Ethan, when I made the roo hide stock whip I just used Edwards method to attache the keeper to the handle and covered it with a French wrap. I've also made a stock whip that was a full plait that I just started with an 8 strand flat braid and joined the ends into a 16 plait and covered the entire handle. On the last stock whip I did an 8 strand flat braid and attached it just like I would have attached a leather keeper using Ron Edward's method, but for some reason this one just never looked right when I did that, even after a couple of attempts, so I tried the 8 strand flat braid and joined it into a 16 plait diamond plait like I did on the full plait handle but stopped after about 4 inches. It was pretty snug, but just to be sure, I bound it at the place where it joined into the 16 plait diamond (there is also a bit of a knob on the end of the handle) with some of the same string I make crackers out of- FastFlite bow string material and then covered that binding with a 5x4 TH. The other end is also wrapped with the FastFlite string and covered with a 7x5 TH. This gave me a really sleek looking dne to the handle, where as the other waywas leaving a pretty clunky, awkward looking keeper.
"Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." -E. B. White
Thank you Roger. I've really been concentrating on keeping the seams as straight as I can. Still end up replaiting things a lot, and honestly, still have lots of room for improvement.
"Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." -E. B. White
In my opinion you have exactly the right relation between thong and handle length. A bit shorter - useless. A bit longer - useless.
I think I can tell from that picture that you have nearly the perfect balance. Very good work.
You say „Room for improvement“...? Definitely.
But not much. That‘s for sure.
I was only honest to you. You know that I would‘ve told you if I would think otherwise. But that whip I can literally feel in my hand when I watch the picture. Really good work, Mark.