Judging Whips

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

I have been granted the very honourable position of Judging leatherwork at a large popular show this year....and its my first time.

It was my understanding there was some difficulty in finding a Judge this year for the leatherwork section, and if I didn't accept the position, it would have been granted to a 'General Judge' ( that judges everything if a Judge can't be found) , that , ( with great respect) may not know too much about leatherwork, so with my experience behind me , I took the position.

I've been doing leatherwork for almost 10 years now ( thats gone quick ) , and I know from experience what to look out for when it comes to bags , belts, etc the quality of the tooling, carving , attention to detail , craftmanship, functionality and so on.

However, when it comes to whips and braiding, I know a quailty made whip or a quality braid but is there anything that I should be looking out for?

I have done some plaiting, but not whip making.

Am I excited? you betchya!! Am I nervous.........just a little bit

Thanks for any advice.

Handstitched

[oltoot]

staightness of braid lines, smooth transitions if thong is tapered. Smooth attachment of thong to fall. Smooth feeling thong and handle. If multicolored, harmonizing of colors. etc etc etcetera

[GrampaJoel]

I'd also add whether the lace has been beveled.

Or if it was left un-beveled on purpose.

Finishing of the bite ends.

Joel

[Peter T]

G'day Handstitched,

There are two main things you will need to judge the whips on. One is how it looks and the other is how it performs. All the things said so far are good things to look for with the plaiting side of things. Also look for even width of strands. Uneven strands will lead to either gaps in the plaiting or twisting of the seams. Sounds like you've got an eye for quality so you shouldn't have too much dramas there.

Not sure of your experience with whipcracking, but give them a crack. Having entered quite a number of whipmaking comps, how the whip performs is critical to the result. It doesn't matter how good or fancy it looks, if it doesn't crack well then it's not much good. I've seen some very finely and beautifully plaited whips not place highly or at all in some comps due to the fact they didn't perform as well as other whips.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your judging experience!

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'day again,

Thank you all very much for your great advice, its all been very helpful, especially Peter T. I have just over month to go before I go to the show to Judge.

I could always buy myself a good affordable whip from a reputable supplier to practice my whip cracking, as I don't want to look a complete goose on my big day. I know there is a knack to it.

Grampa Joel, I will keep the bevelling in mind, in fact , that could be a difficult one to judge on.

I would have to think very carefully, did they leave it un-bevelled on purpose, or was it an oversight?

but I would think bevelling would look nicer.

I think colours would look quite nice too.

Thanks once again,

Handstitched

[Handstitched]

G'Day ,

I got my new whip today to practice cracking whips for Judging at a show coming up mid Sept.

Its a 7' 6 plait stock whip, cane handle , red hide, and VERY well made.

Peter T, you may well know the maker. Nemeth Whips ( Brain Nemeth...and family ) of Queensland.

pretty much identicle to this one:

http://www.everythingaustralian.com.au/products/whip-wood.jpg

I can't help but keep sniffing it!! Smells wonderful !!

All I have to do now........is practice

All the best

Handstitched

[Peter T]

G'day Handstitched,

I sure admire the effort you are going to in your position as judge. It's great to see and I reckon you'll do a fine job.

Yes I have met Brian Nemeth once. He was selling whips at a show in Queensland. Nice bloke. On his website he claims to have made more whips than anyone else in the world, somewhere between 80000 and 100000! I reckon if he hasn't made the most then he's got to be in the grand final! That's a lot of whips!

Hope you enjoy your new whip.

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

A bit more 'whip' news.

These last few weeks I've been so busy, but I have managed to get some whip practice in.

Youtube vids have been very helpful. Adam Winwich was one of them.

My first attempts were pretty dismal , with only limited and poor sounding 'cracks', more like 'flops' than cracks. My next attempts were a slight improvement, but still no definite "crack".

And in case anyones asks, yes, I have hit myself, quite a few times. But, no pain, no gain eh?

Anyway,just now, I went outside to practice some more .I have now developed my 'swing' after practicing the cattlemans crack, but only this time theres a definite loud "crack", loud enough for it to echo across the paddocks.......its even got my sheeps attention. (hope people don't mistaken it for gunshot!!)

That happened several times...YEY!! I want to do some more now !!! Quite pleased with myself actually.

But now my right arm is tired.( like I've just arm wrestled with Arnold Schwarzenegger)

No doubt in time my arm will strengthen and get used to doing stuff.....like...... cracking whips.

Might do some more this arvo.

All the best

Handstitched

[Peter T]

G'day Handstitched,

Have you done the judging for the show yet? Be sure to let us know how it went for you.

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'day Mate,

I left a message in your in box.

The big day is Friday 20th Sept. around 1.30- 2pm .

It'll be a long 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive from here to get there. Not looking forward to the city.

My whip cracking is doing quite well. the cracks are loud!!

I'll let everyone know how it all went, maybe over the weekend.

Best Regards,

HS

[Handstitched]

G'day Peter T,

Today was the big day.

I had a 3 hr drive from the bush to the Show grounds, after having to put up with a lot of idiots on the city roads. ( I hate the city with a passion )

( I was also looking quite dapper, if I say so myself, I scrubbed up real good )

Anyway, I found the pavillion after 2 attempts in finding it.

The stewards were lovely, kind & helpful, mainly oldies, but lovely & sweet none the less.

After a few neatly cut ham ,cheese and lettuce sangas ( and I bet they too were Judged) and a cuppa it was immediately down to work.

The quality of the exhibits was very good, but not as many as I expected going by the classes & criteria .

There were only a few that I simply could not put a place on.

