Whip Basics. The Forum

I haven't been the best at taking pictures of my earlier work. The majority have been given as gifts, wall hanging decoration, or torn back apart because I wasn't happy with the outcome. Below is one I remembered to take a picture of when I was at my buddies house.


I didn't think to take any of my current whip throughout construction. I will next time because I'd appreciate some feedback. Here is a picture of the overlay. This was to be a 6' whip, with 1' handle, taper twisted core, 8 and 12 plait bellies with 16 plait overlay, and a 4pt fall hitch. Things didn't quite go according to plan. Somewhere my math was bad and I had to adjust the overlay a bit more than I would have liked.

I ended up with a 5.5' whip with a 6pt fall hitch. After my third attempt I gave up on the 4 plait and back things up and went with a 6pt fall hitch. I think it would benefit from a taper twisted fall, but my skills are not quite there yet.

The end of the handle wasn't quite what I was hoping for either.


While I was trying to decide what to do next, I came up with this

Rather than try and sculpt leather, I counter sunk the wooden ball. I'm thinking a few nails and some gorilla glue should do the trick.

Waiting for the glue to dry before starting the heel knot. I'll post some pictures after waxing.

Nice job.
I don't think you'll need any nails. Just be sure any adhesive is compatible with nylon.

Ron

That is going to have interesting shape when the knot is done. Looking forward for it!

Looks good, Eric.

Interesting Eric. I'm really curious how that heel knot turns out.

I've been there too. Having to shorten a whip because of miscalculations. That sounded all too familiar .

Sven

Thank you for the kind words everyone.

Sven, I've had to make small adjustments before, but this one was the worst. It was doubly disappointing because I actually to the time to draw this one out and checked my math a couple different times. First attempt at the knot was not successful. I think it is a little too big, but it is what I had available. The size is such that four passes leaves gaps and five is bunched up. I'm going to try some different knots and hope one works.

Eric, what knot are you using? A pineapple knot adds extra passes to the widest part of the ball but not the ends of the ball and might cover better for you. another option would be a multi-pass globe knot.

Pineapple Knot
https://youtu.be/ovBFd5rbyps

Globe knot
https://youtu.be/Hh2zcWhihaU

I hit enter too soon.

I was going to add that both can be done in single colors, it just takes a bit more concentration to keep it sorted out.

Eric, you could also add a couple of layers or hockey tape to make the foundation larger.
This would make those gaps larger maybe enough to add another pass.

Ron

Ron, that's a good idea, and it would help keep the cord from sliding around when he ties the knot.

Looking like a great effort! Your work looks very nice. Clean good work!

Mark, thanks for the links. I went with one similar to your first link, although I used a different tutorial. I'm still cleaning it up, but it looks like it is going to work fine.

Ron, going bigger was a last result. If I had it to do over I would have went with a smaller ball, but I used what I had available.

Rachel, thanks for the compliment.

Good, glad it's working for you. I look forward to seeing the results.

I think it turned out pretty good. I'll probably use the wooden ball again, but I doubt it will be that size, despite already making a jig. The 2" ball doesn't quite look right to me. At least with a handle that thin. I know the coin thing isn't very original, but that is from the National Forest quarters. That particular rock outcropping is called Camel Rock and is about a 20 minute drive from my house. It's a pretty well known spot in this part of the state so I thought it was appropriate.

Now I'm trying to decide if I want to add a transition knot or just wax it a call it good.

Eris, that heel-ball looks very nicely done, but at 2 inches across, it would never fit in my palm. (I'm a firm believer in holding the heel knot in one's palm, rather than grasping the handle. This gives one far more control over the whip.) But perhaps you have enormous hands!

The knot looks really nice, neat, and even.
I agree with Mr. Robert about it being too big for my hands as well.
Holding the whip with the knot in the palm of your hand is essential to good whip control.
Nicely done.

Ron

It turned out very nice, Eric.

Thank you for the kind words. At this point, I'm calling it a successful failure. It looks nice, but it's too big for my hands as well. I think my excitement of doing something different clouded my judgement a bit. Different still needs to be functional.

So, I'm happy this was my first whip that has a 12" handle. Because it is about to become a 10". I think the idea was sound, just poorly executed size wise. I think 1.5" would be much better. Once plaited, that would be very close to the diameter of a golf ball, which feels like a much more controllable size.

Round 2

Again, trying to make the best of a mistake. It seems I need to take my reading glasses when I shop. What I thought were 1.5" balls were actually 1.75". Some time with a sander, rasps and files produced what will hopefully be a better end result.

Eric, I think you’ll find this serendipitous. I believe that will be a much better shape for your hand!