Here’s the lace for the 12 plait handle. This lace has been hand cut, stretched, resized and pared.
Here’s the almost finished handle for the stock whip:
I still need to do some “finishing” things to it. Next step will be making the lash for the stock whip!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
My current project is making an 8 foot stock whip. This whip will have a 12 plait handle and an 8 plait lash. I’m starting with a 61 decimeter kangaroo skin that I picked up yesterday at David Morgan.
For the handles I’m using a fiberglass stock whip handle. I got a bunch of these many years ago from David Morgan, they had surplus’d them.
Today I should get the handle finished and hopefully get all of the leather cut out for the lash.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
My current project is working on a 4 1/2 foot bullwhip with a 12 inch handle. I’m using a 57 dm veg tanned drum stuffed kangaroo skin that I got from David Morgan:
This bullwhip will have a core, plaited belly, two bolsters and a 12 plait overlay. Here’s the first bolster sitting on the plaited belly:
And here’s the bolster after it has been tied onto the belly:
I then attached the 2nd bolster (not pictured) and cut out the 12 plait overlay:
Tomorrow I’ll get onto plaiting the overlay.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I recently had an order come in for a 24 plait riding crop in brown kangaroo. Here’s the riding crop before a coat of shellac:
And after a coat of shellac:
Here’s a close up of some of the plaiting:
The core of this riding crop is cane that was wrapped in rawhide. Next up is making an 8 foot 4 plait cowhide bullwhip.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Here’s a bullwhip that I finished a while ago, but hadn’t shellac’d.
It’s now ready to go and listed on my IN STOCK whips page.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Here’s another signal whip that I made the other day:
This one has a loop on the end to make the cracker easily replaceable.
This signal whip is available on my IN STOCK whips page. I think I may pick up some more black kangaroo and make some more of these signal whips.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Right now I’m working on a six foot 12 plait bullwhip in natural tan kangaroo. I had some natural tan in stock, so I didn’t need to drive up to David Morgan to pick up a kangaroo skin. I’m using a 57dm skin, however I also found a belly that I had cut out a while ago for something else, but for whatever reason didn’t use in black kangaroo. Since this will be in the inside of the whip you won’t see it.
Currently I have both bellies and bolsters finished.
Next up is to put some lead on for the knot foundation on get to work on the overlay.
People always ask how I can cut out the overlay before I’ve got the inner layers finished. It’s pretty simple, I know about what the strand widths should be and cut them a smidge wider than that. I then will resize them once the inner layers are finished.
On the surface it sounds like it’s more work than cutting it later, however it actually saves me time. By doing all of one task at the same time (i.e. strand cutting) it saves time in set up and clean up. Regardless of what point I cut the strands they still need to pared which also accomplishes the resizing.
The more I make whips, the more I’m looking for ways to save time…not cut corners, but to save time by eliminating steps that are duplicate, like sweeping the floor twice or putting away the leather only to take it back out an hour later. While these are small amounts of time, when you add them all up they can add up to a decent chunk of time.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Yesterday I got some braiding done and cut out some of the lace for the whips. Here’s a couple of overlays and an inner and out belly:
I’m always amazed at how fast the inner layers of the whip get made, it’s the final layer that takes all the time, especially when I already have the bolsters cut out.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I just got started working on some bullwhips and some stockwhips. I didn’t have enough kangaroo skins for the order, so I headed up to David Morgan to pick up some kangaroo:
I picked up a dozen kangaroo skins for the whips. I got started on the bullwhips by making the cores (and plaiting one belly):
I’ve already got all the bolsters cut out. The next step is to get work on the cutting out the braided parts.
For larger orders like this to save time I try to work “production line” style. Trying to do all of one thing for all the whips at the same time. So I’ll cut out all the cores at the same time. Then I’ll attach them all at the same time. It saves a lot of time and mentally if I’m in a groove, I don’t get out of it by switching mental gears to another task.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I’m working on a six foot bullwhip. This will be an 8 plait kangaroo whip. It’s got a 4 foot 8 plait bullwhip to go with it. Here’s the inner belly:
Here’s it with a bolster on it:
This whip should be finished very soon and will ship out with the 4 foot whip when it’s done.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org