Club Obi Wan

My understanding of the bolster is to help build up the diameter of a whip especially when working with ‘roo. It is also helpful in keeping out sand from working it’s way down to the bellies where it can cause unseen damage.

All the bolsters I’ve seen have the seam on one side. Has there been many attempts or does anyone use a spiral bolster in order to help not create a natural curve in the whip?

Best,
Herr Jones

Hi Herr Jones,

I put a bolster on a whip once which I cut from kangaroo, and I cut it just like my cowhide bolsters, except it ended up going around some curves.

When I put it on the whip, it spiraled in places, and where it spiraled it put a noticable kink in the whip.

So I'd say that a spiraling bolster will only make a whip with kinks in it, unless the spirals are pretty tight.

What I've heard done to get rid of some of the bias is to split the bolster into 2 or 3 or 4 different parts, so you have mor seams that just the one.

-Adam

A bolster also gives a level of support that cant be given by a plaited belly, as it has no breaks in it and does not bend as easily. My first few whips were with out bolsters, i actually plaited more bellies to make up for the loss of bolsters, but when i started to use bolsters i noticed that the whips have a much better flow and curve to them now because of the added support.
Regards,
Adam