Thread: Whips

Just finished this one last night. Thought I would post this now before I forget all about it. A 4' Redhide of my own making.




Mick

I tried my hand at making a whip a couple of years ago. I used 550 cord as the price of leather was a bit too much to get started for me. I pulled the inner strands out of all of the cord so that it would lay flat. I found that BB's would fit down the middle of the cord with a little persuasion, and I used that for the middle to add some weight. It ended up being rather long at 12 feet and a little bit heavy to work with. When I got it to crack, it sounded like a rifle, but it took some doing to get it to work. I never did get around to making a decent handle for it. I couldn't figure out how to make the handle look good by wrapping it with the cord, so I bored out the middle of a wooden chair leg and glued it into the middle. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I had heard that a 12 pleat would make a better whip, but I didn't realize how awkward it would be to keep all those strands in the right order and keep them from getting tangled. If I were to make another one, I would find something a little bit lighter to add for the weight and I probably wouldn't make it as long.

BB's would make a rather heavy belly for a whip. Some makers still do it, others do it on request, but a small amount of lead shot can be put in parts of the whip to add some weight/balance. These are referred to as a 'loaded' whips. Most makers have shied away from lead loading, as without it a whip moves faster, and is less tiring on the user (who may be out mustering all day). When it comes to plaiting something like a 12 plait, it really isn't that hard to keep a track of the strands, as you have half in each hand. The hand with less is not the hand that has the strands to be worked through next . Tangling of the strands is going to happen. You shake that out as you plait, and the strands you're working through should (generally) just fall away from the rest. Plenty of plaiting soap on the strands before plaiting will help there too.
For a belly you could just get a few strands of thing leather (from a hank of lace perhaps) and twist them together. Having some strands shorter than the full length would help with keeping the whip nicely tapered, just keep an eye on the plaited strands. If they bunch up you need more belly material, if they start to open up cut away a strand or two of lace to keep the plaits tight.
Something like that redhide above was made by simply buying a strap of redhide cut the full length of the hide and 2" wide, marking out the whip on the hide, cutting it out, then using some of the off cut for the stock loop, belly and fall of the whip. A strap of leather like that cost me $25. Handle material is cane from a furniture maker for $5 a length. Handle plait is in this case a 12 plait using 'roo hide lacing. The turks head at the end is made up by using some thin scrap leather to form a rough ball and tacked in place with some more thin stuff cut in a + shape, wrapped over and tied on tightly before forming the Turks head over that.
A good whip doesn't have to have heaps of strands to be a good whip. It just has to be well made. It will take more than making one whip to get good at it too. Practice makes perfect. Anyway, hope this has been of some benefit.


Mick

Youtube has a wealth of videos on whip making. Very fascinating.

Mick,
That 4 footer is really nice looking & I have a feeling that it would work quite nicely. I would love to try to talk you into one some day, but it would need to be worked and I seldom work cattle anymore...only when a friend needs some help. Folks around here are REALLY slimming herds right now due to the drought we have been in and the price of hay. People have been feeding hay for a month or so & the norm is to start feeding hay around here at the end of November or sometime in December. Most only got a first cutting on the hay & some didn't get a full first cutting. A single square bale of hay is going for $8.00 & that's been going up an average of $0.50 a week.

Sorry for the rant, still think your work is very nice Mick.

Thanks for the compliment there shooter. And don't be sorry for the rant, my folks are ranting about the cost of hay too. Although it has gotten a bit easier for them of late, but it wasn't that long ago that theft of hay from properties was running rampant, more so than usual anyway. All because of cost and scarcity of good hay.

That 4' er has gone to it's new home now and has been given a good work out by it's very satisfied owner. I also gave some lessons in a couple of different styles of whip cracking and threw in a few fancy things (Just to show off really ) for good measure. I might reconsider making a few extra whips, but just not yet. So you still have a chance of being able to get one mate. I have some other leather work to get on with for some people in the transport industry before I will be going back to anything else. If whipmaking comes up again, I'll let you know, and I'll see about making an extra just in case you're still interested.

Ogershok, I actually learnt my first whip making skills from a great book from the series 'Bushcraft' by Ron Edwards (deceased). Number 9 is dedicated to whipmaking. I then went on to be taught by an old whipmaker on a casual basis over a few days here and there. He said, 'It aint hard, but it don't make itself. Ya gotta know the little tricks to making a good tight plait. You can read ya books an' watch me work, but it is only by the doing that you learn, so here ya go, it inta it boy." My hands were stiff and sore for days after working with him, but he taught me a lot in a very short time. He has now retired from the trade, his son takes his place now.
I still refer back to the Bushcraft 9, but only as a reference. A guideline for jogging the memory, since I don't make these things often enough to remember all the dimensions, and even those have been modified and handwritten into the scematics as I've learnt more.


Mick

Here's an 8 footer I made a couple of years back. Learned from Bernie's DVD's.

I have a dozen whips and will try to put up a few more pictures of them in the next couple of days if anyone would like to see them. among them are a couple of rawhide whips, a pair of Murphy stockwhips, a pair of aussie bullwhips by the Whipman, a Terry Jacka 8 footer, and a nice cowhide whip that cracks as well as any kangaroo whip I've ever seen. the fellow who made that one is a real artist... can't think of his name just now. anyway, I've got a few.

BTW, Mike Murphy at murphywhips.com used to market a bullwhip kit for about $300 US, if anyone is interested in having a go at making one. The cowhide whip I spoke about last post was made by Victor Sansoucie I believe. Turns a beautiful wood handle for them also.

Mike still does bullwhip kits. I've bought some supplies off him in the past and he offers a fast, quality service. I would recommend him to anyone interested as well.
I look forward to seeing your whip posts episaacs. I'm not a huge fan of bullwhips, prefering stockwhips myself, but I do own one bullwhip, however I'm better with a stockwhip.


Mick