Shot whips, bags, and details of.....

[Handmadewhips]

The core is usually a 6" - 8" length of latigo that is tapered from about 3 mm to a point. After I cut it to tapered length, I roll it to try and make it as round and symetrical as possible.

I attach it to the bag, by placing about an inch or so inside the bag before loading the shot. Then using artificial sinew, I wrap it with a whipping of the sinew. It doesn't take much, and you don't want to much that would make a stiff spot in the whip. Tie it enough so that you can pack the heck out of the shot. Once you put the bolster and belly on over the shot bag, there won't be much space for the core to come out of the bag. Then when you plait the overlay everything should be firm and tight and straight.

Hope that helps,

Jerry

I do exactly the same thing…

[Essentia]

Knew I had the picture somewhere....better late than never I guess

Tony

[Em Brand Whips]

Hello all.

I've taken an interest in whip making recently, firstly in shorter shot-loaded types. I have some equipment on order, so I cannot begin yet. I have bought two books, "How to make whips" by R Edwards and "Whips and whipmaking" by D Morgan. That has explained quite a bit, but led to more questions.

In his description of how shot whips are made, Edwards says that the bag is sewn along one edge, filled and then sewn shut. The whip is then plaited over this. My problem is I don't see how this can avoid resulting in one of two undesirable situations.

If the shot bag is packed rather tightly with shot, then there will be an excessive amount of stress on the seam of the shot bag. The plaits will not be braided around the shot bag as tightly as the shot bag is already stretched by the shot inside. And the first couple times you swing the whip, the shot is going to sink into the tail end even more, distorting the whip's taper and stressing the seam of the shot bag even further.

So what if you packed the shot bag a bit looser? This would allow the shot bag to stretch along with the plaits, as the whip is broken in....

Well then the problem (I'd think) would be that you could not get a reliable taper to the whip, at least in the loaded portion. As you're braiding the butt end, some of the shot in the butt-end of the loosely-packed bag will get pushed into the tail end--so the end result is that the butt end would be thinner than you wanted, and the tail end will be fatter.

.....

What I'm wondering is if it's worthwhile to construct the whip so that the butt end is openable--all the plaiting, and the shot bag as well. The shot bag is made slightly oversized (too fat) to fit inside the plaits, and the plaits are cut for the profile desired and then woven around the empty shot bag. After the whip is fully plaited, then the shot is filled from the butt end, where it can pack on its own into the whip as the whip is swung.

The butt end of the shot bag only needs to be bound shut with some lace, as there's no real stress on it. This would also provide a way to "adjust" the tightness of the shot packing inside.

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There's not a whole lot of info on shot loading, in either books or online really. Are all shot-loaded whips made basically the same way?

[end]

I uploaded a video on this the other day that might be of interest to you.

Kind Regards

Bernie

[Handmadewhips]

I uploaded a video on this the other day that might be of interest to you.

Kind Regards

Bernie

Great Video

thanx

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