Club Obi Wan

Well after years of telling myself and others telling me I should, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and try to learn to make a whip myself. I was actually thinking that for my "test" whips I would try making them with nylon before I go for leather. My question to those here that have made whips themselves does this sound like a wise idea? Any tips from some of the members here who have taken this on would be greatly appreciated.

Oh also if you know of any good tutorials online please post them! The more information I can get the better . I looked under the links on the main site but most of the tutorials that had links there the sites are now gone except for Bernie's (who's videos on whip making I'm thinking of ordering).

If this goes well and I try some leather whips I may have to free up my uncle (a saddle maker) of some of his tools

check out www.classicbullwhips.com/forum there is a whip making section there and there is a lot of good information and questions that people like you have had. If you have any questions once you are at the site feel free to post or you can ask me directly I am an admin there classic bullwhips is my screen name. Hope you find the site usefull. James

James thanks for the invite I've signed up and I'm starting to dig around.

I also picked up a copy of "How to Make Whips" today while I was out and about. I also found out that my local leather shop carries about every kind of hide you can think of except kangaroo ...they won't even special order it. Are there any good suppliers I can order from online and get good hides (cow and kangaroo)?

Go for it! I started making whips a few months ago and have really been enjoying it.
A few sites I know of off hand that might help you are,

http://www.dittmer.ca/whips/bullwhip1.html

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~welmat/how2w.htm

http://www.dallasdogsled.com/Whips/CowWhip.htm

There is also a lot of information here in Indy gear too so be sure to check though the bullwhip forum archives. I’d recommend starting with a basic 4 palit stock whip in cowhide, just to learn the basics and then start working your way up from there. Alot of people start out with nylon, it works well for plaiting, its less expensive and you can make an decent looking whip out of it so that might be the way to go. Others like to people like to start off with kits, which is a good way to go too if you’re a bit intimidated by cutting up a strap of leather. Peter Jack www.thewhipman.co.nz also does a a couple differnt kits that i have heard good things about. Mike Murphy, www.Murphywhips.com sells a good one stockwhip kit in Red hide that I’ve made, it makes a good whip. Gayle Nemeth www.aussiewhipmaker.com makes a basic kit too, its pretty and straight forwards, but the handles come pre-made for you already there’s also a video on her site that shows you how to plait a basic stock whip thong. That I found interesting.

As for supplies, yeah there are lots of them. Several have been mentioned on the forum here in the past that you sohuld beable to find pretty quick. I’d suggest for your first few whips getting your leather from another whip maker, some one who knows what qualities to look for in leather for whip making and will be able to give you just what you need for the type of whip you want to make. You could even get leather blanks from them that will cost you a lot less then a whole side of leather and still allow you to cut and skive your one sets, just a suggestion.

Dan

thanks for the suggestions Dan. I was thinking the same thing about trying a 4 plait stock whip first (i've always wanted a stock whip anyway ). Thanks for the links there is some good info there! I practiced last night with the paracord and i must say i was very surprised to see how fast i picked it up . I did several feet and it was overall nice and uniform except for one spot where I could tell i pulled to hard and the cord buckled at that point. i do need to rig up a work station with a clamp to hold what i'm working on.

No problem rebelgtp, Glad to help out when I can. Stock whips are definitely a lot of fun to crack, I’ve been hooked on them for a while now. You can make a very nice 4 plait stock whip pretty easily with out too much fuss or spending alot. A clamp or padded vice works good to hold your work, for stock whip though you can just as easily plait it over a hook by looping the keeper over it. Here is a picture of a 7 ft red hide stock whip I just finished up recently.




Dan