Month: May 2009

Bullwhip In Progress…

Bullwhip In Progress…

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Right now I’m working on making an 8 foot 12 plait bullwhip in the style of the one used in the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie.  
 Bullwhip plaited belly
The picture above is of the inner plaited belly and below is the whip with both bellies attached (but the outer one isn’t plaited yet).  
bull whip in 8 foot 1 plait kangaroo
I have the outer belly briaded, and today I will put on the final bolster.  I have to wait for more kangaroo to arrive before I can work on the overlay.  I had a whiskey hide that’s just a tad too small to use for this bullwhip.  I’m hoping more whiskey kangaroo will arrive on monday so I can get this bullwhip finished. 
I’ve also got a 6 foot bullwhip in the works right now.  I have all the kangaroo layer cut out and just need to cut out the core and get braiding.  
Last night my five year old daughter asked me if I would make her a “kids whip”.  I told her that I would and since my daughter is a very girlie girl, I might have to go out and get some dye and make her a pink and purple bullwhip.   Also I’m thinking that a whip for her would be a good chance for me to learn to plait names in the handle.  Especially since her name is only 4 letters long, so it shouldn’t be too hard.  
Louie
Matched Pair of Bullwhips

Matched Pair of Bullwhips

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The shellac dried on this pair of bullwhips!  

 

12 plait kangaroo bullwhip for sale

 

They are six feet long with 12 plait kangaroo overlays. 

 

bullwhips in 12 plait kangaroo skin - matched pair

 

pair of bullwhips

I got the THICK kangaroo hides that were used to make these bullwhips from David Morgan.

bullwhip picture

I naturally darkened the hides a bit before I made the bullwhips.  

 

bull whip picture

 

bullwhips for whip cracking

I’ve got this pair of bullwhips listed for sale on the IN STOCK whips page.

 

 

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

10 foot Bull whip

10 foot Bull whip

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Here’s the 10 foot bullwhip that I made yesterday and shipped out to it’s new owner:

 

bullwhip picture

 

 

10 foot 12 plait bullwhip

Right now I’m working on the overlays of the pair of 6 foot 12 plait bullwhips that I started a few weeks ago.  I’ve got one whip with about 12 inches finished and the other with abotu 3 feet of the overlay plaited.   With a bit of luck I’ll be able to get both of the bullwhip’s overlay braided today. 

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

KotCS style Bullwhips…

KotCS style Bullwhips…

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I was thinking about the 10 foot bullwhip that I’m working right now.  It’s one of the whips that’s made with the look of the bullwhip in the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  Besides the color one of the things that makes this bull whip different is that it ends with an 8 plait point.  

I really like making the 8 plait point on a bullwhip.  It’s a bit more challenging in the tapering of the strands than a 6 plait, but a bit easier at the same time because I don’t have to deal with the 8 to 6 plait strand drop.  

I should be getting home later today from my little trip and hopefully I’ll have time to do the wrist loop and knots on the 10 foot KotCS bullwhip that I”m currently working on.  After that I still have the 6 foot pair of bullwhips and an 8 foot KotCS style bullwhip.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

Western Town

Western Town

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Right now I’m on a little road trip with my family.  We are visiting Ghost Towns in Washington State.  It’s a fun little trip for the holiday weekend and with the economy how it is you can get nice hotels for dirt cheap!

We had lunch in a touristy Western Town called Winlock.  Just about every shop there was selling the cheap-o mexician swivel handle bullwhips.  I’ve never used one of them, and after seeing one my impression hasn’t changed. 

If you end up getting one because of budget, availablity or whatever here’s a little tip…find some pecards!  All the ones that I saw were dry as a bone, so the Pecards leather dressing will give the whip a bit more of a fighting chance at life. 

Also before I left home I managed to finish the overlay and attach the fall on the 10 foot bullwhip that I was working on.  I don’t like leaving partially finished braiding for long periods of time.  If a whip isn’t finished and it just sits there half braided the strands will untighten slowly over time.  Then you will end up with an inconsitant braid. 

