now that I read „How to make whips“ by Ron Edwards over a dozen times, bought myself an aussie strander, a skiver and a beveling tool and got some leather I am ready to start off into an adventure of its own kind: making a 10 ft Indy-style bullwhip.
The leather is cowhide (dark brown and light brown, i haven´t decided yet which colour to use for the overlay) and is 1 mm thick. I plan on making a natural tan cowhide or roohide whip in the future so I consider this whip to be more of an experiment and learning opportunity in preparation for a better whip with different leather. I plan on making a whip with the following specs: core, bolster1, layer1, bolster2, layer2 and overlay in 12 plait.
Now I have 3 subjects left that worry me and I hope some of the experts will share their wisdom:
1. Can somebody give me an orientation on how long the individual steps should be, meaning: how long should the core, bolsters and layers be approximately? (of course the overlay will be 10 ft. I figured that out
)2. Balancing the whip is mentioned quite often, what are the secrets of a well balanced whip and what do I have to consider?
3. Tapering the whip – If I understand it correctly you can achieve the taper by actually tapering the laces while cutting them (which I fear needs a bit of experience) and dropping strands in the process of plaiting. Any advice on how to do it best?
Thank you all.
Greetings from Germany
Patrick