Club Obi Wan

I have received a few requests via email on giving a description on the different parts of a whip. This is probably due to some recent threads that were posted on dealing with different parts of a whip, so I am posting a diagram of a bullwhip that shows the parts.



On an extreme high level, I will embellish a little bit on the diagram:
- Heel and Handle Knots
Are braided on either end of the handle. The vary from whip maker to whip maker, but David Morgan's is unique and often copied. These knots are braided on on the very end of construction.
- Handle
The handle is typically formed around a nail spike anywhere (typically) from 8 to 10 inch long. This area is built up with bolsters and usually a final diamond pattern is braided on the overlay portion of the handle. From the diamond pattern there is usually a transition to the thong of the whip, that is braided in a "herringbone" pattern.
- Thong
The thong area in a typically constructed American Bullwhip is braided on as as overlay on top of the 2 bellies underneath. The thong is braided in either a 12 or 16 plait or strands if it is made of Kangaroo hide. Cowhide whips are typically 8 plait or lower. As mentioned in the Handle description above, the thong is braided in "herringbone" weave, that has 4 distinct seams. A mark of a good whip maker, is that each seam is straight. It is not suppose to wonder about, but the seam should maintain a true line.
- Keeper
The keeper ties up the final package of the braided portion of the whip. The Keeper or what I call the "Half Hitch" area, is formed by using a series of half hitches that allows the Fall to be slipped into a shaft formed by the half hitches.
- Fall
The Fall is a piece of rounded leather made out of red hide or white hide , cowhide. The fall is supposed to be made tapered, that follows the same diameter of the end of the braided part of the whip and slowly tapers to a point on the end. The whole purpose of the fall is to protect the braided portion of the whip from the constant abuse. The fall provides this protection and is made to be easily slipped out and slipped in with the new fall when it becomes too short or too ratty.
- Cracker
The Cracker is usually a piece of 6 inch twisted nylon thread that provides the final taper of the whip. This is the final part of a whip that actually breaks the sound barrier. Crackers suffer a lot of abuse and provide protection to the fall. Crackers are very easy to replace and should immediately be replaced whenever they break away from the Fall.

Below is one method of attaching a cracker to a fall. There are many others but this is the basic one:


And I encourage everyone to check out the "Whip Link" section at the Indygear site for many more methods of attaching at cracker (popper) as well as MANY other topics, http://www.indygear.com/gear/whip_links.shtml

including Kyle's , my favorite attachment method (http://skyvalley.net/~shold/Cracker.htm

I hope this helps. And keep posting or emailing for any other questions that need answered.

-Sergei

Sergei this is really really helpful as before when I have ever heard anyone talking about specific parts of a whip (like the thong) I didnt actually have a clue as to what they meant.

This is really fantastic!

Ken

Indiana Ken wrote:Sergei this is really really helpful as before when I have ever heard anyone talking about specific parts of a whip (like the thong) I didnt actually have a clue as to what they meant.

This is really fantastic!

Ken

I didn't imply you didn't know, I did receive emails from many other people that wanted to follow some of the recent threads on cleaning, replacing a cracker, etc.

-S

Funny, I always thought the Keeper was the wrist loop. D'OH!

Just shows how useful your diagram is!!

Mike

Thanks for pic on attaching the fall to the cracker. Very useful.

I admit it! I e-mailed Sergei yesterday about sites and diagrams. Call me a newbie!

Sergei, a thousand thank-you's and I tip my Fed Deluxe to you (when it arrives). I can now read through the threads and get a much better understanding, as was intended, of this forum.

Highest regards,

Indiana Joe

The "keeper" on a bullwhip is also commonly referred to as the Fall Hitch. The term "keeper" is also the common name for the knot attaching a stock whip thong to the handle.


Here are some more whip terms:

Thong Junction
On a bullwhip only: The area at the end of the handle where the rigid handle ends and the flexible thong begins.

