Club Obi Wan

I had mentioned a couple months ago that I wanted to take the plunge and make my first kangaroo-hide whip and now I have! I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's an 8-plait, 5 foot long bullwhip.



I wanted to learn as much as I could from this project so I kept a sort of online journal detailing all the steps I took in making this.
Feel free to check it out.
http://www.dittmer.ca/whips/bullwhip1.html
-Mark

That's really great work! I learned a lot just reading your tutorial.

Good job.

Pyro.

Thanks, guys. With the site I've got a really good record of all my measurements and steps so next time I make one I'll be able to alter things accordingly and hopefully make improvements. It's nice to know others might get something out of it too!
-Mark

Wow, that's the best first whip I have ever seen. What is typical with the first one are the lumps, very visible transitions from dropping strands, the taper is usually bad. Your knot work is good to. I am very surprised.

-Sergei

that's your FIRST whip ?

EEEK ! Now I'll never even try to do one !

Super nice ! Keep it up !

Peace
Ken

Thanks for the kind words, Sergei! This was my first roo-hide whip but prior to this I made 2 nylon snakewhips.
http://www.dittmer.ca/misc/snakewhip1and2.jpg

I really learned a lot by making the nylon whips. Because the nylon strands are the same width throughout you can only get a taper by dropping strands and it's fairly tricky to do well. I found working with the roo-hide way more forgiving and the combination of the tapered strands in addition to dropping a few turned out well for me.
-Mark

JerseyJones wrote: EEEK ! Now I'll never even try to do one !

Super nice ! Keep it up !

Thanks, Ken. If you're interested in it I say go for it! If you're willing to take the time and do it right it can turn out well. Having the experience with making the nylon whips really helped me out and I also did a bunch of reading and research before jumping into it.
-Mark

Very nice work, Mark. I'm impressed. Soon, if not all ready, you will be lying in bed at night wide awake spinning your wheels about how to improve your construction techniques.

The_Edge wrote:Very nice work, Mark. I'm impressed. Soon, if not all ready, you will be lying in bed at night wide awake spinning your wheels about how to improve your construction techniques.

Thanks, Kyle! Oh, I'm already looking forward to the next one. One of the main reasons for putting together the website was so I can look back and see where I could have improved things or done them differently.

One thing I found difficult with making the roo-hide whip the first time around is knowing or figuring out how long or wide to make things. With the turk's head knot I didn't know how wide to make the lace so I arbitrarily chose to make it 5mm wide. Then I measured the diameter of the knob which was about 30mm. With 2 passes I came close to covering it fully but there were still very slight gaps at the intersections. So, next time I go to tie one I'll be able to look back over this one and use it as a reference and hopefully get the right width.
-Mark

Mark,
every time i look at that whip i get so Jealous. I keep thinking
that my first whip was junk and yours is so good! I've decided that I might give a steel handle another chance cause of how good yours turned out.
My first whip had a steel handle and the tip was not ground down enough and it tore through my whip, which really made me mad, so i started using wood. But i see from that whip that a steel handle can give good results.
Nice job mark!
Molorom/omar

Molorom wrote:I've decided that I might give a steel handle another chance cause of how good yours turned out.
My first whip had a steel handle and the tip was not ground down enough and it tore through my whip, which really made me mad, so i started using wood. But i see from that whip that a steel handle can give good results.

Hey, Omar! Yeah, you want to make sure the tip is rounded and smooth. Also what works good is to take a small piece of leather just big enough to wrap around the tip before you plait over it or put on a bolster. Then, around your bellies or bolsters you should wrap the handle/thong junction with the waxed sinew ....that's a really important step.
-Mark

I hope your site stays up for awhile, because I'm going to try and make a whip this summer and your site gives a very detailed account. Thanks!!! Nice whip!!!

Dakota Hurly wrote:I hope your site stays up for awhile, because I'm going to try and make a whip this summer and your site gives a very detailed account. Thanks!!! Nice whip!!!

Thanks. I have no plans to take it down anytime soon so feel free to use it if it helps!
-Mark

Hello Mark, You know I first seen your post over on the W.E. group late last night so I decided to take a closer look. It looks like you did a very good job. For your first roo skin whip, It looks very smooth and uniformed with a really nice easy taper, and I the love the classic look to it. Have you had a chance to start breaking it in yet? I am interested to hear if you like the way it feels and how it handles.

Also I really liked and appreciated all the documentation you put into your new baby, I think your website is going to give a lot of help and inspire many folks interested in the whip making craft. I made sure to bookmark it, as I plan to return as well as recommend it to few friends take a look at it. Good job and All the Best

Dan

Thanks, Dan! I haven't had much of a chance to test it out yet since finishing it sunday evening. Also, we still have snow on the ground so I won't really be able to put it through its paces until spring. I did manage to crack it a few times though and it sounds really good! The whip is maybe a little light though and could maybe use slightly better weight distribution towards the end of the thong.

The website was made primarily for my own records. I wanted to keep track of everything I did and because of the digital pictures it just made sense to do it on the web. I actually wasn't sure I was going to show the website outside of the whipmakers group. But I'm certainly glad people are getting some use out of it.
-Mark

Wow. The proportions are great. Beautiful work.

Thanks, Mike!
-Mark

Great as your first time , i wish i can do the half of it, maybe i'll give it a try.

WOW! That looks great!
Janice

Thanks Janice and Q8Indy! I hope my next one turns out as well.
-Mark