AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 2:53 PM ----- BODY:
I've moved this blog to:

www.bullwhips.org
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 2:51 PM ----- BODY:
My whipmaking blog has moved to:

www.bullwhips.org
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 1:21 PM ----- BODY:


My14th whip is finished, it was going to be afoot longer, but due to a series of mishaps, its only 5ish feet.

This bullwhip has a 12 plait Kangaroo overlay and measures 7 feet 2 inches from the butt of the handle to end of the fall. The handle is 10 inches, the thong 3 feet 6 inches. It has a removable fall which is about 35 inches, so that give a total lenght at approx 7 feet 2 inches.
This whip's has two braided kangaroo bellies, and a kangaroo wrist loop.

I've listed this whip on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170107504628
This one has the longer handle which cracks much easier than the 8 inch handle.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:33 AM ----- BODY:

I finished plating the 6 foot bullwhip that I am working on and it looked horrible! It ended up being as thick as a polish sasuage all the way down, then suddenly dropped off.


So I undid the plaiting and cut down the bolster to make it taper gradually (I hope). So the handle has a checkerboard for about 5-6 inches then it goes to a over 2 under 2 over 2 patter before it changes into a under 3 over 3 pattern for the thong.


we will see how it turns out.


Undoing the whip was a pain in the ass...but it was neat to see what happens to the insides of a whip when it is briaded. The plaiting compresses the core and really removes all the natural air space inside the whip.


Oh, paul nolan comment that my whip (the one pictured on this post) on ebay looks excellent. that means a lot to me coming from paul. Here's really helped me a ton making these whips!
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:10 AM ----- BODY:
Yesterday I cut out the strands and final bolster for the 6 foot bullwhip. When cutting the strands I ran out of leather on two o my strands (they are about 2 feet short). I'm figuring that those can be the strands that I drop first.

The other problem that creates is that they are skinnier than the rest of the strands. I've started plaiting this whip and it's going OK. I have the handle part plaited with a checkerboard, and they thong the regular over3 under 3 pattern.

This checkerboard is about 6 inches along the handle, but the nail is 10 inches. I like the look of the two knots about a hands lenght apart.

We'll see how this whip turns out.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:38 AM ----- BODY:
I've had a couple of people email me asking me if I will make them a 8 or 10 foot whip. I guess they haven't read this blog...because if they did, they would realize that I barely know what I'm doing.

They have found me through ebay where I have been listing my whips. In my listings I mention that I'm new at this...so I'm figuring these people aren't reading my listings.

Maybe in the future I'll do custom work...but honestly I don't like the idea of deadlines. If I persue this as a side business, I think I would at first basicially list what I have currently finished and ready to ship on my website.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:32 AM ----- BODY:
After visiting with joe strain last week, he told me that I should learn to "cut with the thumb nail". This is basicially cutting the strands with just a blade (no strand cutter). It's very difficult to do.

I'm practicing it by cutting a lot of short lace. I'm using that lace for making wrist loops. My thinking is that if I cut shorter lenghts and mess them up, it's less of a loss then trying to cut longer lengths, then cutting one off when I get 6 feet of it already cut.

So far I suck at cutting them even, but I must have cut 20 strands yesterday, and am making progress. I'm almost at a beginners level!

Bullwhip progress:

I'm still working on that 6 foot bullwhip. I've got the core, 1st belly, bolster, 2nd belly finished. I just need to cut out the 2nd bolster and add the overlay and knots.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:16 PM ----- BODY:

Here's the dilly-yo on my 11th bullwhip. I didn't include the details of it yet...
This bullwhip has a 12 plait Kangaroo overlay and measures 5 feet 9ish inches from the butt of the handle to end of the fall. The handle is 8 inches, the thong 3 feet 7 inches. It has a removable fall which is about 19 inches, so that give a total lenght at approx 5 feet 9 inches
I've listed it on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:31&item=170102278975
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 9:35 PM ----- BODY:




Right now I"m on the road in eastern washington (spokane currently). Earlier in the day I was in Northport, WA and had some time to kill. so I whipped out my last two bullwhips and tried to do some two handed cracks.


