Club Obi Wan

Hi folks,
Well, I have been bitten by the bug.... I ordered several books by Mr. Morgan and Mr. Edwards and have decided to give making a bullwhip a try... with nylon (I'm new at it ). So far I seem to be doing ok, I have everything ready for the final overlay but for some reason I can't get the checkerboard pattern going like it should. I am using a 12 plait overlay in paracord (one color only), when I start the pattern, I get a good front checkerboard formation but when I try to take the "back" strands and get them into place, all I get is just a jumble of strands... no checker pattern on the back what so ever. I have read a couple of posts here about the same "front side only" issue, but still I am stuck. If I could please see a couple of pics on the transition from the front to back I would be extremely grateful. Also, if there is any steps I am missing, please feel free to mention it.

Crack On!
Allen

Your handle is too thick.
Smaller spike or more strands should fix you right up.

Hi Ron,
Thank you for your response. I wish that was the fix, It is definately my technique that is the problem, bumped up to 16 strands with the same result.....



Crack On!
Allen

Are you certain?
Measure the diameter of the handle in mm. Multiply by 4.5 then divide by your strand width. That should be the # required to cover. ROUND UP.
Also pull the strands toward the back of the handle rather than strait toward you. It may help if you reach under with the opposite hand and pull tight on the back side instead of the top.
Ron

Here is an exercise that may help...
Gang up your strands for the whipmakers plait...like you are going to do under 4 over 4. Instead of pulling one strand at a time grab 4. So your plait is pick up 4 take them under 4 over four...and repeat. This will give you big 4 strand diamonds. It is essentially a 4 plait diamond pattern but with 16 strands. After that works, undo it and pick 2 strands at a time...go under 2 o2 u2 o2. This exercise will give you double diamonds...essentially an 8 plait diamond pattern. After you familiarize with that do the same with one at a time. Bob's your uncle. If you can plait 4 then you can plait 8-16-20...whatever. Try crawling before running.
Ron

Hi Ron,

I think my problem is that I don't understand how to connect it to the back of handle strands. I get the six crossed in front, but when time comes to take the strands from the back, I am not sure where to go from there. Do you take the top back strand and run it over and under on the back strands to get to the front?


Thanks,
Allen

Try starting from the back. your initial pattern on the back, then flip it over and work from the front.

Hi Ron,
The amount of strands was the issue! Looks like I will have to bump up to 20 to make it look right on the handle (made it a little big....). Now my question is... how do you figure out the trasition from a checkboard plait to a herringbone plait ?

Thanks!!
Allen

Allen,
you might wantg to check out Bernie's videos on Youtube. I believe they are taken from his DVD on whipmaking and he explains how to go from checkerboard to herringbone.

The simplest way is to just start going under 3, over 3 (for a 12 plait), but for you since yer already at 20 strands, it would be under 5, over 5. This will start the herringbone pattern, the only prolem with doing it this way, is that it will take a certain distance (roughly the width of your handle at that point) to convert the checkerboard into a herringbone, which means that in order to cover up this transition, your ringknot will have to be a bit wider than a typical Indy knot. This has no effect on the performance of the whip, but if you do decide to go this route, you should start the transition about 1/2 of the width of the handle before you get to the tip of the handle, otherwise you will be forced to tie your covering ringknot over the end of your handle, and this is not as solid a place to tie a knot as if you were to tie it over the handle. So let's say for arguement's sake, that your handle once plaited over is 1 inch wide, it will take 1 inch +/- to transition from one pattern into the other (this is just an observation of mine, not a hard rule). So if your handle is 8" long, you could start the transition at 7" which will give the impression of a short handle, or if you wanted to "slim" down your handle by giving the illusion that your handle is longer than 8" (without actualy making longer), you could start the transition at around 7 1/2" or thereabout and even if a bit of the transition is over the edge of the handle itself, the stifness of the very begining of the thong (assuming you've reinforced it with bindings a bit during construction), should still be stiff enough to hold the covering knot solidly in place once tightly bound. You can also help this by binding a bit the area to be covered with the knot with some artificial sinew or strong nylon thread to add a bit of stiffness.

Like I said, this is the SIMPLEST way. But it is not the way most whipmakers do it. Normally it is done as Bernie explains on his video on youtube, it's a way to go from checkerboard to herringbone in a shorter distance, but I think it's easier if you see it done. I don't have the link for it, but just go on youtube and do a search and you'll figure it out better by watching Bernie do it than if I tried to write it out for you here.

Let us know how you get on.
Cheers,

Franco

Indiana County Jr. wrote:Hi Ron,
The amount of strands was the issue! Looks like I will have to bump up to 20 to make it look right on the handle (made it a little big....). Now my question is... how do you figure out the trasition from a checkboard plait to a herringbone plait ?

Thanks!!
Allen

Told you so.
Like Franco said...just go straight into a u5 o5 and cover the slop with a knot. It is your first whip so try not to over complicate. A bit too ambitious to even go for the checkerboard at this point. Better to concentrate on taper, weight, and just plaiting straight at this stage.
Ron

A Big Thanks to you guys, you filled in a lot of gaps!

Alright, looks like I have got some work to do. I will post pics when I am done.

Crack On!
Allen