whip braiding

[tmroper]

Thank you for looking into the situation. The whip is 12' nylon 650 para cord and the fall is 24" and is a piece of the nylon 650 para cord (coreless).

I attatched the fall to the thong using a version of the snelling knot that is on dave morgans site. I have tried several different crackers with no better luck. Also I should note that the braiding is really good and tight and all the knots I pulled tight with pliers and smoothed real nice to cut down on resitance. I am able to get it to crack nearly every time but it sounds like a slap on your leg. Thank you for looking into this and if you need anymore info or suggest any changes I would be interested because it has frustrated me to no end.

Thank you

[Essentia]

It sounds very much like the fall is too flyaway....I used to use a bit of decored paracord fed back through itself so in effect double the weight your using, but even then once they were over 18 inches they didn't perform too well.....more recently I have been half decoring the cord then feeding the portion that still has a core back through the length that is decored, leaving a loop in the end so you can slide it on the thong and hitch it in the same way you would a leather fall on a leather whip, this is the best way to date and I cut the falls to 30 inches on a 12' no trouble at all.......

From the sounds of what your saying regarding how you tie your falls on am I right in my assumption that your whip has a twisted end rather than plaited to the end with hitches like the one in the picture?

Tony

Edited April 3, 2009 by Essentia

[rcsaddles]

You guys that are braiding whips with nylon, can you give me a name, phone number and/or link for suppliers? I have a little use for that kind of material but have not yet found a supplier.

Thanks,

Joe

[Essentia]

You guys that are braiding whips with nylon, can you give me a name, phone number and/or link for suppliers? I have a little use for that kind of material but have not yet found a supplier.

Thanks,

Joe

www.ubraidit.com

I never buy anywhere else, I'm sure you may find it very slightly less expensive on other sites but the service you get makes me go back time and time again....ask for Cybele if you phone and tell her I sent you....

Tony

[carr52]

http://www.dallasdogsled.com/Whips/CowWhip.htm

This is a site you might want to look at. It's how I got started braiding with nylon.

Tom

[tmroper]

Tony that makes a lot of sense to me and I am open for all suggestions. I am going to try what you suggested and decore one 30" cord and pull the second through it and then tie on the fall. Yes you are correct my has a twisted end rather than a plaited end. Thank you for your help and I will let you know the results as soon as I can give it a go.

Thanks

[jerryrwm]

Tony that makes a lot of sense to me and I am open for all suggestions. I am going to try what you suggested and decore one 30" cord and pull the second through it and then tie on the fall. Yes you are correct my has a twisted end rather than a plaited end. Thank you for your help and I will let you know the results as soon as I can give it a go.

Thanks

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.

[tmroper]

I have made several to try and have made them from thin to thick crackers, I have used bailing twine, nylon and poly with the same results. Meaning I haven't had a chance to rework the fall yet but am looking forward to see if it helps. My cracker when made and twisted up are approx. 11" long

[Suze]

Oh the joys of being a fiber geek on a leather forum

I keep seeing this thread and keep thinking that it is this kind of whip braiding

http://www.eithni.com/Whipcordingdemo.htm

(also known as "combat braiding" by our members.....Ever get "thunked" by a pint size rolling pin?)

Oh and this is usually done with two people tossing the bobbins back and forth.

[jerryrwm]

I have made several to try and have made them from thin to thick crackers, I have used bailing twine, nylon and poly with the same results. Meaning I haven't had a chance to rework the fall yet but am looking forward to see if it helps. My cracker when made and twisted up are approx. 11" long

Maybe a picture or two would enlighten us.

[HorsehairBraider]

Oh the joys of being a fiber geek on a leather forum

I keep seeing this thread and keep thinking that it is this kind of whip braiding

http://www.eithni.com/Whipcordingdemo.htm

(also known as "combat braiding" by our members.....Ever get "thunked" by a pint size rolling pin?)

Oh and this is usually done with two people tossing the bobbins back and forth.

Not being Scandinavian, I'd just call this "four-strand braiding". It's not bad to do with no bobbins, and that's how some of these whips are done. Sometimes though braiders make what's called a "butterfly" (Bruce Grant calls it a "tamale" in his book) which is just like the butterfly weavers use in tapestry weaving. It keeps the long ends from tangling. It provides no weight but helps with the length, just like the bobbins would.

[carr52]

Maybe a picture or two would enlighten us.

