Club Obi Wan

Forgive me if this has been answered, but when braiding the handle to a whip, how does one achieve in making the taper in the handle? Thanks!

P.S. This is regarding a nylon raiders bullwhip.

Regards with a tip of the hat: baddates1

If you mean the swell near the end of the handle, then this is a function of the whip being made out of leather which you can duplicate with nylon, but is almost par for the course when making an Indy whip out of leather.

The first layer over the large nail that serves as the foundation for the handle, is the core. The core is a piece of rectangular leather that encircles the nail and extends past the nail as a long tapering triangle. Over this goes the first belly. The belly is the plaited sections INSIDE a whip. The belly is made of four strands that are all cut from a single piece of leather, known as the yoke, which also encircles the nail (and the core). These strands start near the tip of the handle (about an inch before the tip), and that's where the plaiting of the belly begins. Now when you simply wrap a piece of leather once around something (like with the core), you are adding ONE layer of leather, BUT when you plait (or braid), you are adding TWO layers of leather, because each strand goes over the other...

So, by starting the plaiting near the tip of the handle, you are adding an extra layer at that point, thereby making it bigger there. THAT is what causes the swell you sometimes see on Indy whips.

Why start the plaiting near the tip of the handle and not from the very base of the handle you might ask? Economy. Simply put economy. Economy of time, because it takes less time to tie a single piece of leather (that is the yoke from which the belly strands are cut) than it is to plait seven inches of handle. It also serves to keep the handle slim (for those who are still holding on to their whips by the handle... You're supposed to hold on to your whip by the heel knot (the pommel if you will) at the base of the handle in a ball-and-socket fashion and NOT by the handle itself). This swell can be minimized or accentuated through various means, but either with or without, it's mostly an esthetic concern, as it makes no real difference in how the whip handles.

Now in the case of a nylon whip, and assuming I understood you correctly in saying you WANTED to have that swell, here is something you could do to try and duplicate the leather whips. Firstly, you are going to want to have a core of some sort or another. Some fill a gutted paracord strand with BB's or shot load, others use sinker line or even the ball chain used to fasten a sink plug to the sink faucet... whatever you choose, some type of weight should be used as nylon is not as heavy as greased leather and some consideration must be made for that difference if you want your whip to perform adequately. So let's say you've filled a gutted paracord strand with BB's and you've fasted it to the nail using artificial sinew and/or epoxy glue (perhaps you were able to slide the entire steel nail into the strand or perhaps you ground a rebate at the tip of the nail so it would fit in the strand, but either way you've attached the strand to the nail. Next, some will have a few strands of paracord run different lengths and have them lie on top of the core strand, so they could all be attached to the handle and extend past it at different lengths, to create a bit more of a taper, or you could simply start plaiting over the first core strand right away. If you run your belly strands lengthwise to the handle and bind them over the handle (not sure if it would take 4 or 6 strands) so they completely cover the handle, and start plaiting an inch before the tip of the handle, that will create an increase in diameter there and that will make a swell.

Now, at the point where the belly extends past the handle, you are going to get a bit of a dip or a step down, if you haven't ground a rebate at the tip. This is not a huge deal as this can be filled in by binding this area with artificial sinew and/or athletic tape (the fabric kind...) to create a smooth transition from the handle to the thong.

Alternately, you could plait over the entire handle and just use artificial sinew to bind near the end of the nail and create that swell that way... Might be easier.

This is how I might go about doing this, but keep in mind I don't really make nylon whips, I work in leather. But I can't be very far from the mark. I suggest you look at a few online tutorials for nylon whips on Youtube... this should answer your nylon-specific questions.

Well I hope this was helpful and not too confusing.
Cheers!

Thanks!