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.

Labels: , ,

--------