Club Obi Wan

This is my first leather whip. I decided I'd start with a stockwhip. It has given me the confidence to go ahead and try a bullwhip. Things I know I have to work on:

Plait tighter
Cut strands straighter
Work on dropping strands
Cut strands straighter
Work on taper
Cut strands straighter
Work on fall knot - This one is ugly as sin
Cut strands straighter

It is 7ft and seems too heavy to me, although I've never handled a stockwhip before so I'm not sure what they should feel like. I may have made the core and belly too beefy. If any of you whip makers have suggestions or critiques, feel free.

Jim

very nice looking whip you have there! you did a great job for a first whip. is that cow or roo?

Thanks rebelgtb, it's cow.
Jim

Good effort

Tony

Looks like a good first try - I especially like the handle. Strand cutting and strand dropping improve with practice. Cowhide isn't the easiest stuff to work with either. Keep up the good work.

My compliments for your first whip.
the work is well done, for the future will need to improve the taper of the strands and the dropping in the middle area.
Nice knot, nice handle.
Cheers - G

Thanks a lot guys. Do you taper your strands by hand or have something that will taper them for you like Bernie uses? I have tried tapering using a razor knife and made a terrible mess.
Jim

Good looking whip. Great looking handle. I just finished a 3foot poly-cord snake, moving up to para-cord, and soon leather.

I taper by hand with a box cutter and strip of leather to protect my finger. Basicially you can cut the taper into the strand when you are cutting it out of the hide and can fine tune the strands width later by hand.

xoxo

Louie
(P.S. cut your strands wider than you think they need to be, you can always make them thinner later...I'm still trying to remember to do this!)

http://www.bullwhips.org

Thanks Louie, I guess I just need to practice cutting and tapering.

Arthur, thanks for the kind words. I started out on para cord and the knots were a big frustration for me. Tony gave me some tips about using pins that really helped with tying the knots with nylon. I found out that tying them with leather is much easier to do because the leather doesn't slip around as much and tightens up on itself better than the para cord. Stripping the innards out of the para cord will give you enough nylon to make crackers the rest of your life
Tony's tip is in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=25139
Jim

I cut everything by hand and by eye. I started out using a cutter and it was Joe Strain who advised me to learn to cut by hand. In doing so you have a great control over how to allow for stretch in the hide and as a result end up with more uniform strands. It takes a little practice but is well worth it!