Club Obi Wan

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sab04 wrote:Hi
a while back I bought a good quality kangaroo hide 12 plait whip of ebay.
(I have no idea who made it) It was a great whip until a month ago when the handle thong junction was getting noticable loose. When I felt like cracking I would never use that peticular whip cause I was afraid that it would get worse.Just today i realized "what good is a whip if I'm not going to crack it" so I was wondering how can i fix this? Could david morgan or joe strain etc. unbraid the whip and make it tighter? (like what Jim at ecwhips did for Brady Marz) thanx
-Scott
by the way, the reason I don't just buy a new whip is that this one has sentimental value.

Scott,
This is complicated to fix. Sometimes, this can be fixed. Whipmakers shy away from it. The reason is that the looseness is either the overlay laces on the thong were not pulled tight enough, or the overlay laces are too narrow or the underlying bellies are to wide for the overlay. Or any of the combination I just stated.

So, it's a hard task to undertake to get 100% satisfaction. If the issue is that the overlay laces are too narrow, then it's possible to retighten the bellies, to make the overlay fit. But that is a lot of work. It's possible to retighten the overlay, but that would mean the roo laces will/may stretch too narrow again, therefore not eliminating the gap or looseness. It's quite a connundrum. The other solution is to recut the overlay laces so that they fit the bellies better, but that needs careful, precise calculations and the whip maker needs to take into account the stretchiness of the lace.

It's way too compicated than you think.

-Sergei
p.s. I have a couple of whips in that category now. I have been down this rathole a few times. It's not easy. I've asked the big 3 (Stenhouse, Strain and Morgan) this same question. BTW, none of my Strain's or Stenhouse's exhibit this trait. And none have offered to fix the other guy's whips, due to the complexity as noted above. It's way too messy. If all the stars line up with tightening the overlay, it's possible, but not probable.

Sergei is right on the mark. The problem with your whip may not be just the overlay, it could extend to the quality of the bellies. Or maybe lack of bellies. Whoever repaired the whip might have to reconstruct the bellies entirely or from scratch which means taking the entire handle (including knots) apart as well. If this were to be done then new bolsters would have to be cut because the old ones wouldn't fit the new braids exactly. Skipping over all the other problems, in the end you would have an entirely different whip made by a different person who would have to charge you quite a lot in order to make it worth his time. You'd be better off buying a new whip.

This is why it is very important to buy a whip only from those that are trustworthy with solid reputations. A poor or less than honest whip maker can easily make you a pretty whip with no guts and you won't know it until it's too late. Do your research. Ninety-nine percent of what is on Ebay is junk. The only two guys that are selling exclusively on Ebay that are any good are Steve Blanton and Drew. They're honest, do beautiful work and have strong reputations. I believe Steve's ebay profile is GA-cracker and Drew's is drewswhips. I know I'm wrong on those names so maybe Sergei can help me out.

-Kyle

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I picked up a 453 in April of '01 that was perfect. It is now very flexible from lots of use but for all intents and purposes the junction is still strong. In late October of '01 I picked up a 455 that had gaps in the plaiting and a hinge like junction. I was very disappointed and by late November I had sold it.

I apologize, but I feel that I have a conflict of interest in discussing this. I can not, in good conscience, continue.

-Kyle