jerryrwm

The edit button only works if you get back to it shortly after making the post and before someone has opened it up to read. I think that's the way it was explained to me. Now to the second part. You should decide if you want a handle like those that Skip makes where the thong starts from the end (nearly the end) of the wooden handle, which is shaped and probably weighted. Or do you want a handle that is completely covered by the plaiting? If it is the latter, you will want to use a steel rod that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's etc. If you look around, you can find them in 1/4" x 12" lengths. Or you can get a hacksaw with a 32T blade and cut it to length. Look in the hardware section for 8" spikes also. This is what David Morgan uses for his handle foundation. This will allow you to make a whip handle that people can actually get their hand around. The reason I say this is because if you plait over a hammer handle you are going to add four thicknesses of your leather over the hammer handle. To see what this will end up being, wrap the handle twice with your leather that will be used to make the whip. In all fairness, you want a finished whip handle that is no bigger in diameter than that unfinished hammer handle or even a little smaller. Remember in whips and whip handles "bigger is not always better" especially if you are going to use that whip a lot. For example: the Indy whips made by David Morgan have a handle that is about 7/8" in diameter. Some are larger but not much over 1-1/16". It will cut down on fatigue when using the whip. Good Luck. Jerry formerly R-in-Texas Whips now in Wisconsin

Skip.. If you have Grant's Encyclopedia look on pg 196 for instructions and plate 76 for illustrations. It is a way of wrapping lace or cord into a bundle. The bundle is secured by wrapping the loose end around the bundle. You can then pull the length out of the center and it will not tangle. The illustrations will make it clearer. As to why they are called tamales...from the old vaqueros I would guess and we gringos bastardized the word. Like "darle vuelta" became "dally" as in dally roping.

Skip If you will make the 'tamales' as Grant and others call them, you can dip the lace and hang them up to dry and they won't tangle as readily. Jerry

While looking up rawhide braiders on the web I came across this site. He is from Argentina and the language is not English, possibly Portugese or something. But the fid work he does is unbelievable. Not impossible but it gives one something to strive for. http://www.armandodeferrari.com.ar/home.html Check it out. Jerry R

Maeve, They are polymer clay. They are bigger than I would like to see them, but that's what the customer had made up and sent to me. I wanted them about half diameter. The length was about right. Actually the lady who made the beads thought my leash was just there to showcase her beads, but we all know that her beads were there to merely accent my leashes. But the folks buying them at the shows liked them together I guess.

A few pics of some of the other braided goods I've sent out recently. All made with 'roo. Leashes are 8 plait over a braided nylon core. Beads were custom made by a lady in Arkansas.

A couple of whips I have made over the years. The Mini-Indy is proportionally correct to the full sized whips but it is only 4' long. It has plaited bellies and is 12 plait just like the big boys. The Aggie Whip was made to commemorate my alma mater - Texas A&M University. The 24 strand handle has lettering on opposite sides - One side reads "T A M U" and the other reads "G I G E M" Also has bird's eye, double diamond, interlocking squares, and other patterns also. The two tone bullwhip handle is on an 8' 24 plait whip. It was a contest winner in the Houston Whip Enthusiasts Whipmakers competition several years ago. It was sold to a client in the Chicago area. The target whip is a 16 plait 8' Australian style whip. The handle core is 14" long. The handle has a contrasting interweave that matches the butt and transition knots. The stockwhip handle is an 8 strand half-plait handle on a mesquite limb. The thong does not have the swing belly - they call it a straight shot thong. A little different than the Australian style whip. Haven't made a whip since I moved to Wisconsin. Smaller items such as quirts, leashes, dog collars, duck call lanyards, hat bands, and stampede strings are what I make these days. Not enough room to make the whips. Might work on some Mini-Indy whips. Just thought I'd share. Jerry R