The whips were pretty fast (4 footers), but I learned some timing. I'm going to try to make two longer handled five footish whips.

I worked on foward, and backward cracks as well as overhead cracks. I need to work on my sidearm cracks with my left hand. In the 2nd whip video that mark allen puts out, Alex green does side arm cracks with both hands followed by an overhead crack with both hands. I'm going to give that a try once I make some longer whips.

Paul Nolan mentioned that mike murphy's fundamental whip cracking video is great for two handed routines. I've got that video and watched it and will recrack it open once I make some more longer whips.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:33 AM ----- BODY:



I've finished plaiting bullwhip #12, but still need to do the knots. this is another 4 footer whip.


One thing that I"m having trouble with is "lumpiness" when I drop strands. I've emailed paul to ask him if he knows a solution and next week I'll be visiting Joe Strain (hopefully) and will ask him about that.


Another thing that I have changed is the lenght of the falls that I am putting on the whips. All the other whips I've made have had shorter falls (16ish inches) and this one is closer to 21ish inches. I'll measure it later. But that's one thing I noticed from other whips that i have is that they have LONG falls.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:30 AM ----- BODY:



I just got three new Roo Hides from the Loy at Hardtke yesterday. I wasn't expedting them for a few more days. So that was a nice surprise the UPS guy brought.
The colors are natural, tan and whiskey. I belivee the darker one is the "tan"
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:55 AM ----- BODY:


I've begun bullwhip #12 (and cut out the 4 plait layer for #13). Here's pictures of the guts of bullwhip #12 and then the whip with the core and belly finished.
Currently I have the two bolsters attached to it and all that is left is to do the knot foundation, plait the whip, then add the knots and fall.
I ordered 3 more hides from Hardtke and will have those next week. I'm also planning on trying to make a 6 footer when those roo hides come in. I'm going to have to make up a plan and see what happens. I think I may get a side of cow and try to make it with cow leather before moving to roo...that way I don't waste a roo hide.
I've notice that the time that it takes me to make a whip has been dropping. I keep meaning to time myself, but forget. Paul said I should time myself and see how long it takes me to do a foot of 12 plait.
I'm curious how long each step takes: cutting, beveling, plaiting. Basically I'm curious how long this whip takes me from start to finish.
one of the reasons is that these whips should start selling for more on ebay than I am listing them for. I'm listing them for $49.97 (the last 3 whips) as a starting bid. the one sold for $62 and the one currently listed is bid upto $62. So I'm getting paid slightly for my labor (but not much).
Also in a couple of weeks, hopefully I will get to meet up with Joe Strain when I am in his area.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:51 AM ----- BODY:



Here's the pictures of bullwhip #11. I'm very proud of this whip. It came out with no visible flaws, and cracks really well too.
The knots on the handle are two tone, and this is a 5 footish whip (handle and thong)
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:56 PM ----- BODY:



There's a song by the band Say Anything and the opening line is something like:


"If I die and go to hell it will appear as this room right now"


That sums up many of the sh*tty one nighter gigs I've done!


Bullwhip #11 is beautiful!


here are a

couple more pics of it.

the turkshead on the end has been re-done and it's a two tone. This whip is going to be a keeper...until mynext one

-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:58 AM ----- BODY:



The birth of bullwhip #11...the only thing that may change is that the handle for this is a bolt. and I may have to go back and change it to a nail.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:39 AM ----- BODY:



Yesterday I was doing a gig in Bothell near David Morgan's shop and I popped by. I ended up getting Bruce Grant's Leather Braiding book and David's new book on the history of whip making.




I chatted with David and brought in a couple of whips for him to look at (#9 and #10). He picked them both up and cracked them and said they cracked fine. Then proceeded to critique them.

