Your first bullwhip...

[darksideman13]

There came a time in every whip makers life where they had to make their first whip. I was thinking we could post pictures of your first whip and what you make now. Just to see the difference and how far we've come. I wanted to post this before i forgot. Im going to look for my pictures now

[whiskyman]

Okay, I'm game!
My first ever whip - made from cowhide, along with a later roohide whip


My most recent roohide whip:


I still have that first whip!

[mlawson]

I have not made a lot of whips, but I have improved a great deal since the first. The first was a 9' calf skin and the other is an 8' kangaroo:

[tomek9210]

Here you go: my first whip - 7ft made from polypropylene cord and 7ft from paracord, one of the latest:



And my latest one - 10ft Indy in gold:


Cheers

[cabbynum]

I have made about fifteen whips now (most only about 12 inches long LOL) and i havnt gotten past 4 plait can i still post? i dont really have anything to show how much iv improved because i cant really show it

[darksideman13]

yeah go ahead. I think everyone, even the newest of the new can post. We all have to improve to some degree. If not, be proud that you even know how to make the little bit of a whip that you do. How people can say that they know how

[indyclone]

my first whip was a 10ft black and white leather whip i got at a garage sale when i was 16. i took a black marker and colored in all the white to make the whip match one color , i used that thing all the time i practiced with it all the time . my friends thought it was cool and asked to try it and when they couldnt crack it like i could they lost interest, i had that one for over 25yrs before i got my next one .

[jeanfifi]

first whip was cowhide that I've made when I was about 10-15years old. Never one crack with it....
At the right is a kangaroo bullwhip 8ft I've made last year. I still love to crack it


jp

[Tennessee Smith]

Where can you get the leather to make your own whip? And where did you learn how to braid them? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

[jeanfifi]

Where can you get the leather to make your own whip? And where did you learn how to braid them? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

it's probably not the place to discuss it
anyway here are some answers, (I hope moderators won't mind, or delete my post to replace it elsewhere?):

whipmaking instructions
http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=40634
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEo1PaoHktY
and all Bernie's videos on youtube
look at Louie's blog too, it's a hudge place to find infos
http://bullwhips.org/

Some time ago Franco made this list (where you can get leather for whips): I just copy his list , I hope he won't mind

1. Simon Martin
http://www.kangarooleather.com.au

2. Birdsall Leather
david@birdsall-leather.com.au

3. Packer Leather
http://www.packerleather.com

4. Mike Murphy
http://www.murphywhips.com/Leather.html

5. David Morgan
http://www.davidmorgan.com/index.php?cPath=7_11

6. Montana Leather
http://www.montanaleather.com/kangaroo_hides.htm

7. Oz Saddle
http://www.ozsaddle.com/products.php?grp=22

8. Macpherson's
http://www.macphersonleather.com/kangaroo_hides.htm

9. Greenhalgh Tannery
http://www.gretannery.com.au/products.htm

10. Charles Hardkte
http://www.charleshardtke.com/pages/fin ... 523b370603

11. Tandy
http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com

hope that helps

jp

[fenris]

The first whip I made was the duct tape bullwhip I posted before. The 2nd one was a 7ft nylon whip... The third is another nylon bullwhip which was made from scraps of he first one and is only 3.5ft.

I've been cracking the 3.5ft more lately because I don't need to really go outside the house to crack it. I can stay in the shade of my garage and still crack.

[Tennessee Smith]

Thanks jeanfifi, I appreciate the info... now back to the thread I derailed...

[kwad]

I'm just starting out, so go easy on me

Here's my very first.............



It's a 4', 12 plaite nylon mini-bull.
I used a 5" nail for the handle foundation and steel cable for the core.
Please excuse the TH knot, I'm still trying to figure that out.

I'm currently working on my third whip, an 8', 16 plaite nylon bullwhip with an 8" handle and bb loaded core. The first one taught me quite a bit about whip making and the latest one is turning out much better. I'll post a pic when it's done.

[IndianaBravo]

That looks really good kwad! Nice work!

