Club Obi Wan

Just received my black 14-foot Indy 4 whip from Dusty at Crease and Coral. When I get my camera to finally work, I will post pictures. For reference, I own a Strain 12ft, a Morgan 8ft, and a Midwest 8ft. I don't know a whole lot about knots, plaits, and whatever. But, I do know that Dusty's whip is THE best whip I have ever owned or cracked and is the most aesthetically pleasing. My impression was that cowhide whips could never match the quality and performance of roo-hide. Boy, was I wrong! It cracks like a dream (and a cannon). AND, turn-around time was less than 3 weeks. For those considering their next purchase, you may feel that you are "slumming it" with a cheaper cowhide whip, but, trust me, you are not. No offense to the above-mentioned craftsmen, as they make very nice whips, but I am sticking with Dusty!!!

Saw a picture of this one at the lounge posted by Dusty, very impressive!

Crack it in good health!

Cheers

IndianaBravo

Same here, saw it at the Lounge.
That is one massive and awesome whip! Enjoy!

Dusty is on my list for "next whip purchased".
Now that he came out with his new TOD, I'll definately be getting one.

Dusty does fantastic work!

He is on my "future" list for sure

Allen

I've always had my eye on his whips since they are great looking and great priced. I never bought one thought because I was

worried the thing would be too loose since ( according to something I read on another thread ) He uses a series of 5 bolsters to

build the the taper around a cable core, then a 12 plait overlay. I would guess since there are supposedly no plaited bellies it would

be too loose but I suppose not Maybe I'll consider buying the TLC or Raiders one .

Since it is all bolsters, I'd think it would be stiffer. Plus he says he binds his whips pretty tight.
I've heard only good reviews of his whips and am currently saving up to buy my own.

kwad wrote:Since it is all bolsters, I'd think it would be stiffer. Plus he says he binds his whips pretty tight.
I've heard only good reviews of his whips and am currently saving up to buy my own.

I was under the impression that plaiting would be tighter than bolsters. I heard someone say something about that once. Well that's

good if it is tighter because I like a tight whip. I may try to make one like this sometime

I have about $600 sitting right now, this is very tempting, but I think i'd want to get my own whips looking good before I buy

a whip from someone else.

Don't take this as my bashing C&C I'm merely mentioning things that have been shown by whipmakers of the past, over 150 years of whipmaking experience and observations. Men (and some ladies), who did it all their lives, with tons more experience than I...

A plait is essentially a hollow braided leather tube. What is inside that is just as important as what you actually see on the outside. It's one thing to simply fill it with leather or other materials, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will behave as a whip should, regardless of how it looks on the outside. A car can be pretty and shinny, but if the engine's shot, it won't go far...

Once upon a time, bullwhips used for cores the cut-off strands from belts that were used to drive the machinery drive shafts. These worked well because although they weren't braided, the leather was of very good quality, but most importantly, being well-greased, the individual strands could slip a bit between one another as the whip bent and this made them rather durable.

But even those weren't a match for the plaited belly construction the Australians came up with, which was then adapted to bullwhips by David Morgan (as most of you already know). The thing about having plaited bellies inside is that on top of supporting the outside plait (the overlay), they also have the benefit of being a plait, meaning when the whip bends, a plait is not stressed as much as a single piece of leather because a single piece is both stretched on the outside of a curve as well as compressed on the inside of the curve when a whip is bending, and this may not seem like a lot, but over thousands and thousands of bending (basically every time a whip is thrown...), it adds up as a lot of stress on the leather. In mechanical engineering terms this would be called fatigue and the part would be replaced before it failed. But we can't do that easily on a whip, because it means undoing the outside and finding the place where the leather broke, and at that point you may as well just make another.

In a plaited belly, the belly takes in the stress of bending by having the strands move during bending and opening up, and the strand that is being compressed on the inside of the curve, is not the same as the one that is one the outside and this makes a difference.

Also, a plaited belly is contributing to keeping the insides of the whip compressed and so it's not just the overlay which is compressing all these layers of leather; they are being compressed and kept dense by every belly, and in the case of most modern bullwhips, there are two bellies on top of the overlay. Those three plaited layers all work together as well as independently to make a dense thong.

Why is density important you might ask? Simply because all things being equal (meaning the size and shape of a thong), a dense thong will transmit the kinetic energy down to the point of the whip better than one which isn't as dense, thereby making a whip that is easier to crack. I'm not talking about depleted uranium levels of density here, but just the same every little bit is added on top of the others and they all combine to make a difference.

As a parting thought, and again this is NOT a shot at C&C, a whip isn't judged on how it is coming out of the box, but on how it ages.

Glean from this what you will.

Cheers,


Franco

All this does make sense, but i'm sure he binds the bolsters on ( not just at the transition ) so I'm sure it stays dense. As for how it

ages, that would just be a thing to find out on your own...

Franco,

That is definately something to think about...
Never thought about the bend and stretch aspect of it.

Thank you.

kwad wrote:Franco,

That is definately something to think about...
Never thought about the bend and stretch aspect of it.

Thank you.

I'm very soon going to be making some indy style cowhide whips, the first one will be with two plaited belly's and two bolsters, I

might try one like this just to test it out. Idk it depends on how the leather situation will be ( as far as bolsters go ) .

The side i'll be buying is supposed to be anywhere from 22-27 sq. ft. so we'll just have to see

Riku,
I only allowed myself this comment because I have seen what a (kangaroo no less) bullwhip made with only bolsters is like brand new (looks and feels like any other) and the very same whip only a year later; very loose and with no life at all.

I still have bullwhips I made years ago and they still have plenty of life in them, which attests to the soundness of the double plaited belly technique...

Anyway, you never know, C&C may have figured a work-around that helps a bit..
All the best,


Franco

Canuck Digger wrote:Riku,
I only allowed myself this comment because I have seen what a (kangaroo no less) bullwhip made with only bolsters is like brand new (looks and feels like any other) and the very same whip only a year later; very loose and with no life at all.

I still have bullwhips I made years ago and they still have plenty of life in them, which attests to the soundness of the double plaited belly technique...

Anyway, you never know, C&C may have figured a work-around that helps a bit..
All the best,


Franco

I'm using cowhide, and I am going to use the plaited bellys that are bolstered technique. I just thought if I had enough left over

after a couple whips ( buying a large side, probably about 25-27 sq. ft. ) I could make a mini indy with only bolsters just to make

it quick and to the point just to test it out. Plus I know a 7 year old that would love it