Club Obi Wan

Finished my third whip:



Pretty happy with it. It's super stiff (probably too stiff, actually) and has a good taper overall. I had some issues with the braiding twisting this time, which was frustrating because I've never had that trouble before. The transition knot, technically, is the same color leather, but was cut from a scrap piece and ended up not matching.

No such thing as too stiff. The tighter you can get it the better. It may take longer to break in but it'll have life in it.

Taper definitely looks better on this one then the last

It may not be that the seams were worse this time, it may be that you just didn't have enough experience to notice it. It also could have been that you didn't pay enough attention to strand cutting and they caused the twisting.

Overall great work again. Still looks like you're not getting the last few sets before the fall hitch tight enough though. That's really important because if anything, you want that tighter because it's an area that takes a lot of stress. If it's looser than everything else it will likely break off or be a real hindrance to the flow.

What's the internal construction? Just curious and all.

riku1914 wrote:No such thing as too stiff. The tighter you can get it the better. It may take longer to break in but it'll have life in it.

Taper definitely looks better on this one then the last

It may not be that the seams were worse this time, it may be that you just didn't have enough experience to notice it. It also could have been that you didn't pay enough attention to strand cutting and they caused the twisting.

Overall great work again. Still looks like you're not getting the last few sets before the fall hitch tight enough though. That's really important because if anything, you want that tighter because it's an area that takes a lot of stress. If it's looser than everything else it will likely break off or be a real hindrance to the flow.

What's the internal construction? Just curious and all.

Nah...the last strands are tight. It's just a bit bent in the picture so looks a bit thicker. It's not.

Let's see...internally: 8" bolt with threads ground down. Wear leather wrapped there. Cow-hide core - 4 feet. Kangaroo 4 plait belly - 4 feet. Cow-hide bolster - 6 feet. 2nd belly, kangaroo - 4 plait. Cow-hide bolster - 8 feet. 12 plait overlay (kangaroo, of course). The core and each belly were wrapped with waxed sinew at the transition.

Final specs: 8 foot. .98" handle width. Tip is just over 6mm. Heel knot ended up 1.9x1.8".

That's interesting specs. I've not seen anybody intentionally have a bolster run the full length. Oh you didn't say how long the second belly was plaited to. Like I mentioned before, the taper has definitely improved over the last one, so whatever is working for you...

If you could get an overhead shot of it, it would help in judging the taper. Since it's angled, you can see how it almost appears to taper backwards for the first few feet. I know it doesn't but it can look that way sometimes.

riku1914 wrote:That's interesting specs. I've not seen anybody intentionally have a bolster run the full length. Oh you didn't say how long the second belly was plaited to. Like I mentioned before, the taper has definitely improved over the last one, so whatever is working for you...

If you could get an overhead shot of it, it would help in judging the taper. Since it's angled, you can see how it almost appears to taper backwards for the first few feet. I know it doesn't but it can look that way sometimes.

2nd belly was 6'. Yeah... I would think of it as the bolster being more the length of the previous belly, but then the bolster leather becomes the core for the next plait. So the 2nd bolster is 6' but then becomes the core for the length of the whip.

I actually set it up ( as do many ) so that the plaiting goes to the end of the previous bolster ( except on the overlay ) then the leftover strands from the belly act as the core for the next layer, along with whatever bolster went over that. It works well, but again if that's working well for you there's no reason to change it unless it's making the whip perform weirdly.

riku1914 wrote:I actually set it up ( as do many ) so that the plaiting goes to the end of the previous bolster ( except on the overlay ) then the leftover strands from the belly act as the core for the next layer, along with whatever bolster went over that. It works well, but again if that's working well for you there's no reason to change it unless it's making the whip perform weirdly.

That is how I did it on the first two whips. I was trying something new on this one. It makes sense in 3 regards. The transition from the belly to core is less naturally smooth than bolster to core (as belly to core is braid to non-braid whereas bolster is just a continuation of the same solid leather). The cow-hide is cheaper than kangaroo. And I read somewhere (could have been from you) that there is no reason to use kangaroo hide when not plaiting, as kangaroo is excellent for plaiting strength, but for bolsters and cores it is a waste. These three thoughts let me to try it this way.

I love using cowhide for bolsters, that I have no problem with. What you said about the transition makes sense in theory, but one thing you have to realize is how the leather compresses when it's plaited over. When everything is done properly, the transition from plaited belly to loose strands is smooth AND won't have a sudden change in thickness or stiffness, because when plaited over properly it all becomes the same density. Again, both the area under the belly, the loose strands after the belly, and the belly itself all become "one" when plaited over. One solid, dense, flexible whip. By the time you get to the overlay it all is meshed together. I know one very experienced whip maker that extends his core so that the first belly only goes ABOUT half it's length, but the second belly ends right around where the first bolster ends. I haven't asked specifically but I think he does this for persona taste, not having to do with the transitions from plaiting to strands. I actually used to do that. It was on my first 5 or so whips. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just found something that worked personally for me better, which leads me, again to this:

as long as that's working for you it's fine. All I'm trying to say is don't do that because you think it's better than the other way. It's just different. That's why we're able to have so many different whip makers, because each whip maker is a little, or a lot different than the next, and that's ok. It's all up to personal taste.

Where are you getting your hides now? I'm curious because I know tandy hasn't had natural tan leather for a while, unless you got ahold of a special that was unique to that individual store.

riku1914 wrote:Where are you getting your hides now? I'm curious because I know tandy hasn't had natural tan leather for a while, unless you got ahold of a special that was unique to that individual store.

All my hides thusfar have been from Tandy, because they're cheap there. But my local store is practically cleaned out of hides now and tells me they won't replenish their supply (discontinuing). So......still considering where I'll get my hides moving forward. My costs will increase, either way.