Quirt Dimension

[Aggiebraider]

Howdy Everyone,

Its been a while since I posted much, hope everyone is well. I decided I want to try and make a quirt, but realized I havent seen the typical dimensions written any where, so I thought I would check here. If anyone can chime in with normal diameters, lengths, etc. I would really appreciate it. Also, what do you normally use for a core? I was thinking about using a twisted rawhide core, but havent been real happy with how they have been turning out for me lately. Im having a LOT of trouble getting my larger width rawhide strings cut consistently, so any advice on that outside of eyeballing it would be appreciated as well. I have tried using my normal lace cutter and a draw gauge, and neither seem to work real well.

Thanks for the help,

CW

[blackhammer]

i don't know as there's a hard and fast rule on diameters or length in regards to quirts. Most of mine taper any where from 1/2" up to 1" at the butt end depending on what people want. The taper from butt to tip is dependent on the length of the handle. I just like a nice, graceful, and proportionate taper. Also note that diameter at the butt will affect the knots that you may use if (like me) you have difficulty in raising your knots past a certain number of passes. There are however some absolute experts on here in that regard. As a generic example, for a 12" quirt handle, I might go with a 3/4" butt, tapering as necessary. For synthetic quirts ( yep, some people seem to like them) I use a synthetic core. This is usually braided chute cord, sometimes with a stiff fiberglass hand part. For leather and rawhide quirts, I use a braided rawhide core over tapered, cast off strings that would go in the trash can. My primary braiding has been whips and quirts until about a year ago. While taper certainly affects the performance and handling characteristics of a whip, I'm of the opinion that it primarily affects the aesthetics of a quirt or crop. But I could be wrong.

[megabit]

Seems Grant gives some dimensions for a quirt and a number of core types.