On both the falls of both whips I left too much extra leather at the end (the part that sticks out from behind the fall keeper, making almost a little tab).
The strands on Bullwhip #9 could have been a bit thicker. the strands can squish a bit, but can't ever get thicker while being plaited.




on #9 the whip didn't hand enough taper and on #10 it was lumpy. David said to fix the lumpiness to hold the bolster curled in my hand when plaiting.
The strands on #9 were too thin on the handle and the strands on #10 tapered a little too quickly in the middle.

My knot where the thong and the handle meets was flat. He said to wrap some string around the whip then tie the knot over it to give it body.
It was funny how he critiqued the whips. he picked them up and would mention one thing. then say, "other than that it looks OK". then tell me how to fix it...then notice something else and say "other than that it looks OK". It went on like that for 20 minutes!

David also mentioned that he doesn't do the braiding anymore on his whips (his granson does).
Also if you look at the picture of David Morgan on the left side over his shoulder there is a 10ft indy bullwhip hanging. This is his "shop whip" and he took it down to show me what things should look like on a whip...compared to mine!

-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:01 PM ----- BODY:
I just finished putting the leather gloss on my tenth bullwhip! this whip turned out nice..except for about 8 inches in the middle. For those 8 inches it's a little bit lumpy. Aside from that it looks pretty good.

I'm pleased with the taper on this whip and I am very excited to start my next whip which will be the one from paul's plan.

the picture is of the whip hanging to dry in my laundry room/bathroom. We are also painting the walls that orange (they are currently drying too)




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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:46 AM ----- BODY:
I'm working on the overlay for bullwhip #10. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet. I was sick when I started working on it so basically I was making it to do something to take my mind off my upset stomach.

It's going to be a 4ish foot bullwhip. It's got a leather core, 4 plait kangaroo belly. 2 layers of leather bolster and a 12 plait kangaroo overlay. This was started before I got some measurements from paul and so it's a hybrid of what I was making and his design.

I'm pretty happy with how this one is turning out. at one point I dropped a strand plaited about 8 inches and noticed it had gaps, so i had to undo the 8 inches and undrop the strand (LAME!)

The next whip will be 100% paul's design.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:57 AM ----- BODY:
I just listed roo whip #9 on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170093278999
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 3:32 PM ----- BODY:


Earlier today I got 2 kangaroo hides from Hardtke delivered! One is "Brandy" colored and the other is "Whiskey" colored. I think the lighter is the whiskey...I've had whiskey that color.

I've started my 10th bullwhip today. this one so far has a 8 inch bolt for the handle and a cowhide core. I did this core slightly differently than the last. In the past I rolled the core around the bolt and hand it taper from there. This core is rolled around the bolt, but at one edge of the bolt if "flares out" so that part is the middle of the core hopefully makeing a more solid core.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 9:36 PM ----- BODY:


Earlier this evening I finished Bullwhip #9, and I am proud of how this one looks! During the day today I was looking online at pictures of whips from other makers and was amazed at how glossy thier whips looked while mine looked flat. then I remembered to put a layer of leather finish on it...and man o' man does that really finish the job!
So by finishing this whip I've learned something...use the estimate of 1 3/4 times the needed length for the strands. In the past I've used 2 X and ended up with a ton of extras strands that were waste. for this one I used 1 1/2, but was about an inch short and need to shorten the belly.
Also this whips strands had a great taper, basically what I did was cut a uniform width for double the lenght of the handle, then tapered it about a 1/3 turn on the strand cutter every 8ish inches.
here's the break down on this whip:
Cowhide core * cowhide 4 plait layer * cowhide bolster * Kangaroo 12 plait overlay
The whip has an 7 1/2 inch handle (turks head to turks head) * 3 foot 1 inch thong (to the fall keeper) * 18 inch thong * giving it a total lenght of 5 feet 2 1/2 ish inches.
this whip started with an 8 inch bolt for the handle. The core covered the handle and then tapered as it went out (the entire length of the whip). The 4 plait layer was 4 piece and the strands were cut so that they started at the end of the bolt. then the bolster didn't cover the lenght of the handle, but started about 1 1/2 inches from the end of the bolt (so it starts under the turks heard on the thong. Then the 12 plait layer is the entire lenght of the whip...dropping strands as necessary.
The knob and knots are all kangaroo and they turkshead at the thong looked ok when I made it, but after doing a board rolling session it flattened out a looks like a million bucks!

