AUTHOR: Louie Foxx DATE: 8:15 AM ----- BODY:

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I've begun the 8 plait layer of my fifth bullwhip. Here's what I have learned from working on this layer...I need to cut my strands wider...well by wider I mean that I shouldn't be soo eager to start tapering them.

What has happened is that halfway down this whip there are some gaps in the plaiting. So in the future I should have the taper be much more gradual.

With this whip, I have a different pattern for the handle than I do for the thong. The handle is a "checkerboard", while the thong is an "over two" sorta deal.

Yesterday I shipped out my third and fourth whips, they sold on ebay for $41 (third) and $15 (fourth). The fourth whip was a higher quality, but third one was longer and had more strands (8 compared to 6).

I'm debating putting another layer on the bullwhip that I am working on right now. It will be getting pretty thick, but then the first bullwhip that I got from www.westernstageprops.com was pretty thick. I got thier "beginners bullwhip kit" or something like that. It came with safety googgles, a beginners bullwhip video and a 8 foot swivel handle bullwhip. I think it was a 6 plait bull whip.

It's also almost time for me to stop by the leather store and pick up some more leather. I've got enough leather for probably one my whip after the one that I am working on.

Last night I got another carriage bolt for the handle of my next whip. I was at the hardware store getting some rubber washers to fix the hot water handle in my bathtub and figured since I was there, I might as well get a handle for my next whip.

Speaking of handles, this current whip (#5) has a wooden handle. The handle is actually a drumstick. I had one of these laying around my house and cut it in half and drilled a hole in it to stick the core into. I do have another half drumstick that I could use for a handle, but I'll see how this one turns out.

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