Whip Basics. The Forum

Nicely done Mark.
Yeah, how does it crack?

Ron

It looks great Mark!

Mark, it looks like this was worth all your effort. When it's been used for a while, it should settle down into a nice smooth thong. Well done!

As to the question, 'How does it crack?' I rather think the length (and weight) of the handle will have a big effect on the result. You might have to experiment a bit....

Looking good Mark. Very nice taper and strand drops are "mostly" invisible. You might want to trim the tab on the fall a bit, rounding it off. Yes, a fall hitch will stand out a bit, but the whip continues tapering through the fall all the way to the cracker. A "heavy" fall knot will interrupt the flow of energy through the whip. Make it as smooth as possible.

Well done and I can't wait to see how the handle turns out.

Yep that kangaroo may have just had a tougher hide than some others, the ornery thing!
It looks great.

Here's the finished whip. Next time I use roo hide I'll have to pay more attention to the thickness and perhaps split it. I tied the keeper on the handle with a waxed thread used for making bow strings using a method in the Edwards' book and covered it with a grapevine hitch. I didn't want to cover much of the wood so there is just a 7x6 TH there, but I'm not totally satisfied with it. I may redo it with a foundation to make it a bit larger. To be honest the handle is not hard to grip without it, though, so I'm still pondering it.
The handle is 18 inches of Goncalo Alves, the thong is 6 ft long with a twisted tapered core of roo hide weighted with leaded fishing line bound with closed loop binding followed with 2 layers of open loop and then the entire thing is covered with a kip skin bolster.
The belly is an 8 plait roo belly that extends the length of the thong.
The overlay is a 16 plait.

Nice work, Mark.

Thank's Scott

Jeff, I trimmed the fall tab and it does look much better., Thanks

Well done Mark!

Very nice work mark

Mark, that looks really good. May we hope for a short video of this whip in action?

Thanks guys, Yes, Robert, I will in a few days. I'm headed to work this morning and will be unable to do so for the nest couple of days. I actually started to make one yesterday but threw the cracker off first thing and didn't have another with me.

Mark Elliott wrote:... I actually started to make one yesterday but threw the cracker off first thing and didn't have another with me.

Note to all whip users: ALWAYS carry some spare crackers! (I generally carry a spare fall and a fid as well - plus an old towel if the weather is at all wet, to wipe down wet thongs.)

I have a small carabiner that I loop at least 10 crackers on (nylon and kevlar for fire!) wherever I go cracking

Mark, the whip looks great!

Mark, the whip looks fantastic, but the handle is really awesome!!!

Looks Great!

Very cool! Looking forward to the video!

Nicely done Mark.
The handle looks like business.

Ron

Thank you all. I'll get a video up ASAP.