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 9:27 PM ----- BODY:

My last two bullwhips #7 and #8 both have been bid on, so they will sell when the auctions end.


With the listing of the last two whips on ebay (particularly the Kangaroo whip #8) I've been getting a lot of emails from aspiring whipmakers.
I find that odd because I mention that I am new to this on the listings. They want advice and I really don't have much advice to give them. Other than it takes practice...and a lot of leather.
I did get an email from a guy who lives on beacon hill and rents props to theaters and does fight choreography that may be interested in a "affordable" whip. So that's pretty cool.
The picture is of me cutting Kangaroo strands for whip #9 and miss ella helping me out.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:43 AM ----- BODY:
Heres what's going on now, I have two whips on ebay (#7 12 plait cowhide and #8 12 plait kangaroo). The kangaroo bullwhip has been bid on ($49.97), and the cowhide has 10 people watching it, but no bids.

I'm working on the overlay of bullwhip #9. This whip has a cowhide core, 4 plait cowhide layer and a cowhide bolster. the overlay is a 12 plait kangaroo and I've gotten the handle plaited, and about an inch of the thong. this one looks better than #8. The strands are thinner, so I didn't have to drop any right away.

Hopefully I will finish plaiting the overlay on this one today.

Also yesterday I took bullwhip #8 to the park for some more test cracks and it's got some great action! Nice and fast!

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 2:06 PM ----- BODY:
Here's a neat (but very technical) article about why a whip cracks:

http://math.arizona.edu/~goriely/Papers/2002-PRL(whip).pdf
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 1:27 PM ----- BODY:
I just listed the Kangaroo bull whip that I finished on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170090378268
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:53 PM ----- BODY:
Now that whip #8 is done it's time to start thinking about my next bullwhip. It's going to be another short one, the same length as the last one. This one will probably have cowhide guts and a kangaroo overlay, but I'm not sure. I don't want to run out of Kangaroo hide before I finish.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:37 PM ----- BODY:




I just finished my 8th bullwhip, it's also my first Kangaroo Bullwhip! I'm satisfied with this whip...but it could be better. It's not as good as my 7th bullwhip. Here's why; I cut the strands too thick in the beginning.


so the whip starts as a 12 plait in the handle, but then I had to drop two strands right away when I got to the thong. Also I did a pineapple knot at the top of the handle, and I did it where the handle meets the thong. I should have done it about a inch closer to the butt of the handle. The handle looks too long (that doesn't effect the whip, just looks). Other than that, this whip is great. So my dissatisfaction is mostlycosmetic (?).


So here's the breakdown of this whip: It's a total of 5 feet 7 inches from the butt to the end of the fall. The handle is 8 inches, the thong is 3 feet 7 inches and the fall is 16 inches.
This whips guts are: cowhide core, 4 plait kangaroo belly, kangaroo bolster, 12 plait kangaroo layer.
This whip has a nice crack, and aside from the two cosmetic issues I love this whip!

-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:36 PM ----- BODY:
I've just listed bullwhip #7 on ebay you can check it out by clicking the link below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170089789654

Bullwhip #6 just sold for $26...and this whip (#7) is 1,000 times better than the last one!
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:51 AM ----- BODY:


I've begun working on my 8th bullwhip. this is my first Kangaroo one. Here's the current breakdown: cowhide core * 4 plait kangaroo layer * Kangaroo bolster * 12 plait kangaroo overlay (in progress, currently beveling the strands)


-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:48 AM ----- BODY:

Here's a picture of the Kangaroo hide that I got from David Morgan. I started cutting it up yesterday.
I'm hoping this hide will make two whips at 4 feet each.

