Yesterday when I was tying the heel knot on a 4.5 foot bullwhip I tried a new knot. Well this knot made the heel knot look horrible, but that got me thinking about what makes a heel knot look the way it does.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there are three things:
Type of Knot: Some knots are more square, others are taller or fatter. The type of turkshead will pass on these characteristics to the finished heel knot.
Size of the knot foundation: Putting a large turkshead on a small knot probably won’t look as good as a small knot on a small foundation.
Shape of the knot foundation: If your knot foundation is can shaped, once you tie the knot over it the finished product will probably end up can shaped. If you build up the knot a bit you’ll end up with a more round/ball shaped knot.
There are a couple of other factors that go into how the knot looks, like how the knot is tied, etc.
Later today I’m planning on working on some Budget Bullwhips, I have two overlays cut out, but still need to make the insides of the whips!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org