Club Obi Wan

10' Natural Roo in the Jones' style. I was originally planning for a Raiders, but the handle ended up too thick for that, so I placed the knot for a shorter handle in more of a Last Crusade style.

Incidentally, this represents the culmination of a 4 year dream of sorts. Not, perhaps, perfectly...but... Over 4 years ago a buddy of mine bought a Todd's Costumes 10' whip. We gleefully spent hours trying to crack it with no instruction or even bothering to google how or the like...and we did get some cracks...but very few. We also spent those hours cracking it while on a cement surface. Brilliant. But it was a cheaper whip so... And yes, sometime thereafter (having learned how) I had to take several inches off the whip due to broken strands, etc. But...back to the dream.... Somewhere in those hours we were lamenting the fact that we couldn't afford a nice whip. And one of us then randomly mentioned making our own (I think under the impression that it was all about the materials...so just buying some nice kangaroo leather would be the key).

I began teaching myself whip braiding (as documented somewhat in the history of this forum) using vinyl and then moved on to leather, but each time I was either making the leather whips for someone who wanted me to for them and covered the cost or as a gift for someone else (usually covered by the excess leather of those paying for them. Then, after about 11 whips completed (including several in para-cord, which I don't like working with anywhere near as well) I decided I was ready and I purchased some quality natural leather from Charles Hardtke. The result is the image above.

Now, of course, knowing better, I'm not going to try and claim I have successfully created a whip that is the quality of a David Morgan. I have learned, now, why they cost what they do. But I have also fallen in love with whip making. This one is for me, and I will hopefully make more for myself (and maybe get to legit David Morgan quality someday), but I will likely try and make them to sell too (if for nothing else than to support the hobby).

Anyhow...that's the story.

Dude that's awesome that you shared that! So tell us what is it about the process that you learned why the steep price tag? Always wondered about that.

It looks pretty good, i'm working right now on fixing a mexican plastic-cable-core with rope masking tape thong and leather overlay, to full leather I don't expect a good quality whip from it but at least it will improve.

chenricy wrote:Dude that's awesome that you shared that! So tell us what is it about the process that you learned why the steep price tag? Always wondered about that.

Just that it took me 11 whips to get even to this point of skill, and there's still issues with it that need to improve. I keep thinking the next whip will be perfect! And they do keep getting better...but there's always some little thing that is problematic.

In the case of this whip, for example, the braiding twists just a bit around the whip..meaning my braiding pull wasn't the same tightness with both hands. I'm not, frankly, sure yet how to ensure that I get it even (though I have some thoughts).

The skill it takes to pair strands alone makes the skill worth the price.

Other issues with this whip: The pairing is sloppy (though you'd never really know it without very, very close examination). The end knot isn't quite round (first time I've had troubles with that. You can't really see it, but it feels square in the hand). The wrist loop ended up a bit too short (I just didn't cut quite enough leather for it apparently -- as compared to the knot where I cut way too much...oh...and the first strand I cut for the end knot was too thin. After completing the knot it didn't quite cover things so I had to undo it, cut a new strand, and tie it again.) The handle ended up thicker than I wanted it.

I'm sure there's other little issues. Most of them are knit-picky...but that's the point. The highest quality whips are going to be made with knit-pickyness, right?

The biggest lesson I learned over the process is in two points: 1. You can't be stingy with leather. 2. You can't be afraid to undo and redo things when they aren't quite working out. Obviously on both these points as one improves their skill they become less of an issue.

Excellent first attempt with Roo! Much better than the first one I made, although there is so much more information about how they're constructed that is out there now. When I started the internet wasn't even a thing yet, lol.

I'm glad to see you're appreciating how much goes into them, and sharing that. I don't think people really understand how many years of learning and countless hours of work go into making a good quality whip. Even to this day, whenever they rerun the How it's Made Whip segment on TV, people will email me about how surprised they are that that much work goes into making a good whip. They usually think it's just taking leather and braiding it, lol. Braiding is the easier part of the process, it's all the cutting, stretching, resizing, beveling, etc... Prep work that is the most difficult and time consuming part.

You are completely correct folkprophet, about not being stingy with leather. Since kangaroo is so expensive compared to cowhide or other materials people have a natural tendency to try and conserve the leather as they are learning, but in reality doing that actually hinders your learning experience. So great to see you've jumped right in now, and have been bitten by the whipmaking bug. It's a lot of work, but it's also very rewarding.

One tip that helps with conserving leather when you're starting out without it hindering your learning, take scraps, loose strands, and pieces that you've cut off the hide to practice beveling over and over again before you go to bevel the actual laces for the whip. I always found that when I got in a groove of practicing it let me relax a bit and do a better job when I then went to bevel the actual strands. Keep at it and you'll have the beveling down in no time!

Regarding the time, skill, and craftsmanship that goes into making these whips, check out these videos:

How it's Made Whips segment:
https://youtu.be/1MDA60n-YRc

Time Lapse with voice over of an 8ft Indy being made:
https://youtu.be/h4ob7chBSns

folkprophet, feel free to shoot me an email if I can be of any help.

- Paul Nolan
MidWestWhips.com