I also ordered 2 hides from Hardke yesterday and they should arrive sometime next week.

-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 10:39 AM ----- BODY:

Here's a picture of the first whip that I ever bought. I got it from western stage props and it's a swivel handle bullwhip. I think it was an 8 foot, 8 plait cowhide whip. It had an american style fall (thicker non-removable fall).


I didn't like the swivel handle of this whip. It made it hard to do different cracks. I used to hold the whip with my thumb on the upper turks head to keep the whip from swiveling.

-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:57 PM ----- BODY:
I've just finished my 7th bullwhip and finally one that actually looks like it should! I would say that this whip looks better than the first whip I ever bought (a swivel handle one from Western Stage Props), and works as good as..or better than that whip.

When I was beveling the strands for the overlay of this whip, I was worried because they were giving me some trouble. But I'll be damned, it turned out pretty great!

This whip is a 12 plait cowhide whip...and not to toot my own horn, but this whip blows all my other ones out the window!

So here are the stats, it is a core, then a 4 plait layer, followed by bolster, 12 plait layer, bolster, 12 plait overlay. The handle is 8 inches from the butt to the top of the turks head where the handle meets the thong. The thong is approx. 4 feet 8 inches to the keeper. the fall is approx 22 inches. The over lenght is 7 feet 2 inches from the bull of the handle to the end of the fall.

This was my confidence building whip...the one that was suppose to make me not so nervous about cutting into the Kangaroo Hide. It really did the job, I'm excited to try out the Roo Hide tomorrow.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:43 AM ----- BODY:
The weather has been very strange in Seattle lately. Four days ago, I did a gig in Snohomish and during the two hours I was there I got 6 inches of snow on my car. then the next day it was sunny at my house and I had a gig about 20 miles away cancel due to snow.


Yesterday it was 71 degrees! Now today it's raining.


Since it was nice yesterday I took Ella (my almost 3 year old) to the zoo. We go quite often, but it's been awhile since we've gone in 70+ weather. We stopped and looked at the kangaroos...I all I could think about is my roohide that's waiting to be turned into one or two bullwhips!


Here's the progress report on bullwhip #7, I have the 12 plait overlay cut out of cowhide. I have 9 of the strands beveled.


this time while beveling the strands I had some difficulty. I think it was because the strands were longer. I read somewhere (www.bullwhip-info.net I think) that someone bevels half the strand and stops. Then reties it and bevels the other half. That sounds like it would help me. I was getting about 3/4 of the way down a 9 foot strands and would struggle then.


Today's picture is something I remember finding on the internet a long time ago. It's a whip made by Adam Savage (www.adamsavage.com). Adam is the cohost of the TV show Mythbusters, and it's one of my favorite shows, because I'm such a nerd. His website says it's a 12 plait kangaroo bullwhip, and it was his 2nd attempt at making a bullwhip.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 9:12 PM ----- BODY:
Okay, so the last time I did the strand conversion I did it wrong. This time, the results have come out much...much better.

I have a 3/4 inch diameter Times 4 = 3. Then 3 divided by 12=.25. So I took .25 and divided it by 12 and that gave me .64 cm (after conversion).

Hopefully I will get the bolster on this whip and get the strands cut out for it. then with some luck I will be able to start/finish the plaiting tomorrow.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 7:00 AM ----- BODY:

Last night I finished plaiting the second layer of bullwhip #7. This whip actually looks like it should. The plaiting is nice and tight and I dropped strands at the appropriate times.
Now all that's left is to add a layer of bolster and the overlay!

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:01 PM ----- BODY:
Well, something finally clicked inside my brain and hands and my Paring (Skiving, beveling, etc) has gotten drastically better. I'm able to bevel in on pass! Before I had to start and stop. Here's what I think did it for me...I have the strand attached to the door below the level that my hands will be doing the cutting.

Since I live in a condo, my work area is my living room or kitchen. So I have to be creative with improvising work areas. Instead of using a hook to hang the whip while I work on it, I tie a knot in one end of it and shut the strand in the door.

