Whip Basics. The Forum

I wanted to play with an idea on how to make stock whip a little easier to crack.

To this day i have weighted my stocks with just concho in the heel and thats that. They work fine but they are always sticks with most of the weight in front in the end of the handle.

When you have handle with weight in one end it is going to give your hand a good amount of torgue.

Longer leverage, more torgue.

One way is to reduce weight or shorten the handle.

But what if you could weight the handle so that it handles like shorter one?

If you think how swords are balanced they do share same characteris as whips, most of the "action" area is long and forward but most of the weight is in the handle.
But swords have pommel and guard wich creates two points of weight wich makes the blade easily moveable. The balance point is usually in the guard.

Now whips usually has only one point of weight wich is in the heel, in the very end of lever. Usually ferrules are only for decorative purposes but maybe there is a way to use two points of weight in a whip that could make it to ease these torgues when using a whip.

So what i have been thinking is to make a stockwhip with a handle that has two points of weight, one in the heel and one a bit towards the thong. These two points should share some ratio so that the balance point of the whip is nearer to your hand.
Usually when i use stocks i dont grab it right from the heel but a little bit towards the the thong.

As i make the handle from a arrow i have some space to play inside the handle.


Here is the belly. I started the overlay with 6 275cord to give it a nice thin head.

I'm looking forward to seeing this new idea of your progress Jyri.
Good luck.

Ron

Jyri, these thoughts are very interesting. I look forward to seeing how your experiment develops!

Jyri - That's why I love the way you whipmakers in here work. Always a new idea to make the whip perform a little better, always on the move to the next - and always slightly better whip even it is about plaiting, balance or flow.

This is indeed a great project and a clever idea. I hope it turns out well.

How long do you plan the whip to be ?

Thanks!

Flemming i can't remember exactly but the thong is over 7 ft.

Almost ready thong. Now i have to plan the keepers.

7 ft. + handle is a long whip for sore joints as you have to change the direction over the head when doing horizontal cracks.

Flemming, no if you can get the balance right and it depends a lot how the thong tapers. Half of that thong has been plaited with 275 cord over one 275 cord(at the tip) and over 4x550 and 2x275 cord at the end of first belly. So most of that thong is light and most of the weight is near the keeper end. I hope that the tip isnt too light.

Here is the thong. It is liiiight even that it is 20plat. I think that the back taper is more visible now.

Here is the plaited keeper.

I should get to do the metal parts soon but i can finish the handle before. After i have plaited it i can still move weights inside the handle to find "softer" balance point.

Jyri, that looks fantastic! I really like that cord.

I‘m curious to see how this turns out
Weight distribution is probably one of the biggest keys to a good whip.
I recently had the chance to see one of the first (if not THE first) stockwhip of a an established paracord whipmaker who delivers great bullwhips. It was absolutely beautifully plaited and in connection with the shiny metal handle it looked fantastic. Then I tried it...fiasco, way to heavy. Too much weight in the thong, too much weight in the handle, too much weight in everything. I don’t have much experience with stockwhips but I thought it was a total failure for a STOCKwhip. It needed the whole arm and muscles to crack. No chance to do anything with a flick of the wrist with that one. But I digress...
I‘m looking forward to see Jyri’s whip in action.

Wolfgang Timm wrote:Weight distribution is probably one of the biggest keys to a good whip.

Wolfgang, I myself wouldn't say 'probably', but 'certainly'!

Jyri - How is it going with the experiment ??

Very interesting Jyri. I'll be following the development of this whip.

Sven

I have added weight at the heel and transition. When you have a heavy handle, it’s almost a must to have a lengthy whip, since the weight will travel forward. If the whip is too short, it’s just not going to crack without effort. You might want to try a weighted fall when you are finished, but at 7 feet, you should be ok. If you do it again, bring it down to a 5 foot thong with a weighted fall. You might be happier with the result

Thanks!

I have had zero time to do any plaiting but hopefully i get to contiue it this weekend.

Here is the handle. I was going to do it from 275 but i lost my nerves in the keeper.
I have to cut that handle a bit as i messed up the pattern a bit.



This time i made the concho with satin finish.
I'm going to insert some steel inside the handle in order to fiddle with the balance.


Here is the whole thing. It cracked pretty well but for now the balance is in the thong.

Nicely done Jyri.

Ron

That looks great, Jyri.

Looking good - I‘m curious how the final whip is going to work out- looking forward to cracking videos