Bookends

[whiskyman]

Here you have two bookends - my first and last whips.


The whip on the left was the first full whip I ever made, one weekend a few summers ago with Indy Breineder. It's cowhide and real ugly monster - but it does crack, albeit without any grace. Since then I've made quite a few whips, some for myself and some for other people and I like to think I reached a reasonable standard. Whipmaking taught me a lot - I don't just mean how to cut, skive, braid and tie knots. Amongst other things it has taught me patience! I also feel it has given me a new outlook in other areas of my life - braiding is quite meditative.

I feel it's now a good time to stop. I know I said I was stopping last summer and I returned a few months later - but this time I'm quite sure it's final. I feel like the circle that was started with the whip on the left, has been completed by the whip on the right. I now have the whip I wanted to make when I embarded on my odyssey.

I really want to thank Bernardo for his endless help and support and his friendship. I could never have reached the level I did without his advice and valuable tips. I also owe a great deal to Adam Winrich and Joe Strain for their invaluabe advice to me early on. Joe encouraged me to give up the strand cutter and to cut by hand with a blade- a task which seemed impossible at the time! And Adam's generous photo series made a huge difference to my understanding of the handle and butt foundation. David Morgan, too, has always kindly answered even the nuttiest of my emails (why don't my whips smell the same as yours?!) and was so pleasant to chat with on the phone.

I also want to thank those who've bought my whips. I hope you have many years of enjoyment out of them. And even though i won't be making new whips, I will still replace your falls or carry out any necessary repairs.

Thanks to everyone else whose encouraged me with praise and critical comments - it meant a lot!

Regards, nick

Here are a couple of pics of my last whip - a 10ft which will stay with me alongside my first. Thank you and goodnight.

[VP]

There's the freaky background again. Good lookin' 10 footer.

[BullWhipBorton]

Hey Nick, Very nice job. That’s quite a bit of refinement over the course of your whip making stint. It’s really too bad your quitting, your bullwhips where starting to look very good.

Chances are you’ll be making them again though, once you get whip making into your system it’s hard to get it out completely. Besides just when you thought you learned all there is to learn, you learn that you really didn’t know as much as you thought you did when you thought that you learned all that you could so you end up learning something new after all.

I'll miss seeing your work and your progress, don’t be a stranger.

Dan

[BendingOak]

this is bad news. i would really like one of your whips but I just don't think I'll have the money until long after you are done.

[binkmeisterRick]

I don't know. Blind people tend to have a better grasp of their remaining senses, so I bet Stevie could braid a tight and smooth whip with some practice.