So bullwhip #7's second layer is a 12 plait layer. I planned for an 8 plait layer, but somewhere I miscalculated something. I attached the 8 strands and they weren't even close to going around the whip. So I added 4 more.

This 12 plait part actually looks like it should! Comparing this whip to any previous ones, the difference is drastic!

We will see how this turns out when I am finished with the last layer! This bullwhip still has another layer of bolster and the overlay to go.

Oh, I found out how to make a plait of 10 strands (I've dropped two so far on this whip) look decent. Before I would go: Under Two, Over There on the left and Under Two, Over Three on the right. That made for a funky looking whip.

In David Morgan's Fine Leather Braiding book, I was flipping through it and noticed that he did it like this: Under Two, Over Three on one side and Under Three, Over Two on the other. That makes for a much better visual pattern.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 9:01 AM ----- BODY:
Last night I did my first flat braid project. I made a wrist loop for my current bullwhip (#7). Personally I'm not the biggest fan of the wrist loop, but it gave me a chance to try flat braiding. I'll add a picture later.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 4:28 PM ----- BODY:

I've got the Handle and a layer of bolster on my seventh bullwhip. The handle is 3/8 inch steel pipe. The Bolster, core, and inner layer are actually going through the handle and are tied at the base. It was a tight fit, so I had to tie string around the boslter and whip and use that to pull it through the handle. I also added a little extra layer where the whip meets the handle. The pipe is threaded and I didn't want the threaded part rubbing directly against a layer of the whip.
I just calulcated the width of my next layer. It's going to be an 8 layer. So I found the follow formula in Morgan's fine leather braiding book:
4 times the diameter of the whip divided by the number of strands.
So I had a diameter of 3/8 inch and I mutiplied that by 4 and divided it by 8 (number of strands) and that gave me a strand of .1875 inches. But I wanted that in metric because it's more precise at smaller numbers so I plugged .1875 inches into this website http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/length.php and it game me .48cm for each strands width.
Now all I've got to do is cut out those puppies!
Also I'm debating on doing a wrist strap for this whip...don't know, but will have to make up my mind soon!
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:59 AM ----- BODY:

Yesterday I finished the 1st layer of my seventh bullwhip. This bullwhip has a core and a 4 plait layer so far.

The braided portion measures 3 feet 7 inches. I ended up cutting off the outer core after about 2 1/2 feet. then the innercore at about 3 feet 1 inch. So the last 6ish inches of this are just braid without core.

I'm hoping to cut out the bolster and next layer (8 plait) today...and sometime tomorrow put them on.

One thing that I did differently with this whip (besides using plaiting soap instead of dressing) was I plaited it standing up, instead of sitting. It was much...much easier! So note to self plait standing and use soap...not dressing!

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:51 AM ----- BODY:

Bullwhip #6 is completed! I'm proud of how my knots have turned out. I send a picture of the turks head on the end to Paul Nolan and he told me to "cap the end". That means to not have the knot wrap completely around the end of the butt of the handle.


The top picture is of the handle of the stock whip that Paul Stenhouse made for me. You can kinda see the "cap" on the end of it.
The other picture is the finished #6 bullwhip. The action on this whip is very slow and takes a lot of power to crack.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 4:28 PM ----- BODY:
I'm starting Bullwhip #7 right now, and I'm glad I got David Morgan's Fine Leather Braiding book. That book gave me a tip on making the cores of the whip...wrapping a piece of leather around the core and pulling it tight, then sliding the wrapped leather down the core to round it.

So here's what I've got so far for this whip:

Core: The core is two pieces of cow leather (and inner and outer) measuring 15 mm wide by 4 feet 7 inches. These pieces were actually a smidge bigger than 5 feet when I started.

Handle: The handle is a 3/8 inch by 8 inch piece of galvanized steel pipe.

I'm going to cut out 4 strands that will measure 5mm by 8 feet long. for the first layer to go over the core. I'm using the estimate of cutting each strand about 1 1/2 times longer than it needs to be.