For example, I spotted a big mistake on a belt before I even cast my full judgement on it.

A nicely carved , oakleaf/acorn pattern belt, nice tri-colouring on black b/ground with a nice single pronged polished brass buckle.

BUT....there were no holes on the billet to do it up!! OOPS!!

Its just a strip of leather with a nice carved pattern on it.If only they put a few holes in it, it might have got a place.

The one item that I was really looking forward to and hoping to Judge, was whips.

THERE WAS NONE !!!!

Damn, Bugger & Blast !!!

After all that effort in buying a good quality whip, practicing my cracking, there were no whip entries!!

I was soooooo dissapointed !!!!

I was so looking forward to putting my (self taught ) tuition into practice .

Acording to the steward, there were none last year as well.

Now that surprises me, because there are some prominent whip makers here in WA .

But all in all, I think I did very well.

O'h well, thems the breaks eh mate?

I now have a lovely whip and some experience in cracking it, so not all is lost in that respect.

Maybe next year....if I get the gig again.

But I really really enjoyed it. its all experience for me , its another 'notch' on my belt, and my name has gone onto a register of Judges....I also received 2 free tickets to the show .... you lil' beaudy!!

All the best

Handstitched

[Peter T]

Oh noooo!!! No whips!! After all that effort! Oh well, at least you got free tickets and a couple of show quality sandwiches!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, though. Wow I bet the person who didn't put holes in the belt will be kicking themselves...

Thanks for posting your story to let us know how you went. Hopefully you get the opportunity to judge again down the track. I reckon you've earned it. Good on you, Handstitched.

Cheers,

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

Well well well, how time flies.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was Judging leatherwork for a prominent show last year .

I'm very honoured to be picked again for the job this year.

I must have done a good last time for them to ask me a second time.

Hopefully there will be some whips for me to Judge this time around, but this time I have a head start thanks to me buying a whip & practising and the helpful info on here.

All the best,

HS

[rcsaddles]

So where is this show? Sounds like someone needs to do some PR work to get people to enter whips.

[Peter T]

Wow, that has come around fast. Yeah, where is the show? Maybe I could send a whip over so you've got at least one to judge and all your purchasing and practicing of whips isn't in vain...

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'day,

My big day was on Friday Sept. 19th.

Once again, the entries were very good. I think the number of entries was down slightly.

And again, no whips, which was disappointing. I practiced my cracking for 2-3 weeks prior.

I've really got the hang of it now .

I was a bit more generous this time around. Last year , there were a few entries that I couldn't put a place on.

This year , there were a couple of entries that I nearly didn't put a place on as I didn't think they were good enough.

I still feel the same now.

But, I had a change of heart, I decided to give them a 3rd place , or 'Highly Commended', mainly to give the exhibitor encouragement, which is preferable to discouragement, as I'd really like them to enter again next year, and to hopefully maintain their interest in leather craft.

I nearly had to disqualify an entry as the exhibitor didn't read the conditions of entry properly, geez I felt rotten ,

but after a chat with the steward & Chief steward, they decided to be kind, but I made a note in the Judges comments....phew!

It seems that leather craft is more prevalent in the eastern states than here in the west.

But anyway, apart from the long drive to the show grounds, its was a great day.

HS

[silverback]

Hi HS, Which show was on.I am in Rockingham and haven't heard of any shows going except the royal next week.Do they do the judging in advance?. I do lessons with a group of 8 down in Pinjarra and I am sure some would like to exhibit. Any info would be great. Thanks. Peter

[Handstitched]

G'day Pete,

Yep its the biggie, the Royal.

All judging is done a few weeks prior across all catagories. Craft, cakes & bikkies beer,wine and so on.

For more info, I would get in touch with RAS ( Royal Ag Society).

I hope you do enter some exhibits in the future, especially whips. I would really like see entry numbers increase.

I was going to send you a private message, but if you enter an exhibit in the future, it would be best if I didn't,

from a Judges point of view. Hope that makes sense?. Rules are rules

In the meantime, You could also try entering your leather work, and those of your students in some of the smaller country shows,

unless you've already done so. But chances are they may not have a specific 'leatherwork / leathercraft Judge, the smaller shows may have a 'General Judge' that Judges everything, knitting, handicrafts, painting , leather work etc.

Its nice to hear from a fellow West Aussie.

Keep up the leatherwork and your tutoring.

HS

[Handstitched]

G'day Beautiful peeps,

I had yet again had the honourable task of being a leatherwork Judge at a different show. Only this time slightly closer to home. Only 2 hours drive each way instead of 3+

And, pretty much the same as before. No whips. And..... what was also disappointing, and perhaps a bit frustrating, that apart from the exhibit numbers being way less than the previous show, they were also the same exhibits as the other show. I recognised them the very second I walked in.

All but one. But by the same / regular exhibitor. I could tell by the style , pattern and braiding, beautifully made , but only the colours were different. My heart sank!!!

Hardly a challenge for this newby Judge eh?

I nearly disqualified the lot!!! ( but one) .

I had to check with the Stewards regarding Judging the same exhibits twice, but at two different shows. It also lets the Stewards know I'm on the ball. The rules should really be almost 'universal', and the exhibits should not have been shown IMO , but on this occasion the Stewards allowed it. Apart from the fact, there'd be nothing left to exhibit.

So I took a deep breath, pretended I was Sergeant Schultz ( " I know no-thing" ) and continued on.

O'h well, I just pretty much gave the same placings and comments as before.

While I was more than happy to Judge, I did go home feeling quite dissapointed.

But I do hope there are more and / or new exhibitors next time, it was also a great learning experience for me.

All the best,

HS