Club Obi Wan

I just finished to braid my first whip.Thanks to Axel Lackmann a very good german whip maker ,who help me trough the hole process!
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Sylvia

That looks great Sylvia! I had no idea you were into making whips, it is an awesome start

Me neither untill one month ago ;-)
Thank you!
Sylvia

Do you think you're going to continue or did you just want to try it once or twice?

Hi Riku,
I'm definatly gonna continue!I like it a lot!even if my fingers suffered for a while,but there is so many possibility and different pattern and colors that i want to try more.I need also to correct the small mistakes i've made on that one.And i really would like to make mini whips,as key holder ... i tried it out already, did some experiment but i'm not happy with the handle,on my first try the handle was to thick ,i used wood and on my second the handle was too small compare to the lenght of the whip,for te second try i used a screw.
Sylvia

sylviarosat wrote:Hi Riku,
I'm definatly gonna continue!I like it a lot!even if my fingers suffered for a while,but there is so many possibility and different pattern and colors that i want to try more.I need also to correct the small mistakes i've made on that one.And i really would like to make mini whips,as key holder ... i tried it out already, did some experiment but i'm not happy with the handle,on my first try the handle was to thick ,i used wood and on my second the handle was too small compare to the lenght of the whip,for te second try i used a screw.
Sylvia

Are you using nylon for the miniwhip? I don't think it would work out well with the strands so wide. If you got into leather you

would have a lot more control over it, being able to alter strand size and taper much easier.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Your fingers SHOULD hurt on your first whip, on Bernie Wojcicki's bullwhip how to on his page, he specifically

says that he wants to see sore and stiff fingers on the first few plaiting sessions.

For the mini whips i used some rest of leather from old costume(héhé..)i make with what i have disponible here)but this was just for experimetation anyway so it's not worth it to use some nice leather...i'm still in the begginning trying to figure out which lenght the handle should be,as well for the body and the fall i tried to find the nicer proportion.I've read that i should cut the strands in conic form like triangle i will try for the next mini bullwhip,also i want to make a handle different color than the body and i still don't know the technic for that it doesn't become more big ,i braided all the whip (handle and body) with the color red and roll around the handle some black leather but it made the handle to thick.
Sylvia

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Your fingers SHOULD hurt on your first whip, on Bernie Wojcicki's bullwhip how to on his page, he specifically

says that he wants to see sore and stiff fingers on the first few plaiting sessions.

Yes ,maybe "He" wants but "Me" not!just kidding
I understand it is part of the process of beggining to make whips ,sooo..i'm ready to take it,the fingers will get used to!
Sylvia

sylviarosat wrote:For the mini whips i used some rest of leather from old costume(héhé..)i make with what i have disponible here)but this was just for experimetation anyway so it's not worth it to use some nice leather...i'm still in the begginning trying to figure out which lenght the handle should be,as well for the body and the fall i tried to find the nicer proportion.I've read that i should cut the strands in conic form like triangle i will try for the next mini bullwhip,also i want to make a handle different color than the body and i still don't know the technic for that it doesn't become more big ,i braided all the whip (handle and body) with the color red and roll around the handle some black leather but it made the handle to thick.
Sylvia

Here's how you do the handle different color/plaitcount/whatever you want than the thong of the whip. First you'll just plait the

overlay like you would on any other whip, including the handle, next, in the middle of where you'll put the transition knot, tightly

bind the area, from that middle point, to just before where the transition knot would stop, on the side closer to the thong than

the handle.

Next, CAREFULLY cut the strands on the handle side off. This is why you bound where the thong starts.

Next you'll just plait the handle like you would if you had just started, but you want to plait it down a few inches past the

handle - thong transition. The purpose of doing this is so that, even though the strands had already covered the handle fully,

you want them to be tightened, so if you're doing 16 plait, make sure you've pulled at least 16 strands past where you cut off

the strands from the previously plaited handle.

Now you bind them again, this time the handle side, and cut off any excess strands you had, then tie the transition knot.