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:37 PM ----- BODY:
Yesterday I was up in doing a show about 4 blocks from David Morgan's Retail Store/Warehouse. I've been there once before, but never met David.

So I walk in and picked up a copy of his Leather Braiding book, and I was there about 10 minutes to closing time and David was working the counter. We got talking about people we knew, and I mentioned Paul Stenhouse and Paul Nolan. David metioned he hadn't seen one of Nolan's whips, and I had the Lil' Indy whip the paul made in my car so I brought it in and showed it to David.

It was funny, he picks up the whip, uncoils it and then just cracks it. When he cracked it, he did it right behind someone working who wasn't looking and startled them! Hilarious!

Anyway, it was interesting to hear what David Morgan REALLY thinks about Ron Edwards book. He said, "Remember Ron isn't a whipmaker and doesn’t know much about whip. He knows nothing about bullwhip and knows even less about snake whips"

He also talked me into getting my first Kangaroo hide. He said that cow is horrible to work with for whips.

I'm excited to start with the Roo Hide. David says I should make an 8 foot whip out of it. I'm too scared to do that right now. i'm thinking of making a 4 foot whip and having leftovers. But first I'm going to make one or two more cowhide to work on my technique before I cut up a roo!
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:31 PM ----- BODY:

Well bullwhip #6 is basically done. All it needs is the knot between the handle and the thong. This whip didn't turn out quite as nice as I expected it to. It doesn't crack as easily as I think it should.
I think one of the main problems was that I used a cheaper, lighter leather for the inside...and that is what is making this whip feel light and not crack so easily. Also I think I am using too thin leather for the bolster.
What makes me think that is when I met david Morgan a few days ago and he cuts the bolster out of the same piece of leather as the rest of the whip. Right now I'm using a wicked thin pig leather for the bolster.
This whip ended up with some gaps in the plaiting due to me prematurely dropping 2 strands and breaking a strand. The areas where it wasn't effected by the dropped/broken strands turned out pretty nice.
I'm most proud of the turks head on this whip...it actually looks like a turkshead!
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 12:27 PM ----- BODY:
I've been confused between Leather Dressing and Plaiting Soap. I thought they were basicially the same thing. but I guess they aren't. The main difference (that I can tell) is the Dressing is a plaiting soap, but with some sort of water repellent (wax) mixed into it.

I found a recipe for making Plaiting Soap on bullwhip-info.com:

What you need:
4 oz of ivory soap
16 oz of crisco
12 oz of water.

Put the water in a pot. Grate up the soap and add it to the water heat on medium and watch it because it has a tendency to boil over. Let the soap dissolve for a while. when it is dissolved add the crisco and mix everything with an electric mixer until it is nice and smooth. take it off the heat and pout it into a container. Let it cool and VIOLA you are good to go.

I just whipped up a batch of this and will use it on my next whip.
-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 3:29 PM ----- BODY:

So I've learned that I don't need to taper my strands too much when cutting them...but now my problem is that I'm dropping them too early. In my current 12 strand whip I dropped two strands early on and it looks like crap for about 5 inches (lots of gaps). I should have only dropped one (if that) when I did.


However knowing that now, I can avoid that in the future.


This whip has been taking forever...but I'm pretty proud of it (except for 5 inches of it). I'm about halfway done, but I think the plaiting will be going faster from here on in.
Also my technique of pulling the strands tight is getting better (I think).

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-------- AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:50 AM ----- BODY:

I've finished cutting the 12 strands for this bullwhip (#6). That sure was a lot of work! On the plus side it's given me a lot of practice cutting strands.

Beveling all these strands is a ton of work as well. The picture shows the 12 strands that I've cut. The pile on the left need to be beveled and the pile on the right have already been beveled.

One thing that I wrote about earlier and have really need to remember is to always use a sharp blade! Beveling and strand cutting is soooo much easier when the blade is sharp. So my motto is "when in doubt...change the blade!"

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