To fight that whenever I stop braiding (like at the end of the day, or to take a break), before I start again I undo at least a full cycle of the braid to make sure I a more consistant overly. Obviously the best way is to not stop at all while making the overlay, but that’s not always an option.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

Pair of Bullwhips

Pair of Bullwhips

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Here’s a picture of the pair of bullwhips that I’m working on:

 

Matched Pair of Bullwhip

Right now this pair of bullwhips is on hold while I work on the 10 foot bullwhips shown in the previous post.  I have about 6ish feet of that bullwhip done.  I should be able to finish the overlay today, I have three shows, but they are pretty spaced out (9:20am, 2:30pm and 10:30pm), so I’ll have time between to work on plaiting.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

10 foot bullwhip

10 foot bullwhip

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Yesterday I started work on a 10 foot 12 plait Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Style Bullwhip.  Here’s what I’ve done so far:

 

Whiskey and Brandy colored kangaroo hides

Then I prepared the handle foundation and attached the core.

 

Bullwhip core

After the core I stared working on the 4 plait kangaroo belly.  First I cut out the sets for the two plaited bellies, then attached the inner belly set to the handle:

 

4 plait kangaroo sets for double plaited bellies

 

 

Plaited belly

Then I put a bolster over the top of that belly:

 

bullwhip making

After the inner bolster I attached the outer 4 plait kangaroo belly:

Bullwhip 10 foot 12 plait kangaroo

That belly gets braided:

 

double plaited belly in a bullwhip

And a bolster gets put on top of that:

 

Bullwhip with two bellies and two bolsters

In the above picture you can see a lot of the tools that I use to make my bolster.  I use a straight edge, caliper, and a pen.  After the boslter gets attached it’s time to cut the strands for the overlay and do all the strand prep:

 

12 plait kangaroo set for a bullwhip

The picture above is of the 12 plait overlay set after I’ve done all the strand prep.  Now it’s time to start working on plaiting the overlay:

 

12 plait kangaroo bullwhip

While working on this bullwhip’s overlay I was about 24 inches into the when I noticed a mispliat about 2 inches past the checkerboard plaiting.  If the misplait was further down the thong I’d leave it because it’s a cosmetic issue  and won’t change how the whip works.  But since the misplait was right after the checkerboard it really stood out…so I got to undo the whip and back it up to to just past the handle to fix it, then replait the whip.  

I’m hoping that I will have time to get a good chunk of the overlay finished today, I’m going out of town for the long weekend, and dont’ want a half finished overlay hanging around that long.  

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

Matched Pair

Matched Pair

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Last night I finished plaiting the outer bellies on the matched pair of bullwhips that I’m working on.  The fun and challenge of making a matched pair of bullwhips is trying to make them as close to the same as possible.  

Getting the taper the same is as bit of a challenge, however the diameter of the whips is what’s getting me right now.  One of them is a hair thicker than the other.  I think I’m going to have to thin down the outer bolster of the thicker bullwhip a little bit and hopefully that will even them out.  

Honestly I don’t know how noticable the thickness difference is to someone that’s a whipmaking trying to make a matched pair.

Hopefully I’ll have time to take some pictures later today.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

More Kangaroo Arrives!

More Kangaroo Arrives!

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Last night I got back from 4 days in North Carolina (and a quick trip to South Carolina), I had a ton of fun, but it’s good to be home.

When I got home I had a package of kangaroo skins waiting for me:

Natural tan drum stuffed kangaroo skin

Two natural tan and two black kangaroo hides.  These are all in the 60+ dm range which is nice.

kangaroo for making bullwhips

I also had a white kangaroo hide come in:

White kangaroo

I’m expecting another batch to come in later this week.

Hopefully today I’ll have time to do some of the strand prep for the matched pair of bullwhips that I’m working on.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org

Finished Budget bullwhip

Finished Budget bullwhip

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I just finished tying the knots on this bullwhip.  It’s an 8 foot 4 plait cowhide bullwhip.

 

8 foot bullwhip

When I was making this bullwhip I broke a couple of strands and had to fix them, so I’m selling this bullwhip as a “2nd” and offering 20% off on my IN STOCK whip page.  This would be a great first whip to learn the basic throws before moving up to a kangaroo whip.

Louie

http://bullwhips.org