If you weren't able to understand something I said, let me know and I'll try to rephrase it.

sylviarosat wrote:

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Your fingers SHOULD hurt on your first whip, on Bernie Wojcicki's bullwhip how to on his page, he specifically

says that he wants to see sore and stiff fingers on the first few plaiting sessions.

Yes ,maybe "He" wants but "Me" not!just kidding
I understand it is part of the process of beggining to make whips ,sooo..i'm ready to take it,the fingers will get used to!
Sylvia

If you do plait semi-regularly, your fingers will in fact get used to it, but, if you take say, a month or two off between plaiting

sessions, they won't get used to it. I did this between a couple "whips" that I made in the past, that I don't even count as whips

since I didn't have proper materials, and by the end of one, my fingers were all good with it, a month later, I started plaiting,

think I could do it without pain.... NO, they hurt worse than the first plaiting session

Thanks for the explanation!I think i understand ,i'm gonna see it when i practice it otherwise i'm gonna ask you.But i couldn't use 16 plait on such a small whip i think there i just did 4.With the technik your explaining the handle doesn't come thicker than the rest of the whip?i post some pictures of my recent tries ,the one with the ring is the best for now even it's not perfeckt,i finished it tonight.By the beggining of the handle its a little bit not well done but now i know how to correct that in the future,also i could have done the fall longer i think.The others too have the handle too long and too big.
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Sylvia

sylviarosat wrote:

think I could do it without pain.... NO, they hurt worse than the first plaiting session

Looking forward to my secong session of plaiting

That small a whip IS tough, looks good.

If you do what I said, the handle won't be thicker than the rest, it will be just like it would if you hadn't done anything, as you cut

the overlay of the handle off, and just replace is with another overlay, it's like you never changed anything.

I'm sorry on the 16 plait thing, I thought you were talking about for a full sized whip I've heard of Joe Strain making a 12

plait mini whip, but I think it was a bit bigger than that, plus he had a splitter to split the strands down to make them lay in place

better.

for the technik you are saying ,then i should have a base as handle and an core ,right?because this last mini whips i did i just use 4 strands of lether,without belly under or somethind for the handle.But if now i would cut the strands and start to braid again from the beggining of the handle ,i couln't connect the braiding to the thong.what i could try is to braid very small and thin on the part of the handle lets say 2-3 cm ,then the strands would come a little bit bigger from where the transition knot would end and then rebraid over only the handle part until the transition knot with another color,but maybe it will make a difference of size,this is to try...
Sylvia

I would image it would be quite difficult to do with a mini whip like you are making, maybe try it on a full sized whip first, then

you'll get the idea easier.

Here's how I made at 12 plait mini bullwhip (one belly 2 bolsters): http://bullwhips.org/?p=4293

Louie

louiefoxx wrote:Here's how I made at 12 plait mini bullwhip (one belly 2 bolsters): http://bullwhips.org/?p=4293

Louie

That's a really big card though

The card is big, but the whip is still tiny! Coiled that whip is still smaller than a normal playing card.

Louie

Here's how I made an 8 plait one: http://bullwhips.org/?p=2618" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This one came out really well (better than the 12plait one in my opinion).

Both of the miniature Indy Bullwhips are christmas tree ornaments, and they make me smile in December when we unpack them!

Louie

Here's a picture he has on another post on his website of it in his hand, a little easier to see the size :

Hi Louie,
Thanks for sharing those pictures!that's some nice mini bullwhip!Like you said i like the 8 plait also better.It's very nice of you to put the steps on how you did them,it's interesting to see how you make them!So you still do a belly under the overlay,for the first try i did i also did a belly under,but i guess i must have done it too thick because the hole whip was too thick,so for the second and the third try i did it without belly just four strands of leather.Personaly and this is not at all a critic it's just matter of taste,i would have let a little bit more space between the two knots,but hey like i said this is just me ,but this is some real nice plaiting!Now i have another mini whip on the go,it's not finished yet ,but i try to make a mini replica of the Zorro whips,for now it's looking not too bad,i will post some pictures as soon as i'm finished!
Sylvia

