Whip Basics. The Forum

There's no argument against a beefy whip. Those whipswill transfer the energy very, very well. Simply because you need a bit more power to initiate the whole thing. And in the end you'll have a good and clean crack. The question is - as always - how it's rolling out. Didn't you say that it passed the "rolling test" successful?

The taper is really nice and consistent. But I think, according to the diameter of the thing right after the transition knot, this whip could use at least a half foot in length. I'm afraid that it is a bit too short for the "starting diameter". The plaiting on the thong looks flawless (and complicated!), but - what I can say from that pic - the pattern on the handle is not as straight as it is on the thong.

I don't want to be the party pooper, here. The whip is nice, no doubt. And a lot of folks said that already. But I think you can do better on the handle. What do you think, Craig? Are you happy or do you see room for improvement, there?


Robby

Robby - you're spot on for the handle. I saw it getting twisted while I was plaiting it. But that pattern is so complicated that it's hard for me to correct it. The blue one rolled perfect, but not so much with the red one. It actually rolled out to the side. Whichever side I started it on, which was weird. I think it was caused by me wrapping the dropped strands around the thong before cutting them. So for this next one, I'm going back to keeping the dropped strands against the back of the thong.

The last two strands dropped about a foot short of the fall. If I add another half foot to the thong, would I want them to continue further?

And Robby, critique is always appreciated. If I couldn't handle it, I would have left the Army 20 years ago. Funny thing is, I am more comfortable with negative counseling than positive.

Fritz - chunky, yes. I'm still getting a little bit of hinge affect when dropping strands later on. Especially with double drops. I definitely see that dropping strands later allows me to cram the remaining strands together to avoid gaps like my previous whips.

There's critique and there is critique. We had folks here, who criticized others only to look better themselves. When I comment on something, I always like to make sure that I don't mean it in an arrogant way. It's only to give advice to - probably - help. I am not inerrant at all! And all I say say is from my own experience. I have the greatest respect for those who make whips. All I can do is cut strands and glue a thong into a cup...

On the length - I am afraid, I can't help you with practical advice, because to do that, I'd need to have the whip in my hands. Perhaps you could send your whip(s) to another forum member to talk about it. We have great folks here in the forum! And when you're right on track, I'd be happy to give you my expertise on your work. If you like...


Robby

I just finished whip number 19 and I'm not happy. Everything was going great until I waxed it. It looked pretty good on the taper, the pattern seemed straight, everything was awesome. Then I waxed it. Now it is chunky looking and very dark. I think I waxed it for too long. I was at 270° and was trying to wait for all of the air bubbles to stop, but I gave up and took it out after about 15 minutes. Yeah, I'm afraid I cooked it. It still handles well and cracks. I'll let the recipient decide if he wants it or not because of the discoloration. I tried to post a picture, but photobucket won't take my uploads for some reason.

It looks great!

Looks good to me. I would comment more but I really don't know anything about waxing. I'm glad it still works!

Finally got off of my butt (actually, it would be back on my butt) and started working on the overlay of Frankenwhip.

And just like I figured, it won't crack. Looks like it'll be a wall hanger. Oh well. I think there are a couple of concepts that I can keep. I think the key problem is the section of rope that I left ungutted. That part is stealing all of the momentum that was built up by the previous sections.

Well it'll be a nice looking wall hanging!
We never know until we try, and we learn from each build. So that's still a success.

The previous whip, 270 seems a bit hot. I usually shoot between 220-250. Too hot and things get weird.

Frankenwhip, looks good but I take it the density change is messing with the momentum?

Devin - yes. It starts to roll out good but then when it hits the ungutted part all the speed is lost.

I've been really lazy in the whip making department this year. I finally got around to making an American flag whip that I've been thinking about for almost a year. The contest deadline for the Army is the twelfth, so I need to finish this weekend. I'm trying something new with my first off-colored handle.

That looks really nice. You know, Roy has this stars and stripes paracord that might be a fun accent for knots and a fall...?

Jessie - I thought about that, but I'm going to use gold to represent the fringe.

Ooooooooo yeah. That's cool too.

Craig, that's looking very patriotic indeed.


Ron

(posted too soon)
Craig, I can totally see the flag in this.


Ron