[Noah]

That's impressive! You did a good job on your first bullwhip

[Cracker]

I'm just starting out, so go easy on me

Here's my very first.............

I'm not going to be easy on you kwad just because you are starting out. The fluff on your cracker should be longer You did a terrific job for your first whip !!

Jim

[kwad]

You see, this is why I didn't want to post my work.... I knew someone was gonna pick on my cracker fluff!!

Seriously though, thanks for the compliments guys!

I should be done with whip #3 next week. I'll post a picture of it when I finish.

[Nexus6]

I'm still green at whip-making, so I haven't summoned the nerve yet to try my hand at a "hide" whip. My first whip was a 6-ft, 12-plait, nylon bullwhip with an 8-in handle. I made it from some white nylon cord (which had the same weave construction as paracord, though I'm sure with not near the quality) that I bought from Lowe's.

Once I figured out I could actually wrap my brain around the whole process (& consulting with Ron from Loxahatchee Whip Co. (who is the one I consider my "Yoda")), I purchased a spool of black paracord to make my second one. My second whip was an 8-ft, 16-plait, nylon Aussie bullwhip (12-inch handle):


(Click thumbnails for higher res.)

Anyway, I just finished with my degree, so I'm hoping to get cracking (<--omgpun) on a few more whips in the near future, maybe even a kip or 'roo... There's a couple more pix, along with a Turk's Head Knot tutorial in my last post HERE.

[rawvoodoo]

[img=http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6984/p1010007pu.th.jpg]



Actually its my second whip. 7' paracord, 8"handle, 4 strand core loaded with ball-chain, 8 plait belly, 12 plait overlay. Plus some gnarly knots (i wont call em turksheads they are just that bad).I think I did get the end knots around the fall right though. Hopefully I have the turkshead problem worked out because I'm starting whip 3 this weekend. Cant believe I never did this earlier.

**notice how I snuck in a pic of the chainmail I made
*** thank you Nexus6 your tutorial really helped I had misread the instructions on whatever site I found and was trying to work both ends instead of just one. My #3 will be vastly improved

[Canuck Digger]

The first bullwhip I actually made was back when I was just a kid, I guess I must have been around 11 or 12 back then, and it was based, or I should say copied, from a whip an uncle of mine had made when he was just a young man working the family farm.

I was in two parts, but I think it still qualifies as a bullwhip; it had a bundle of leather laces bought from the local shoe repair shop, which were all 6' long, and I'd doubled them over so they became 3' long. I then wrapped this leather bundle in fishing line, and using a pair of scisors, I went around the length of the bundle cutting laces at different lengths, effectively staggering them to create a taper. Once I'd done the whole length of the bundle, I removed all the cut pieces of lace and retied what was left of the bundle tightly with fishing line (I went fishing a lot back then), and when I got to the thickest part of the bundle, the place where all the ends of the laces met, I cut a few laces out from the center, about 8" long. For the part that had been doubled over, I wrapped the line so as to make an eye in the end, much like the eye at the end of a fall. This was the thinnest part of the bundle. I then cut out a sleeve for the entire length of the bundle with two holes cut out for the eye at the tip, and I sewed the sleeve over the bundle, making sure to sew around the inside of the eye as well. Then I took an 8" long spike and hammered it into place in the thick end. I now had a 3' long, tapered, bullwhip with an eye at the end, and into this eye I would slip a 3-4' long leather fall.

It wasn't bad, but it didn't have the handling characteristics that I had seen in whips at the movies, so I quickly modified the handle part and added a 4 plait braided thong at the end of the eye of the handle section and this got it to where I could use it as a real bullwhip. Some time later I went back to the shoe repair shop and bought another bundle of laces, but this time I didn't fold them in half, I left them the entire length and again I cut them in a staggered manner, so as to get a taper. This gave me a 6' long tapered section over which I braided a 4 plait and inserted an 8" long spike in the end for a handle. With a fall and a cracker, this whip became what I consider to be my first bullwhip, and I used it to learn the basic cracks in our backyard, everyday after school.

