bullwhips

I sell an ebook called Bullwhip Making For The Beginner, it's an ebook and some streaming videos. How I do it is they order via my site and then I email them a username and password to a page on my website where they can watch the videos and download the ebook. The password software I use is called Website Access Manager and you can learn more about it at: http://www.coffeecup.com/website-access-manager/ You do need to know how to upload things to your website to use this software, it's very easy to use! Some people are worried about things like people sharing passwords, and here's some software that I use for another business's ebook I have where pirating is a problem: EbookPro This software is a bit more spendy, but you own it, so there are not extra charges besides the software. EbookPro will only let you set the number IP addresses that can be associated with a password. So if someone wants to read the ebook on two computers, they have to unregister it and move it to the next. So if they do share the password only one person can look at it at a time and you can configure the ebook to be printable or not printable. I highly recommend either program. Louie

Thanks for the response! I didn't know where to post it, because it's not exactly a braiding question. For the core of the bosal I twisted a piece of rawhide, then wrapped another piece around that one with the twist in the opposite direction. I already built it up with thread and while it took quite a bit of time, it was a nice day out and I did it on my deck in the sun (which is rare in the Seattle area). Next time I'll try doing it with tape. Louie

I'm working on my second bosal and I've read in several places to use tape to build up the shape of the nose button. This may be the whip maker in me but using tape inside plaited leather just doesn't seem right to me. I know a lot of whip makers use tape for things like shot bags or splicing bolster, and I've learned other ways to make them without out tape. My first bosal I built up the nose button using waxed string. Now I don't know much about bosals, and the main reason I'm making a couple is that I saw some rawhide ones at Hamley's in Pendleton OR and thought they looked cool. So I guess my questions is: Is there anything wrong with building the shape of the nose button with waxed or unwaxed thread instead of tape? I'd imagine that in the long run waxed thread would hold up better than tape because over time tape will loose it's sticky-ness and basically just sit there as filler. But thread will contribute to the strength of bosal under the nose button and may hold a limited amount of dressing, which may help prolong the life of the bosal. For what it's worth, here's the bosal in it's current state: Louie

I use twitter and I get some good feedback about it. You can view my feed at http://twitter.com/bullwhips. I use twitter as a sort of "customer service" type thing. Since most of the orders I get are custom or made to order instead of in stock items, twitter works great for keeping people updated on the making of their whip. I don't think I've made any orders specifically from twitter, but hopefully down the road people getting semi-real time updates will give me better word of mouth advertising from previous customers. The feedback from people that have followed their whip being made on twitter is very positive! Also by frequently updating with what's going on in my workshop let's people know that I'm constantly working, and not someone that bangs out one whip a year. Louie http://bullwhips.org