Month: December 2021

Plaited Bracelet

A little bit ago I got a request to fix the braided part of a bracelet. Here’s the pic that I was sent:

The wanted the 4 plait part replaced and the color hopefully matched with the original color. Here’s a pic of the bracelet when it was new:

The leather on that was glazed and by that I mean it has a coating of blue on top of the grain side of leather. For me to get that color in a decent material, I would need to either get lucky and find the color at one of my local leather suppliers, dye or paint the leather.

My trip out to look for something premade, I struck out and to dye it, I really wouldn’t get that color of blue. That left me with painting as the only real option to color it. Painting and dying leather is a pain, you need to give the leather a hit of deglazer, paint/dye it, then seal it.

I picked up two colors of blue and between the two I figured I could get pretty close to the original color.

Plaited bracelet

Lucky for me the owner of the bracelet said the lighter blue straight out of the jar was what he wanted. I think the color came out pretty well after cutting the lace, doing all the strand prep and then completing the painting process.

  • Plaited bracelet
  • Plaited bracelet

Here’s the finished product bracelet:

In the end this is a better product as it’s a higher quality leather as I used kangaroo. Also the painted leather that should hold it’s color better than the previous glazed leather.

This was a fun project as it’s slightly outside of what I normally do.

-Louie

Fall Replacement*

Changing a fall on a whip is pretty easy all you need in addition to the new fall is a knife, a blunt fid and some Pecard Leather Dressing.

The first step is to slip the new fall onto the lash of the whip.

If the final strand of the fall hitch is tucked under the end of the fall, pull it out.

Next, take the fid and loosen the fall hitch a little bit. Normally you won’t need to loosen it too much, and untie DO NOT the fall hitch.

Loosen all of the hitches.

Then stick the fid into the eye of the old fall.

You will cut out end off the old fall hitch with the knife. I use the fid to protect the lash of the whip from the knife.

Then pull the old fall away from lash, through the fall hitch to remove it.

Take the new fall and feed it through the fall hitch.

Keep pulling till it’s almost all the way through.

Retuck the final strand on the hitch through the eye of the fall (If that’s how it was originally) and then pull the fall against the fall hitch.

Retighten all of the strands in the fall hitch

Now all you need to do is put a new cracker on it and you’re good to go!

*You are following these instructions at your own risk. *

If you would like me to replace a fall for you, contact me for current pricing!

Another Hunt Whip Thong

The person who ordered the hunt whip thong from me a bit ago liked it and just ordered another one. This one is five feet long, where the previous one was six feet. Here’s the core before it’s cut out:

And the core after it’s cut out:

This whip will have a little bit of a swell belly, so you can see that in the core’s shape. Here’s the completed interior layers:

Finally work get started on the outside:

This whip will have an 8 plait whiskey colored kangaroo overlay:

I’m glad the customer liked the first one enough to order a second one!

-Louie

Fibula Handle Bullwhip

For about a decade I’ve wanted to make a bullwhip that had a human bone for a handle. A while ago I found a fibula that would be perfect for the handle of a short bullwhip. This whip internally has a core, bolster and plaited belly.

Here’s the overlay:

I started braiding in the middle of the bone handle so that I could get the plaiting nice and tight where it was going to start on the finished whip. I also lashed it down tightly with string.

And here’s the finished whip:

Here’s a close up of the handle:

This whip has a great crack and I think it’s a cool functional piece of art!

You can order it on my IN STOCK WHIPS page!

Whip Cracking Lessons!

I’m based in the Seattle area and every now and then I get someone asking about learning to crack whips. One of the nice things is that I can meet up with them at a park and teach them the basics.

The bonus is that I have a lot of different whips, you can try cracking a lot of different style and you can see the difference between a bullwhip and a stock whip, or bullwhip with an 8 inch handle and a 12 inch handle.

If you’re in the Seattle area and would like info about some whip cracking lessons, hit me up!

-Louie

Cheap-o Whip Fall Replacment

Another whip came in for a new fall. After a quick look at it, it also needed the point replaited. At some point this whip’s fall hitch had come undone and it someone retied the end of the whip poorly.

Here’s a close up of the end:

This is one of the cheap-o whips, where what it cost for me to replait the point and put a new fall on would cost about the same as buying a new whip. The owner said it has sentimental value, and wanted to proceed with the repair.

I got on it and here’s the whip with a new fall:

It’s back to crackin’ shape!

-Louie

Hunt Whip Thong – 6 Foot

This was a fun project because it’s not what I normally make. It’s a lash for a hunt whip! The customer had been trying to replicate a lash that they already had, after checking out some pictures and getting some measurements, I got started.

The first step was ordering some whiskey colored veg tanned kangaroo from David Morgan.

Then I cut out the core, plaited they belly and added a bolster to it. Here are the finished internal layers:

After that I cut out the set for the overlay. This is going to be 8 plait.

Next I had to do all the strand prep, so stretching and paring the lace and then I started to plait the overlay.

And here’s the finished hunt whip thong:

I like the way it came out, and it’s got a nice crack to it!

-Louie

Swivel Handle Bullwhip Repair

It must be the season for fixing whips, here’s a swivel handle bullwhip that needs it’s point replaited and a new fall.

bullwhip repair

I’m pretty familiar with this whip, well not this exact whip, but this style. It’s the same as the very first whip I ever bought. Originally it would have had the shorter and wider Texas style fall, after talking with it’s owner we decided to go with the more modern Aussie style fall.

  • bullwhip repair
  • bullwhip repair

It was fun to test crack this whip!

-Louie

Wood Handle Bullwhip Repair

This wood handle bullwhip recently came in for a repair. Besides being coiled up way too tightly and very dry, it needed the point to be replaited and a new fall put on.

On a little side note, please do not store your whips coiled up like this. For a well made whip, coiling it tightly like this may put some memory into the whip causing it to be less accurate and puts unnecessary stress onto the lash.

I coated it with some Pecard Leather Dressing and let that soak in for a couple of days. Then I replaited the point and added a new redhide fall and the whip is good to go!

I offered to redo the transition knot, but the owner wanted to keep the original one. This is back in the mail today, and has a lot more whip cracking life in it!

-Louie