Club Obi Wan

I've been thinking of starting out my whipmaking venture with nylon instead of leather.

But where do you find the supplies for the nylon whips? Are there kits available, or do I need to find sheets of nylon to cut everything from? And in nylon whips, do you still plait the bellies and use bolsters and everything?

Thanks.

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm currently having a nylon whip made for me by Tim Bass. He sent me some samples of the nylon cords he uses and it was more of a flattened out tube rather than a strip - a lot like webbing. It was right around a quarter inch wide. I'll bet you can buy spools of the stuff somewhere...

-Will

Thanks. I know they have spools of it at Hobby Lobby in variouse colors, and it is like a flattened tube. But I was wondering if the nylon needed to taper like leather strips do. Maybe it doesn't?

PR, I don't know if this might help ya, but you might try asking some of the guys over here at that Whip Enthusiasts forum too:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhipEnthusiasts/

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

there are many places you can find it. Nylon whips are essiencaly made from nylon parachute cord. So it is just like using precut lace for a whip because you cant cut it. You must start the whip in at least a 12 plait and thats only if its a short whip. If you want to make a longer whip then you need to be able to do a 16 plait. Nylon whips are also very light so the core has to be weighted. Most use bb's but i though of using fishing wheights which would work just as good. Here are a few places where you can buy nylon for making a nylon whip.
U braid it
ebay
mola

Thanks, Mola. You've been extremely helpful. I have to say that I'm very impressed with where you are at your age. Very impressed indeed.

I haven't made any shot loaded whips, but I've wondered if lead solder would work well. It comes in a roll like wire, about 1/16 of an inch wide and is pretty flexible, yet still has pretty good weight. Any thoughts?

Mike,
I would stick to lead shot. I forget the size, but I can look it up for you.That seems to be the common, less problematic way of loading up a nylon whip. Nylon whips need the weighting and balance from a loaded shot bag inside the thong.

Propreplicator,
I would contact Tim Bass on where to get the nylon whip supplies:

tbass@adwarchitects.com

Parachute cord (with the center taken out) is used to do the belly's and thong. Parafan wax is used to coat the whip, once it is done. The only other major element to the making of a nylon whip is to properly weight it and balance it using a shot bag. So you need to find lead shot. Tim will set you straight. There is a book on braiding nylon knots that you should probably learn just to know the basics on braiding. I got it last christmas, I will look it up for you. It's mostly a book for maritime and horse tack stuff. But again, Tim is a far better resource than me.

-Sergei

How essential is parafin wax on the finish? I recently bought an economical cowwhip from one of our guys at the Whip Enthiast DFW group but it wasn't coated in the wax. So I'm just wondering if I can get away with not p-waxing it.

Sergei, Tim and I have already spoken, and he was most helpful. Sounds like a really nice guy. He's sending me a brochure, and we'll go from there. He said he didn't usually offer kits, but he could throw something together for me if I liked. That's what I love about this board!! Everyone is so helpful!!

ITG, I read on the Whip Enthusiasts forum that they should be re-coated with wax every 6 months or so. You just melt the wax in a double boiler and dip your whip (except for the handle) into it.

just wondering how much did tim bass say the kit would cost you?
cause i know a quite a bit about whip making in general but
i have no idea how a nylon whip is made and a kit would be
great as an intro. That would be a great thing for tim to sell.
mola

PropReplicator, you oughta come out to the whip weekend we're having here in Grand Prairie in October...just a few hours from you. Robert Duke (whipmaker and cracker) will be there as well as one of our local members who makes nylon whips.

Mola, he didn't say. I'll follow up ith him later, though.

ITG, I'll see what I can do. It depends on what's going on that weekend here at school, though. Which weekend is it?

PropReplicator wrote:ITG, I'll see what I can do. It depends on what's going on that weekend here at school, though. Which weekend is it?

October 4-5

http://www.indygear.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4168