Once the plaiting was finished on the overlay of the whips, I needed to put the handle foundations on:
Once the knot foundations were finished, I put the knots on them:
For fun I put a different style knot one the bottom of each handle. For the transition knots, I matched the knot style:
These still need to be rolled and have shellac put on them. I’ll list them for sale on my IN STOCK whips page soon.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
The final overlay of the third whip is finished:
All three of these are 8 plait bullwhips.
These whip’s overlays are made out of leftover centers of kangaroo that I had kicking around. That leather just happens to be the best leather on the kangaroo skin, but sometimes you end up with bits that are only good for a lace or two. Once you have a bunch of these, you can make whips out of them!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I just finished the overlay of a second four foot bullwhip.
It still needs to be rolled and knots added, but I did try it out and it’s got a great crack!
I’m making these whips production line style. I’m trying to make them all in stages at the same time. All of them will get the knots done at the same time, instead of having completing one whip then moving onto the next. When making more than one whip, doing it this way saves a lot of time.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
I finished the 8 foot bullwhip!
This whip has two plaited bellies and two bolsters. the overlay is 12 plait tannery dyed kangaroo. The handle is lead loaded and 10 inches long.
I just listed this whip for sale on the IN STOCK whips page.
Currently I’m making an 8 foot 12 plait bullwhip. The overlay is 12 plait in tannery dyed whiskey colored kangaroo. Here’s the overlay after I did the strand prep:
Later today I’ll start plaiting the overlay. I’m making this bullwhip for fun and when it’s done it will be listed on my IN STOCK whips page.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
It’s been a while since I’ve had whips available on my IN STOCK whips page. I just listed two bullwhips and a riding crop.
If you need a whip right away visit:
http://bullwhips.org/?page_id=7361
Louie
A few months ago my friend and sideshow historian James Taylor had seen a mini bullwhip that I had made and wanted one for his collection. I finally had some time to make him one. This mini bullwhip construction had a core, plaited belly, bolster then overlay.
One of the challenges with making this type of whip is that you have to really thin down the leather, so it’s very fragile if you aren’t careful about going around the scars on the leather when you are cutting the lace.
The overlay of this whip is 12 plait.
Making these mini whips which are about a foot long are a lot of work, but fun to make and you can get little cracks out of them!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
My current project is working on a dozen whips! Six of them will be six foot 12 plait bullwhips and the other six will be four foot stockwhips. The most labor intensive will be the bullwhips, so I’m working on them first.
For me, when making a lot of whips that are the same, the easiest way to save time is to do the same layer of all of them at the same time. This is “production line” style, where you do only one task at a time. This way your brain isn’t constantly shifting gears. For example, I cut out all of the bellies at the same time:
Then I went through and attached all of the inner bellies at the same time. Once they were all attached I plaited all six of them.
This way works great, but when I’m doing the overlays will be really rough on my hands.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
Recently I started work on an 8 foot Indiana Jones Style Bullwhip. This will be made from kangaroo and made with the correct visual to match the whip from the movies.
For more info on what makes an Indiana Jones Whip Click here!
Currently this whip has all of the internal layers finished, and I just cut out the 12 plait overlay:
Next step will be tacking on the lead load to the base of the handle, then plaiting the overlay!
Louie
http://bullwhips.org
This morning I’m shipping out a pair of signal whips (aka Single Tail Whips):
These whips have replaceable crackers, so the end of the whip is a loop that you simply put a new cracker in.
Louie
http://bullwhips.org