Geoff, The books you ordered are very good primers for braiding/plaiting. The Encyclopedia by Grant is a must have eventually. Also Gail Hought's "Art of Braiding-Revised" has some excellent information and is a good reference when things get 'gill-fluted'. In regards to the equipment - buy the best you can afford. Read what the members here have said about their equipment. Then make the decision based on the level you want to reach. Some of the best whipmakers I know and know of use nothing but a sharp pocket knife to cut, skive, and thin their -roo hide. And they make 16 and 24 plait whips. Drew Schrag out of Missouri is one, and he makes some damn fine whips! But like most plaiters/braiders, I have the Tandy lace cutter, the aussie strander, the Dene Williams strander, the Jerry stripper, the Hansen style cutter/beveler, and an Osbourne splitter. I use the Williams strander to cut the hide, the splitter to even it up, and a scalpel with #11 blade to skive/bevel the edges. So you will end up buying a lot of the same equipment to save money, but you will end up buying the better and more expensive equipment at a later date. So, my advice is to buy the best you can afford at the moment or save up to get it. You'll be a lot happier. When it comes to using different types of leather, you need to decide what you want to make. If you want to make articles out of 'roo, then you should learn to plait with -roo. If you want to make things out of rawhide then you should learn to plait with rawhide. If you are making things for paracord, then learn with paracord. I say this because one type of material does not transition easily to the other. Rawhide needs to be at a proper moisture content in order to lay properly. 'Roo can be cut thinner and narrower than cowhide and has a different tensile strength than cowhide does. So you can plait tighter with -roo than you can with cowhide. Paracord plaits tight, but you should wax it after you finish. My point is that you should learn to use the material you will be ultimately using. Sure -roo costs more, but you will learn to quit making mistakes when the expense starts to tickle your brain. Now for learning the basics such as learning 8 plait or 12 plait or practicing flat plaiting belts and hatbands, etc , you can use pretty much anything you have. Plastic lace, paracord, suede lace, etc. This will let you see where things should go and you can translate that to your material of choice. Good luck, keep practicing and most of all enjoy what you do. Jerry

Many whipmakers drop two strands at a time so they are always working with an even number. The strands are dropped into the middle of the plaiting, plaited over for a few inches, then trimmed and thinned so that they will lay smooth, and then cut off. it takes some practice and patience to get it down where it is hard for the uninformed to find the transition. Others like Peter Jack of New Zealand drop one at a time. The transition is hard to feel and like the two strand drop, it can be extremely hard to find if done well. The plaiting will still have the seams in the right places on front and back the sides will have a one strand jump that it next to impossible to see. Either way works well. The secret to making the transition less noticable is what you after the plaiting is done. As my Australian born friend Mark Mulligan says, "Ya gotta rawl the pisz outta her Mate." In fact Mark was always an advocate of rolling the thong every time you stopped plaiting for an extended period of time. This helps to set the strands and keep them from loosening.

Des, With 6 plait that is what it will look like with or without a core. The reason is that you have an uneven number of strands on each side - 3 on each. If you wre plaiting 10 you would end up with a finished prodouct that was different front to back - again because of the uneven number of strands. That's the "whopper-jawed" effect I was talking about earlier. That doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong - and as they say in Wisconsin "It is what it is." For patterns that plait the same front and back, you need to stay with multiples of 4 - ie. 8; 12; 16; etc. Then you would have an even number of strands on each side. 8 plait would be U2O2. 12 plait would be U3O3 (unless you wanted to do the herringbone and then it would be O2U2O2) 16 plait would be U4O4 (or herringbone which would be U2O2U2O2) I would still recommend getting Edward' "How To Make Whips". Grant's book does not go into the inner wotking of a whip or help with the bellies that a fine kangaroo whip has. The book is available through Amazon.com or through Ramskull Press. Also check with the Aust. Whipmakers & Plaiters Assn.