I have made them out of the same nylon used to braid the whip. One is made of masons twine, one piece twisted into itself. The falls are just the end of the braiding process. I braided two of the strands back up and into the whip then used the others to make the fall. The handles are made of 1/2" PVC If you cant get the type with the coupling preformed onto it then you can just glue one on. The whip goes into the end with the coupling on it and the two thongs attached to the loop on the end of the whip is pulled through the holes near the end and tied off or used as a wrist loop. Oh yeah, the white one is a cedar one I'm working on. Just drilled a hole in the end of it.

Tom

[carr52]

I have made them out of the same nylon used to braid the whip. One is made of masons twine, one piece twisted into itself. The falls are just the end of the braiding process. I braided two of the strands back up and into the whip then used the others to make the fall. The handles are made of 1/2" PVC If you cant get the type with the coupling preformed onto it then you can just glue one on. The whip goes into the end with the coupling on it and the two thongs attached to the loop on the end of the whip is pulled through the holes near the end and tied off or used as a wrist loop. Oh yeah, the white one is a cedar one I'm working on. Just drilled a hole in the end of it.

Tom

Heres how the handle goes on. The two thongs on this one arnt long enough to make a wrist loop.

Tom

[tmroper]

i will try and put some pics up

[Bullwhip]

Hi Guys,

I recently started leather working, specifically whip making. Plaiting is no problem, can plait 16 strands, do the handle and transition etc. The thing that i am struggling with now, is how to create patterns by using different strand colors. Ron Edwards describes this a bit in his book Bushcraft, but its still not enough.

Could any of the masters here please draw a few images on strand color variation for various patterns, it doesn't have to be more than 8 strands. Would REALLY appreciate it, since I found absolutely NO info on this subject. Thanx!

[jerryrwm]

Hi Guys,

I recently started leather working, specifically whip making. Plaiting is no problem, can plait 16 strands, do the handle and transition etc. The thing that i am struggling with now, is how to create patterns by using different strand colors. Ron Edwards describes this a bit in his book Bushcraft, but its still not enough.

Could any of the masters here please draw a few images on strand color variation for various patterns, it doesn't have to be more than 8 strands. Would REALLY appreciate it, since I found absolutely NO info on this subject. Thanx!

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.

[Bullwhip]

Hi Jerry,

Thanx for the reply! I quickly did search on the book, looks great, but i highly doubt that im going to find it in South Africa.. Will have to order from Aus?

Either way, would still appreciate it if someone could post a few images, just to get me started!

[HorsehairBraider]

Bullwhip - just go read the thread "Fid Work" - as I am replying it is the second thread under this one. Troy posted a tutorial on fid work. That's what you want, I believe... check it out and see.

[Bullwhip]

Thanx!! Will do so!!

[Essentia]

Heres how the handle goes on. The two thongs on this one arnt long enough to make a wrist loop.

Tom

Tom,

do you have a URL or even the name of the shop where you buy the preformed coupling pipe from, it'd be much appreciated...

Tony

[tmroper]

I have a question when braiding a whip and you start with and even number of strings (Just say you start with a 12 braid and go to a 11) and then go to an odd number. How do you guys go about it to keep the braid looking nice.

Thanks

[jerryrwm]

I have a question when braiding a whip and you start with and even number of strings (Just say you start with a 12 braid and go to a 11) and then go to an odd number. How do you guys go about it to keep the braid looking nice.

Thanks

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.

Edited July 3, 2009 by jerryrwm

[SmartAceW0LF]

Hey guys, one of the best resources you will find on whip making that doesn't cost a dime is on youtube.com. Search Whip Making and check out any/all of the tutorials by Bernie46! This guy is quite forthcoming with some very serious talent.

[Maeve]

Bernie is WONDERFUL!!!!! He will answer your e-mails with VERY thorough answers. I was corresponding with him a number of years ago about a whip that I was plaiting. There were some questions that I had about the handle (Australian stockwhip). He sent me an e-mail with no less than a dozen photos detailing his description! I was flabbergasted by his sharing nature! You don't find too many people willing to give of themselves like that! Unfortunately I had a computer crash a couple of months ago and lost the entire tutorial. I cannot say enough good about Bernie .... as a man and as a whipmaker. He has great information on his web site too. http://www.em-brand-whips.com/

Love and Light,

Maeve

[Handmadewhips]

I have a question when braiding a whip and you start with and even number of strings (Just say you start with a 12 braid and go to a 11) and then go to an odd number. How do you guys go about it to keep the braid looking nice.

Thanks

Hello everyone... I just signed on to the forum here and so far I love it.

I always drop 2 at a time, 12 down to 10, 10 down to 8. I think it helps to keep things looking even especially with a two tone job.. whether you drop one or two at a time if you keep your seam straight the job will look right.

Skip

www.handmadewhips.com