The making of whip #2

[Sir Roger Tuson]

Congrats from me too, Ron. Your #2 is streets ahead of my own #2! Your dedication to getting it right and all that undoing and re-plaiting over and over again was worth every frustraing moment. Each whip canonly get better.

[Ron May]

Thank you Grant.

Thanks Fritz, the transition is not as supportive as I would like it to be, but I can try to correct that with W3.
Hopefully it will break in and not break down too much.

Ron

[Ron May]

Thank you Roger.
This build is teaching me a lot.

Ron

[Ron May]

Thanks a lot Markus.

Ron

[Ben Varsek]

@ Ron May:

I am even more amazed to see the end result of your overlay than I was when I complimented you on your checkerboard-plaiting. Incredible good work on your second (!!!) whip Sir!!!
The care and patience for every step of the creation of your second whip definitely payed off.

Congratulations, very well done Sir!!!

Greetings Ben

[Brandon Lewis]

Ron, that is quite a handle you made. Congratulations on getting that overlay plaited. I like that two tone blue color. I cant wait to see some cracking videos and get your feedback on how it performs.Good job.

[Ron May]

Ben, thank you very much.
It means a lot coming from such an accomplished maker as yourself.

Ron

[Ron May]

Thanks Brandon, I am looking forward to seeing how it performs as well.

Ron

[Christophe Mechain]

Ron, well done. It is a very nice whip.

[Ron May]

Thank you Christophe.

Ron

[Ron May]

As I mentioned in today's "Roll Call" I am finishing the end of the whip with a different variation of the English Eye.
It will be a loop variation of the core strand that will be looped back and 4 plaited over then finished with a fall hitch.
Bending it back and laying it along the back of the thong sort of like you would do if you were adding a strand to increase plait count.
Then using a fall hitch to secure it all.

I will be posting photos of the method if possible.

Ron

[Sir Roger Tuson]

This sounds interesting. Looking forward to pics.

[Ron May]

I finally completed the loop variation of a fall hitch.
The image below shows the core strand that has been plaited over being brought down to be underneath the half hitches of the fall hitch.



This is the back with the locking strand coming back up through the fall hitches.



A side view.



Time will tell but it does make changing a fall a lot easier.

Ron

[Robert Gage]

Ron, that looks like it would work well. As you say, time will tell....

Congratulations on your splendid perseverance - and your photo-record of how it 's all progressed.

[Ron May]

Thanks Mr. Robert.
It's going to be a slow whip, which is just the kind of meditative style I like to do.
I added one of Jessie's dyneema crackers that I saved just for this whip and gave it a test run.
I have found that with out a heel knot it's a little hard to actually judge the action accurately.
It's Amperage is not very impressive. It does not pass the Robby Roll out test but does pass the Amper wave test. I'm not exactly sure what that means but that I need a lot more experience in making for sure.

Ron

[Philbert Lim]

Ron, that looks like a nice and compact loop, there's no added friction from the fall on that last strand to hold it in place as with a normal fall hitch but it looks like it should hold up well. It does feel weird with no heel knot but i suppose after using it for a while, you'll get used to the feel of it. Although it'll feel much more comfortable with one. I'm guessing with the tests, it means you did well with putting equal tension while plating but there was twisting somewhere in the layers hence not rolling out straight.

[Robert Gage]

It's going to be a slow whip, which is just the kind of meditative style I like.

As do I!

[Ron May]

Philbert, the photos don't show well, but the last fall hitch goes back up under the others to help secure the hitch. The core strand that was doubled over was plaited into place and with the end of it coming out of the plaiting goes back down over the first hitch and under the others to lock the loop in place.

Other than not having the fall looped around the thong and hitches over it it's the same method but with a loop for the fall to connect to in the middle of the thong in stead of a fall strand.
I think it will hold up well.

Yeah, there most likely were some inconsistencies in the bellies and the binding most definitely could have been more consistent as well hence the poor Amperage.

Ron

[Ron May]

The heel knot and foundation knot are next.
I would also like to be able to wax it but funds may not allow for that at this time.

Ron

[Ron May]

Correction : foundations for the transition and heel knots and then the knots to finish the whip.

Ron