sylviarosat wrote:Hi Louie,
Thanks for sharing those pictures!that's some nice mini bullwhip!Like you said i like the 8 plait also better.It's very nice of you to put the steps on how you did them,it's interesting to see how you make them!So you still do a belly under the overlay,for the first try i did i also did a belly under,but i guess i must have done it too thick because the hole whip was too thick,so for the second and the third try i did it without belly just four strands of leather.Personaly and this is not at all a critic it's just matter of taste,i would have let a little bit more space between the two knots,but hey like i said this is just me ,but this is some real nice plaiting!Now i have another mini whip on the go,it's not finished yet ,but i try to make a mini replica of the Zorro whips,for now it's looking not too bad,i will post some pictures as soon as i'm finished!
Sylvia

He was able to use a belly and all that because of two things, one he was using roo which is most likely thinner than whatever you

are using, two he has a splitter, and he split the roo down even thinner. If I remember right he said he split it down to .6 mm thick,

from the usual .8-1.0mm thick.

I did one of them with a splitter and one of them I thinned down by with a knife. This is a technique I learned after visiting another whipmaker and seeing this amazing technique done! He used to split his strands by eye with a pocket knife, AMAZING! It's tricky at first to do it with a knife and I can't imagine doing it with a full size whip accurately, but it can be done because he used to do it (and still may!).

Lately I've been thinning down wrist loops by hand with a knife (not splitter) to maintain my technique. It's a great skill to have...even if I have splitter.

So not having a spitting isn't a reason why anyone can't try doing mini whips. There's a picture of a homemade splitter in Bruce Grant's Book that will cost you about $3 to make, or you can spend a day learning to do it by hand! Maybe I'll try to get a couple of picture of "splitting by hand" next time I do it.

That's the coolest thing about whip making most of the top guys can make a top notch whip without any tools other than a knife and ruler!

Louie

louiefoxx wrote:I did one of them with a splitter and one of them I thinned down by with a knife. This is a technique I learned after visiting another whipmaker and seeing this amazing technique done! He used to split his strands by eye with a pocket knife, AMAZING! It's tricky at first to do it with a knife and I can't imagine doing it with a full size whip accurately, but it can be done because he used to do it (and still may!).

Lately I've been thinning down wrist loops by hand with a knife (not splitter) to maintain my technique. It's a great skill to have...even if I have splitter.

So not having a spitting isn't a reason why anyone can't try doing mini whips. There's a picture of a homemade splitter in Bruce Grant's Book that will cost you about $3 to make, or you can spend a day learning to do it by hand! Maybe I'll try to get a couple of picture of "splitting by hand" next time I do it.

That's the coolest thing about whip making most of the top guys can make a top notch whip without any tools other than a knife and ruler!

Louie

I was playing around with some leather one day and tried splitting by hand. It's like paring, you just gotta get your hands sat

just right and steady, then it comes fairly easy. I haven't done it since that day since I don't really need to as I do have a

splitter. It is kinda cool though, I never imagined that splitting by hand was something practical. Thanks Louie I didn't know

that some people actually did it for normal strands. Which whipmaker is it that does this?

I'd imagine you'd need the knife to be sharper than you would need when paring

You knife should always be as sharp as it can be! Try paring a strand with an old less sharp blade and a new sharp blade and you'll see the difference! That's why I use a box cutter, blades a cheap and easy to change. I just throw them away when they aren't super sharp.

I don't know if the person wants me to say how they do things and they were nice enough to show me this so as a courtesy to them I'm not naming names.

Louie

i found it really great if a whipmaker is able to cut his strands by judging by eye with a sharp knife and still be able to do tem the same size.for now i'm also judging by eye but cutting with a sisors.But the strands are not exact same size,which for now it's not that bad because i only do tries and i also don't use the best leather .
Sylvia

You just have to be able to read the hide. For instance on roo up on the neck and around the leg area there is always a stretchy

area. Just gotta cut wider there. I haven't gotten that down completely yet but it just comes with time...

I finished my mini Zorro whip.Check it out!
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Sylvia

I REALLY like that, what did you use for the ring?

I used some kind of decorative paper silver self adhesive .But in the future i would like to use a small band of metal like the real one!
Sylvia