renegadelizard Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Hey All. I have kinda become obsessed with making my own whip...i know, i need to sell more holsters and and quit goofing off, but once an idea gets in my head it just wont leave...so ive been studying and studying, and the plaiting i got down, somewhat, ...the knots, again somewhat, the method of construction that i will use is fairly simply..braided core, 2 plaited bellies, and the overlay...ill be using flax waxed nylon wrapped around the core and each belly instead of a bolster... im fairly confident i can pull this off, and i am excited to begin, its also a great excuse to buy more tools and enlist my machinist buddy to design a few along the way....the one issue that is giving me fits is what leather to use... Dave Morgan uses roo hide for the whole thing, in and out.. Terry Jacka uses roo on the overlay, but oily chrome tan cow on the inside... A few other folks are using veg tanned latigo one of the sales reps at the tannery i use said veg tanned latigo wouldnt work well for whips, and that i needed a chrome tan for the whip... it seems everyone has a different opinion and its got me quite confused... Any help here on what materials to use would be great...i think sheridan has roo hides, but they are 170+ for 6-8 ft...any other places less expensive?... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Hi renegadelizard, You've listed some great whipmakers there and I'll bet regardless of what leather they use, their whips will perform great. I personally much prefer roohide over cowhide. I think that a roohide whip is classier and performs better. You can certainly make nice cowhide or latigo whips though. It sounds like what you have got in mind for the construction of your whip would lend itself to roohide. That many layers with cowhide would be very thick. Sorry I can't help you with suppliers over in the US. Hopefully someone can put you on to a good place where you can get some roo at a good price. I almost feel bad telling you that Packers tannery is only about half an hour from where I live and I can go and pick out the hides I want for around $70 each. If you can get roo tanned by them, I highly recommend it. Pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fancye9876 Report post Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) If you have not already seen this, look up Bernie46 on youtube. He has a lot of videos and even shows how to do fancy plaiting. I just love watching him. I actually made a whip out of paracord and put fancy design on the handle. Can't afford to mess up expensive roo to start with. The darn thing actually looks good and cracks pretty loud. His website is EM Brand whips. His instructions can be accessed there to. Beautiful work. Edited January 3, 2014 by fancye9876 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcsaddles Report post Posted January 3, 2014 If you are looking to buy roo hides here inthe US, try Paul Nolan of www.midwestwhips.com He makes a lot of whips for movies and music videos. He will help you out with hides. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpiofire Report post Posted January 4, 2014 I use either roo or veg tanned double milled shoulder cowhide. Cowhide can make a nice whip but it'll be a bit heavier and because it doesn't the same tensile strenght , you wont be able to taper your strands to as fine a point without risking broken strands during braiding. Also a bit more care when you braid ,you simply cannot braid as tight. These whips were made of cowhide... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
renegadelizard Report post Posted January 4, 2014 i talked to Paul at midwest whips tonight...Great guy, very knowledgeable and really helpful...he is gonna get me all set up... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracym Report post Posted January 4, 2014 Paul is super nice. He has been helping me with reconditioning a very old whip I inherited. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