Core or Core Materials
The materials used in the very center of the whip. This could be rolled or twisted leather, a rope, etc.

The Belly
The belly of a whip is a smaller whip that is braided around the core. A high quality bullwhip tends to have a second belly braided around the first. Stock whips commonly have only one belly.

Bolster
This is a length of leather wrapped around each belly in order to smooth out the shape and give the whip more thickness. For every belly there should be a bolster. The overlay is braided over the final bolster.

Overlay
This is the outside braided portion of the whip that you actually see.

The Point
The end of the braided portion of thong before it transitions to the Fall Hitch.

Cracker
Also referred to as the Popper in Australia.

Plait
Pronounced Platt.
Plaiting is the Australian term for braiding. A plait is the term for a strand. When a whip is 12 plait this means it was braided using 12 strands. The number of strands at the point are most often half the number of strands at the start. Examples: An 8 plait whip usually drops to a 4 plait point. A 12 plait whip usually drops to a 6 plait point. A 16 plait whip usually drops to an 8 plait point. You will find exceptions but this is a good rule of thumb.


-Kyle

PS-Dang it! This place is really hard to stay away from!

KyleS wrote: PS-Dang it! This place is really hard to stay away from!

I knew it. Welcome back! Does that mean, you get the "Welcome Back Kotter" avatar picture that Dan had? )

-Sergei

This thread is so informative that I just had to re-visit it once again now that my whip has arrived.

I had to revisit it, as well, now that I'm considering giving this a shot.

here are some of mine
Whip Terms

-bullwhip a popular American style of whip where the handle and the thong are all one single unit and the solid part of the handle is very short

-Snakewhip a short flexible bullwhip type whip with no solid handle foundation and most are usually shot loaded

-Taper the thong of the whip getting smaller and smaller towards the fall attachment

-Braid when 1 or more pieces of lace are interlaced together

-Strand or lace: A single strip of leather

-The Thong: the central part of the whip

-The Core of a Whip: in a good whip a core is always rolled leather or a single strip of leather skived or rounded, if a whip has a rope core it will be lightweight and not that controllable and will be more like a rope covered with a strip of leather. In nylon whips the core of a whip is usually a single piece of nylon chord with the core of it taken out and filled with bb's to give it weight. The core is the very base center of the whip and is what the whole whip is based around.


-Flat, round, square: these terms describe the shape of a finished braid and are each mechanically different braids.

-A fall: A fall is a strip of leather attached to the end of the whip and is also used to attach the cracker.

-A Keeper: held on to the end of a stock whip handle by twine or leather it is used to hold the thong of the whip to the handle.

-Rawhide: The skin as it comes directly off the animal, its dried but it is not salted

-Greenhide: Made by pegging out a fresh hide and then covering it with a layer of salt and then leaving it to dry for a couple of days

-Redhide: used for most basic whips, it is tanned greasy leather that was heavily oiled during the tanning process

-A fid: a small pointy tool helped to bring a single strand of leather through a gap while braiding.

-Tightening: You pull and position the strand into its final place on each strand you braid with.


-lacing needle: is a flat needle split at the back end. An end of lace can be placed within the slit, where it is held by small teeth, and woven without a fid


-Skiving: If you are skiving that means that you are cutting away some of the thickness of the strands that you are braiding with down so that they are much more even and create a better taper in the finished job.

-Plait, Plaiting: "Plaiting" refers to a method of braiding; "plait" refers to the number of strands


-Thong: Main body of whip, usually 8-16 strips of leather woven around a central central core which is covered by other plaited bellys tapering down the length


-Fall: A thin single strip of leather, attached to the end of the thong, and can sometimes be made from nylon


-'Cracker' or 'popper': A string with a bushy end, attached to the end of the Fall, that produces the "cracking" sound, and can be made from twine or nylon string


-The "Pop" or "Crack": The "crack" of a whip is a sonic boom that is the result of the the end of the whip traveling faster than the speed on sound

lets hope i got these correct
Mola