Des, I'm not familiar with the Lacing & Braiding For Fun book. But I would recommend using a core especially on anything over 4 plait unless it might be jewelry. It can be sash cord or clothes line rope - anything to fill the gap in the middle while you are practicing. Later use quality material for your core like Horsehairbraider said. And as you get into whip making you will be using leather for the core that you'll need to form yourself. If you look at Plate 39 in Grant's ERLB (pg 110 & 111) you will see the round braid of six thongs. While it shows it with a core, the sequence is still the same without a core. This is an O1U1O1 one each side. Then go to Plate 74 (pg 190 & 191) How to build a bullwhip. In the middle of the diagram, figure 12 shows a 6 braid (it's labeled 4 braid). This is again with a core, but the braiding is still the same without a core. This details the sequence as Right - U2O1 Left - U1O2. If you want to learn to plait like you will in most whips, step up to 8 plait. Then it gives you even numbers and it it U2O2 on each side. Good Luck and keep at it. Jerry

6 plait will not be U4 O2. It will be U2 O1 or U1 O2. Three strands on each side. Uppermost right strand around back and U2O1, the uppermost left strand around back and U2O1. Repeat until finished. Pull tight as you go, keep the seams straight. Read the sections on braiding with and without a core again. It will show you how to do 6 plait. Also 6 plait will result in a whopper-jawed pattern because of the uneven number of strands when doing anything other than U1O1U1 - O1U1O1.

Ron's book "How To Make Whips" goes into detail on how to plait patterns. You should be able to do Diamonds, double diamonds, bird's eye, checkerboard, and quite a few others plus letters and numerals from the information in this book.

Pineapple knots are basically a turks head with a turks head interweave. The basic 6 by 7 turks head is interwoven with a 6 by 5 turks head.

You can take one of your strings and dye it from the mid-point. That means you might have to use natural color hide first and dye that string twice. Or you can dye a lighter string with darker dye. But a three-color 4 strand leash is gonna look a little awkward as far as color pattern goes. Migh be better off using three colors and a 6 strand leash. As far as skiving the corners of the strands, it is important to get that part of the operation down solid or the finished project will not look finished. If you look at some of the whipmaking books, they show you how to do it by hand. The keys to hand skiving are make sure your blade is as sharp as you can get it. I use #11 scalpel blades and right out of the package, I give them a couple passes on the polishing wheel to give them that clean edge. Also you need to find a good cover for your finger. I make a collar out of 4-5 oz leather. Gives the laces a smooth surface to slide on, and also protects the finger when skiving. Many whip makers skive the strands by hand because the strands taper and it's kinda hard to use a fixed width blade on the various cutters when the lace has to taper. Depending on the size of the whip, the strands could taper from 10-12 mm down to 3-4 mm at the point end. For a very fine finish, some will skive the flesh side with a deep cut say 45 deg. and then turn the lace over and just skive the tiniest corner off the hair side. When it is done right and rolled properly -(I use two pieces of marble slab), the resulting plaiting will feel like a snakeskin - textured with no sharp edges at all. Just learn to walk backwards at a steady pace, have your strands soaped so they slide easy, keep your pulling hand steady and the blade hand firmly against the lace. It takes practice and I guarantee you will cut through a number of strands before you get it down. Just my $.02 worth. Jerry

Crap..that illustration didn't work.

Not sure what you mean by skiving in opposite directions. If you are referencing Ron Edwards book he shows how to bevel redhide by skiving the opposite corners - top corner and opposite bottom corner. _______ / / When using thinner hide such as 'roo or kip etc, skive both bottom corners. _______ \ / Then if you want an extremely smooth finish, lightly skive the two top corners. Then roll the whip to smooth it out.

What is the reason for making 'roo hide illegal to import it?

You could also use a wooden dowel instead of a broomstick. It sounds like you are making more of a percussion type defense tool rather than a whip. Just remember that the weight of that shot adds up quickly when put into a whip. My first one was called "Big Ugly" because it was big and man was it ever ugly. But it taught me a lot about whipmaking. I think I had enough shot in it to make four or five snakewhips. The dressing and braiding soap will soak in on their own. It will get as supple as it's supposed to get. Just let it do it's work. You can't rush this stuff. As for the plaiting, my opinion - for what it's worth - is to stay away from the two strand braiding util you get comfortable with doing 4 and 8 plait. It gets a little unruly on the back side when trying to make sure you have the right two strands and that they aren't crossed or one of them is twisted. The 8 plait will do you well and should take that much longer than 4 plait - at least starting out. Just try it and see how things go. You'll be the final decision maker as to which style you like. Jerry

I'm with Frank on this one. A cottage cheese container and a wooden skewer do it for me. The skewer lets me pick up the lace and then I hang it up to dry over a couple layers of newspaper. Oh yeah - rubber exam gloves are another essential.

