put no effort into the crack. Now that I got it to crack overhead, I'm more excited to try the underhand flick some more.

As far as I managed to balance it on my kitchen scales it seems to be 850 grams. I will try to put a tray on the scales, maybe tomorrow, to hold it for a precise measurement.

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

That's a lot of leather to put in motion

My Del Carpio's 8 footer weighs around 800 grams but the balance is mainly in the handle as it's lead loaded.

[bearbeast]

Yes, it definitely is a lot of leather. It's difficult to hone in on the right amount of effort to keep it in the air under the correct path, but without putting any force into the crack.

I think having the weight in the heel knot is easier. Maybe it would have helped balance my whip if I had added some lead tape. Made the whip heavier, while providing some balance.

I am wondering what the original Morgan 10 footers, for Raiders, weighed.

Cheers,
Bear

[tomek9210]

I'd say it weighed between 800 and 1000 grams.

[bearbeast]

Hmmm, thanks! Heavy-ish, but I am guessing much more sensibly distributed.

Cheers,
Bear

[Stefan Hills]

Hi there Bear,

Do you make these whips for sale by any chance?

Best wishes,
Stefan

[bearbeast]

Hi Stefan,

Sorry, no. I only make stuff for myself. It's my way of getting rid of work stress. I tried making for other people as well, but it turned into work, it was too stressful...

Cheers,
Bear