It took me years before I graduated from that old whip to something that looked more like an Indy whip, and that was when I got Bruce Grant's Encyclopedia of Leather Braiding. There were instructions in it on how to make a simple bullwhip and that's the one I made, using cowhide I got at the local leather shop. It took me so long to make, a good week if I remember right, that I never wanted to make another whip in my life after that. The strands were fairly uneven and they weren't skived or anything, but it was beginning to look like the whips I had seen in movies so I was pleased.

After that, I started college and forgot about whips for many years, until almost 8 years ago now, my then very young nephew Christopher, asked if I still made whip (I guess he'd seen the last one I'd made...), and he mentioned how he'd like to try one out one day. I didn't say anything, but I set out to make him one and since the internet had now made its way into our lives, getting information was now much easier than it was back in the early 80's. And so, after making a few whips in kangaroo, I finally got to where I felt I could make him a decent one and I made him a black (eh, its a classic), 8 foot-long 12 plait bullwhip. His jaw dropped when I gave it to him at his next birthday, and I've been making them ever since.

Sorry for the unsolicited biography, but I was on a roll.
Cheers,

Franco

[rawvoodoo]

Ok so this is my first leather whip . 4'9" calf. 12 plait, 8" spike handle.


a close up of the handle.


I missed a strand or three on the handle and the tip got a bit loose behind the fall knot. you can see the whipping I put on to tighten it up. I usd pecards to grease it up as I was making it . I used so much on the inside it turned a dark brown so I cut way back on the out side so it wouldnt darken up so much.

I tried to skive the strands but after butchering 2 of the 1st belly's strands I quit while I was ahead. I think the strands are all a bit wide. I think this is gonna be an expensive learning curve

[kwad]

Well, I finally finished bullwhip #2.
It's a 16 plaite, nylon Indy 4 whip (I tried to copy a Terry Jacka as best I could, using specs and pics found on this forum).
I started with a BB loaded core, then binding, 8 plaite belly, more binding, 12 plaite belly, then ALOT more binding, then finally a 16 plaite overlay. Length is a few inches shy of 9 feet.
Handle is 5" between knots, thong is 29mm at its widest. 6 strand point ends with a white-hide fall that has been dyed brown.
It handles well and cracks easily (and LOUD!!)








(And that's my 6 pic limit!)

Tell me what you y'all think.

Next up, I'm going to do a Catwoman whip from Batman Returns (then maybe a young Indy whip from LC, and then a stock whip, then........uh-oh, I think I have a new hobby )

[Noah]

Looks great kwad! Very nice work! It looks like it cracks easily and loud

[Kentucky Blues]

Next up, I'm going to do a Catwoman whip from Batman Returns (then maybe a young Indy whip from LC, and then a stock whip, then........uh-oh, I think I have a new hobby )

Ooh, catwoman whip... those things are pretty nice, and it'd be cool to see one in nylon.

-KB

[kwad]

Thanks Noah, It is LOUD.
Even when I try to crack it softly, it still suprises me sometimes. It is getting better as it breaks in. The loop forms early and it falls nice and straight. If I enter the target contest at the QM summit, I'm gonna use this whip (pending the arrival of better whips).

KB,
Yep, a Catwoman will be up next. Even found a suitable handle foundation (The old cleaning rod off of my 1954 Mosin Nagant T53.) Now I just need to find the specs of the whip (handle length, thong diameter, lenght.....)

[Kentucky Blues]

If you start selling these things, let me know. Also, which catwhip do you plan to do? Batman Returns, or the Catwoman movie whip?

-KB

[kwad]

KB,
I don't know if I'm ready to start selling them just yet (or ever will be). I would never sell one unless I could make it live up to that buyers standards, and not just my own. However, thank you for the vote of confidence.

After a few more, if I think I'm ready to sell one, I'll let you know (probably end up selling one for the price of materials [plus a little extra] just to afford making another. Paracord gets expensive. I could imagine what the cost of learning with leather is (I'll find out eventually).

Oh, and I'm making a Batman Returns whip.
Gotta find out what the handle length was for the whip they used so I can start making the core.

[Kentucky Blues]

Batman Returns... good man! And yes, learning with leather will get expensive, I'm sure

-KB