Club Obi Wan

Finally! My much announced version of the Indy 4 whip is ready.

Overall, I'm happy of how it turned out. It ain't perfect, but for my first try, I think I got pretty close. There are a couple of details I will modify for the next "production" whips, but in general my KOTCS whip will look like this.

Rather than following the simpler aproach of making a regular Indy whip in Whisky and with different (and darker) knots, I went ahead and copied as closely as possible Terry Jacka's style. However, I did not follow his design or construction.

I used a construction similar to my Indy whips, with 2 kangaroo bellies, 2 bolsters and a 12 plait roo overlay. Since the Jacka whip is thicker in both handle and thong than a Morgan style whip, I modified the core so as to increase the whip's outside diameter, and match the Jacka's external dimentions.

The handle on this one consist of a heavy 8-inch spike, and the butt is loaded with lead for balance. I also reinforced the transition zone to give the whip its characteristic handling.

I payed attention to all the little details, like the thin and long 4-plait wrist loop, the fall hitch, the finely cut overlay, the 8 strand point, the shape of the knots, etc.

Below are the pics comparing it to my modified Jacka. Hope you like it. Comments are welcome )

Btw, this whip is for sale. Just send me an email for payment info and details: info@delcarpiowhips.com

Regards,

Bernardo
www.delcarpiowhips.com

Turned out very well. Great attention to detail.

My only "criticism" on this particular whip, I think the handle tapers too much compared to the originals. Like you said though, for your first try, you got pretty close indeed. Good job, look forward to seeing the next one.

Dan

A great looking whip in its own right, Bernardo. But I agree with Dan, and I also think the ring knot needs enlarging so it is more equal to the turkshead in size. To me, key to the heavy look of the KOTCS whip is the overall squareness and symmetry of the handle, i.e. a straight, thick handle, combined with chunky, squarish knots that look almost the same size as each other.

Other things I've noticed on the KOTCS whip are:

1. The fall seems to go on forever!

2. The ends of the wrist loop seem to start very close to each other in the centre of the turkshead's base, as opposed to the wider setting on DMs.

Going by your excellent attention to detail on the DM replicas, I have no doubt that you will "crack" the KOTCS design too.

Satipo wrote:
2. The ends of the wrist loop seem to start very close to each other in the centre of the turkshead's base, as opposed to the wider setting on DMs.

Actually, it looks to me that Bernardo has them right. They seem pretty wide apart here and are on my other Jackas. Just the angle of the other pictures I think.

DJN wrote:

Satipo wrote:
2. The ends of the wrist loop seem to start very close to each other in the centre of the turkshead's base, as opposed to the wider setting on DMs.

Actually, it looks to me that Bernardo has them right. They seem pretty wide apart here and are on my other Jackas. Just the angle of the other pictures I think.

I stand corrected, sir!

Looks excellent! I can see what Dan is saying. If people like a slightly lesser handle taper I guess this is easily adjustable.

For some reason I thought the Indy 4 was 16 plait. I must have not looked closely enough.

Why did you not chose to follow the Jacka construction?

That's a beautiful whip Bernardo !

Satipo, Terrys falls are a bit longer then most, usually they’re around 32 to 34 inches long on a new whip.

The wrist loop placement may depend on the individual whip. I’ve seen some of them where they are wider like on the two photographed and some where they are closed in around by the turkeshead knot making it look like its coming out from the center of the handle. They seem to be wider apart on a lot of the Jacka whips I’ve been seeing of late so it could just be the way he’s doing it now.

JMObi they are 12 plait.

Dan

Thank you all for the various comments and input.

I said I will modify a couple of details on the next ones, and Dan is right, as one of those details is, the taper of the handle. I will extend a bit more the straight section of the handle, and reduce the amount of taper a bit. This is easily done, once you plan it from the beginning. Now that we have seen an actual KOTCS whip as sold by T. Jacka, it's going to be easier to reproduce it.

The other little change is going to be in the turk's head foundation, so that the bottom knot turns out more square and enlogated.

As far as the ring knot goes, I think is perfect as it is, so I won't change it. Its width and size matches quite well the one of the new KOTCS Jacka whip shown above.

The fall I used for this one is cut from red hide and was supplied as a spare by DM with my 11" handled Jacka. I measured the fall on my Jacka and is just shy of 3ft: 35", so is indeed on the long side. DM falls normally are shorter, usually around 28". This red hide fall is about 30".

As to why I did not use the same construction, well, for one, I found that Terry likes to use chrome-tanned split cowhide on the inside of his whips, both in the belly and the bolsters. There's kangaroo only in the overlay. My findings are consistent with what other whipmakers found inside his whips. I prefer to use kangaroo for the bellies and vegetable-tanned cowhide/kip for the bolsters and core.

Second, Terry makes more of a light handled, nose heavy whip, because he uses what it looks like a figerglass handle, that is obviously very light compared to a steel handle. He also adds very little lead at the base, so the balance is quite different from a Morgan whip.

Third, I like to follow David Morgan's construction, with the heavy spike and heavy lead loading at the butt. I love the way his whips feel and handle, so that's what I like to make.

With the reinforcing in the transition zone though, this whip behaves a lot like my Jacka, with a balance that resembles more that of a Morgan.

I have on order already a couple of KOTCS 10 footers, so I will post some pics of those once I'm done with them.

Regards,

Bernardo