First off - No neatsfoot oil, No mink oil, No petroleum based oils. They cause the fibers to swell and eventually breakdown quicker. David Morgan's recipe of lard, ivory soap and water works well. Peter Jack adds beeswax to the mixture. You can add a little eucalyptus oil if you want to deter critters. (I never have had anything chew on any of my whips, even those that have not been used due to the age of the whips - I have one that is approx 50 yrs old and another that is right around 30 yrs old.). Shave the soap (large bar of Ivory) into boiling water stirring to help dissolve it. Shave up a piece of beeswax - about the size of a golf ball and stir it into the soap water. Add a pound of lard and melt it into the solution. After it is all dissolved and melted together remove from heat and cool slightly. Then using an electric mixer, whip the mixture until it has the consistancy of chip dip. Store it in a plastic coffee can or other container that you can close up so it doesn't dry out. The shot bag is not really that long for a 3' signal whip or snake whip. It is usually around 12"-16" long. Depending on the whip length I use a shot bag that is not much bigger than 7-9mm in diameter at the top end, and tapers to about 3-4mm at the end where I attach the core which tapers to a fine point. So the overall core and bag of my 3' snakewhip is about 24" long. To pack the shot bag, I use a long slender knitting needle. Add a bit of shot, poke and pack, smack it on the table (careful doing this! If your bag isn't well constructed you'll have shot all over the place. Took me several hours to find most of it in the carpet and everywhere else!) Keep adding the shot in layers, packing and poking as you go. You'll have a nice firm bag that won't shift and distort if you do it this way. If you will make the shot bag an inch or so longer than your final length. This will leave you room to seal the butt end and still have it packed tight. Now you need to roll it beneath a board to smooth and round it. And you will find that you are not using that much shot in each whip - a couple ounces at most. Unless you are making a whip that is for use as a long "blackjack sap". Hope this helps, Jerry

You might want to check out EM Brand whips. Bernie has a ton of information on his web page. Edwards method makes a good shot loaded whip. And the duct tape method does also. The true secret is to get a good even taper and use the smallest shot you can find. Many use #12. I have had extremely good luck with #9. You will need to pack it and pack it firmly. It will still have some flex to it before plaiting the belly and overlay, but if you learn to plait tight, you will retain the taper, and your shot will not move. Also, once you have the shot bag made, and sealed the end, roll it on the bench. As my whipmaking friend from Australia once told me, "you hafta rawl the pisss outta it, mate!" If you don't plait tight, you are not going to be happy at all with the results. In other words, you cannot plait around a hollow flexible tube and hope to get it all even and smooth. You might want to look for a book by Dennis Bush on whipmaking also. Just a little input from a transplanted whipmaker. (From Texas to Wisconsin.)

Maybe a picture or two would enlighten us.

Another question... How thick and how long is your cracker? And what material do you make it from? The fall will have some degree of effect on the noise, but if you look at the old latigo whips that many have learned on.. those braided from the point to the handle, they have a wide flat fall with a craker tied on through a slit. And they can crack as loud as you want. Bailing twine, poly wrapping twine, etc all make great crackers. Just make them thin enough and you should have pretty good success.

One thing that is often overlooked is keeping your cutting edge sharp! Sharp blades will let the leather glide through without having to pull and then distort the leather. When cutting strings for whips etc, I take the new scalpel blades and buff them on the polishing wheel. Makes a difference. When you feel the blade start to drag, give it a couple passes on the buffing wheel and then have a go at it again.