Whip Basics. The Forum

As a new member I wanted to post a few pics I have handy on my phone, as this is how I'm currently writing this post. Please feel free to comment and criticize anything you see!

The latest PH whip.



5ft 12 plait bullwhip. This guy performs maybe better than it looks.


3ft 16 plait snake whip for my father's burthday


4ft 12plait bullwhip. This was a great whip in the respect to education. You can see the bulges due to inconsistent tension of pulling while tightening strands


First whip ever. 16plait 6ft. It now sports a transition knot with a plastic dipped heel knot

Not bad at all, Colin! And you're obviously learning form your mistakes already.

The thong of the PH whip has a good looking taper, but (for me) it's let down by the handle, which (frankly) looks pretty shoddy. But if you can learn something new with each whip you make, you'll do well!

Robert i agree about the handle. This is one I'm keeping and plan on abusing so I prioritized my time with function over fashion and getting the thong right. Future versions will have a longer grapevine hitch with square start handle plaiting and heel knot to make it more presentable.

You are making progress.
The goal is each whip being better than the previous one.

Getting the knots right will come with time.
The PVC handle does look, to me, unfinished, but you will improve with time and experience.

Thanks for sharing.

Ron

Thanks Ron. I've watched hours of videos on knot tying, as it's definitely not my forte. Next picture will be the stock whip. It looks much better with the exposed oak handle. I'll finish that one with handle plaiting and knots before I post.

That's a good start, Colin. Thanks for posting.

Collin,
Nice start! The PH whip and that black bull look pretty good.

Thank you Ethan! I looked at some of your work you've posted and it looks great! I have some high standards to reach for based on what I've seen here.

Here is the kinda stock whip I finished. Needs to be waxed still. It cracks very very easy. That being said, I measured the strands on the first belly wrong and wish it tapered a little faster. But maybe it was a happy accident because it cracks effortlessly? The other thing is I went directly from 4 plait into a 2 strand twisted taper so the fall is heavier than the point :o ...now I know not to make whips at 2 in the morning. Either way, it's a learning experience and it taught me more. Plus it's a little consolation how well it cracks oddly enough. Maybe I'll do a video showing a simple cattleman's crack this weekend

Colin, whip building is very largely about managing weight distribution - as you're discovering. Stockwhips need more weight in the thong than in the handle (to put it crudely!) and many of the best have a thong that's slightly heavier a little bit beyond the keeper, rather than where the keeper is attached. Also, on the whole, they tend to be lighter than bullwhips, and have a faster action. Go on experimenting! There is no end to the fascination of this craft!

Collin,
Thanks! Whips with a fast taper tend to be fast, but take more effort to crack. Whips with a with a slower taper move slower but take less effort to crack.

And don't feel pressed to meet those standards(I know I still have a ways to go), we all learn best at our own pace.

Ethan Mitchell wrote:Collin,
Thanks! Whips with a fast taper tend to be fast, but take more effort to crack. Whips with a with a slower taper move slower but take less effort to crack.

What about going to the longer end of extreme and let's say I make an 8 foot bullwhip the following: basic 10" handle with bb shot loaded core about 1/3 overall length. 1st belly 1/2 of length so 4ft. Then 2nd belly to 6ft, finished by the 8ft overlay. I'm assuming before I even try this will be an extremely slow and heavy whip, but would crack easy? The taper would be very fast but only for about 4ft. Maybe employ this with a weighted twisted taper fall, and normal crack (for me normal is 8 strands of #138 bonded nylon. 10inches total with a 2" tassel). Is the in the realm of the real world or plain stupid? Just doing some thought experiments here

Collin, it's been my experience that extreme tapering, one way or the other, is not usually a good idea.
It may work well for specific cracks but not for all of them. This would limit what the whip could do and what you could do with it.

A nice smooth and even taper will perform well and crack easily.

To match what style of cracking you like to do, you can alter the overall length and varry your drop points to suit those needs.

But on the other hand, this could be a fun experiment to see if you like one build formula over another.

There is no set formula that works for everyone.
Have some fun with it.

I certainly will experiment Ron. Like Thomas Edison said, "I haven't failed 1,000 times, I've just succeeded in finding 1,000 ways it won't work."