Club Obi Wan

I managed to find a fair bit of tan cowhide lately, and I've actually got more good tan colors of cowhide than the medium brown I had been using.

I took a picture of this whip next to one of my 10 ft DMs (I've got two ) to show that the color is pretty close the the color of natural tan kangaroo (aged two years). I know in the comparison pic the 4-plait of the IOAB doesn't look near as good as 12-plait, but I think the profile of the IOAB whip looks pretty good.

On another note, I had a thought about the cheap 4-plait Mexican bullwhips. A lot of people question the tightness of the plaiting, but I think it is the taper of these whips that makes them crack poorly. The core is pretty much a piece of rope with no taper at all, and the strands in the overlay don't taper that much, either.

I mean, I've cracked whips that were plaited fairly loose, and would crack easily, and I've cracked whips that were plaited very tightly and were difficult to crack. The loose whips that would crack at least had a decent taper.

I plait the IOAB whips at tight as I can, but the thing that makes them crack easily is the taper.

-Adam
www.winrichwhips.com

PS: I'm still backed up on my whip orders by about 2-3 months, so anyone wanting an IOAB for Halloween will have to place a rush order for an extra $20 and I'll put in a few late nights to make sure the whip arrives on time.

I like that color. Of course I also asked for a tan in my whip:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m94/ ... 000784.jpg


although my whip is a lighter color.

Hey Kev,

Yeah, colors due vary, depending on what leather I can get. Your whip was made from 'tan workchap' cowhide that I got from Siegels of California a while ago. It wasn't my most favorite leather, but it was strong and made a nice whip.

Most of the new 'tan' leather I have in stock now is the color of the whip pictured above, though, the hide I used in the whip above was a one-of hide, and I've only got enough for 3 more IOABs of that exact color.

-Adam

Looks good Adam, I really like these IOAB bullwhips.

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding many of those cheaply 4-plait Mexican made bullwhips. It’s not so much the tightness of the plaiting, but rather the taper of the thong and the over all weighting of the whip that seem to cause it the problems with performance. I’ve taken a few of these cheepies apart and rebuilt them making fairly respectable performing bullwhips out of them, so there is some potential there. Unfortunately though another thing though to keep in mind is while some are made out of a fair quality latigo or similar leather, many are made of a very poor quality leather that’s so dry and brittle it's comparable to cardboard, it quickly cracks and breaks apart through out the body of the whip.

Dan

Hi Dan,

I didn't know you rebuilt whips. Do you have any pictures? Have you made any whips from scratch?

On another note:

I'm not taking any more Halloween orders. My order board is full and I'm just not going to be able to make any more whips before Halloween than I have to make already. (The rush on whips for Halloween reminds me of something my scoutmaster used to say "A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part", or something like that)

If anyone wants a whip for Christmas, now would be the time to contact me.

Peace out,

Adam

Adam, I’ll get some pictures up of the bullwhips I rebuilt ASAP. I have a 6ft swivel handle one I am just finishing now with a new buckskin plaited belly, I just need to to tie the knot on and it will be ready to go. I have made some stock whips from scratch and from kits; there are a couple pictures of them on my myspace site.

Dan

Adam,

Good looking whip to be sure. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of "budget" are we looking at? Wouldn't mind ordering one.

I'm just beginning to get into the bullwhips and have a very limited budget. I had managed to find a passable 4 plait 8 footer on e-bay for Halloween last year. It responds ok and after getting a bit of mussle memory in the arm I can get it to crack repeatedly.

This route looks like it may be the "budget" direction I wanted to go in since my budget as of late has been limited.

Thank you for sharing the photos & the video displaying the IOAB.

Cheers!

Dan

An 8 ft IOAB is $160.

-Adam

Hi Adam,
I have a question; what type of leather do you use when you make yer IOAB?

I don't know if you saw it, but I posted a pic of a kip bullwhip I made recently, from a budget Tandy hide. It was a bit of a nightmare to work with, and though I'll conceed it wasn't the best side of kip I ever saw, it was still way weaker than kangaroo (which is a given I know).

Just curious.

Cheers,


Franco

I use chrome-tanned cowhide, which I always test for strength before I make a whip out of it. Finding the right chrome-tanned hides can be tough, though, and really good ones are rare.

I talked with a representative from Herman Oak a while back, and he said that for it's weight, chrome-tanned cowhide is actually stronger than veg-tanned cowhide. Alum-tanned latigo is stronger still. This applies to cowhide in the 4-7 oz range.

-Adam

Adam, so are you offering the IAOB once again? If I order the whip now how long would it take for it to be shipped?

Super! Thanks Adam. I think that can fall within budget. I will be in touch.

Cheers!

Dan

I leave for the Arizona Renaissance Festival in about 2 weeks. So I'll take a couple more orders before I leave. If you get your order in by the end of the week, you'll get it by the end of the month.

-Adam

How do I order? I went to your site but there's no info on ordering whips.

You can just send him a PM.

I took down all the whips so I wouldn't get swamped with orders again. Just send me a pm and we'll work out your order.

-Adam