Yesterday I made some progress on the 8 plait signal whip.
The overlay is basically finished. I’m at the part where I need to start adding in the plaited cracker. That’s probably my least favorite part of making signal whips. Braiding the cracker really makes my hands sore. However I’m pretty sure this signal whip will get finished today, then I can get back to work on the five foot bullwhip!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Last night I started the signal whip that I’m making out of the same skin as the 5 foot bullwhip. I’ve got the shotbag made and the overlay cut out:
Today I will have time to at least do the strand prep and probably find time to get the overlay plaited.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
This morning I started work on a 5 foot bullwhip. I haven’t really decided if it’s going to be 8 or 12 plait.
The kangaroo skin that I’m using is 62dm, which is almost the size of skin needed for an 8 foot bullwhip. This kangaroo skin will also make a 3 1/2 or 4 foot signal whip. The next step for this kangaroo skin will be to cut out the lace for the signal whip, saving the best part of the skin for the bullwhip which will have finer strands.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Last week I was on the road performing and I drove through Pendleton Oregon. One of the cool things about Pendleton is that Hamley’s is there. They have some of the top rawhide braider’s working there. It’s always fun to stop by!
Every time I stop by there it makes me wish I have a years to devote to really learn how to braid rawhide.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Last week I had a bullwhip come in that needed a new point (and fall):
So I replaited the point and put a new fall on it:
I gave it a few cracks before I boxed it up and sent it back to its new owner.
Louie
Today I finished the overlay of a 7 1/2 foot Indy Style bullwhip:
And put the knots and wrist loop on it:
I gave this bullwhip a few cracks in my carport and it’s got a nice pop to it! This bullwhip also has a great in the hands weight, it feels like you are holding a whip!
So I have three of these bullwhips IN STOCK right now (7 foot, 7.5 foot and 8 foot):
The middle one (the 7.5 that I finished today) is a bit darker than the others. The reason for that is that it was made with “rawhide cream” instead of plating soap to braid it. As far as plaiting goes, I liked the rawhide cream…except the cost! It’s time to mix up a new batch of regular plaiting soap.
If you are interested all three of these bullwhips are available on my IN STOCK whips page.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Lately I haven’t been doing much plaiting I’ve been busy performing and finishing filling up my summer calendar. Right now custom plaiting jobs have been slow, so it’s a good thing I’ve been busy now with other stuff!
A couple of nights ago I found time to get a few more feet of plaiting on my current bullwhip project:
And this week is my daughter’s spring break, so we’ve been doing some fun things during the day when we get a chance. Today we went to the Washington State History Museum that had a mummy exhibit. Here’s one of the displays:
What makes this picture interested (besides mummies being cool) is that the guy in the upper left corner isn’t just wrapped like a cartoon scooby-doo mummy, but he’s plaited. Here’s a close up:
The arms and legs have a herringbone plait. Interesting…
Louie
This evening I managed to find time to get some plaiting in on a 12 plait bullwhip in calf:
Today I took it from the 3 foot mark to about 5 feet. I won’t get a chance to do any plaiting tomorrow (I’ve got a very full performing day).
Louie
This afternoon I delivered this 16 foot bullwhip to its new owner:
I’m going to miss having this bullwhip around, it’s 12 plait kanagaroo. It was a pain in the ass to make, but a great whip!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I decided to start plaiting the last calf bullwhip that I’m making (for now). It’s about 3 feet into it:
I’m out of plaiting soap and didn’t want to cook up a batch before I left town so I’ve been using rawhide cream as lube for plaiting:
It works pretty well for the lubricating part of plaiting…however it doesn’t feel like it’s adding much “grease” to the strands (which isn’t surprising because rawhide dressing usually doesn’t have fat in it). The part I’ve plaited is still very dry sounding, so I’m going to have to give it a hit of dressing when the whip is done.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org