page 1   page 2   page 3   page 4   page 5   page 6   page 7 The construction of this whip is primarily based on the procedure used by Bernie Wojcicki in his "How To Make A Bullwhip" tutorial DVDs. For more info on the DVDs, click here. Handle Saturday January 17, 2004 Step 1: Take the 3' hardened steel rod and cut off an 8" piece using a hack saw. With a file, round both the ends and make them smooth so they won't poke through the leather. File a 1" section at one of the ends. This is where a piece of leather will be wrapped around the end to make up the handle/thong junction. The diameter of the rod is 1/4" (approx. 6mm). The filed-down 1" section has a final diameter (at its thickest point) of 3/16" (approx. 5mm).       NOTES: In the future it would be nice to use a grinder for this purpose. After the whip is finished, check to see if the rod diameter was too small. Would a thicker nail spike have worked better? Trimming the Hide Sunday January 18, 2004 Step 2: Using the Olfa utility knife, trim away the weak (stretchy) outer areas of the hide. The stretchiest areas are the legs and armpits. Keep the curves large and round ...nothing smaller than a 6" diameter curve if you can help it. The knife has to be sharp! As the Aussies say, "When you can shave with the knife, it is almost sharp enough." Save the scraps of leather for use in other ways. The bottom trim can be used for knot and hang strap strands. The trim around the balance of the hide can be used for bolsters.            Both the full hide and trimmed hide images are high-res. [illustration in the middle courtesy of Victor Tella] NOTES: Handle/Thong Junction Sunday January 18, 2004 Step 3: Using the Olfa scissors, cut a 17" long, tapered piece that will wrap around the filed-down end of the handle. With the waxed thread, bind the leather to the end of the handle. Be sure to bring the binding onto the handle an inch or two so that it grips better and the leather won't slip off the end. Add a couple thin (staggered length) strips of leather to the inside of the leather piece so that when you bind it, it won't bind flat. After the whole length is bound, ROLL IT and go back and add more binding to the handle/thong junction to help prevent the dreaded 'limp noodle' syndrome. Start about 2" from the end of the handle and gently wrap on a 45 degree angle. Go approximately 2" past the end of the handle. Go back at 45 degrees about 1/2" between each turn. Do this about 4 times and tie it off. ROLL IT.            NOTES: The idea of binding the handle/thong junction is to move the flex stress point farther up the whip. Wrap each belly. Use a waxed sinew and pull it as tight as you can (and very close together) so that it doesn't create a lump in the plaiting that covers it. [illustration courtesy of Jerry Rasmussen] First Bolster Sunday January 18, 2004 Step 4: Lay the handle on the leather and wrap the leather around it and every 4" - 5" mark it with a pen. This is the bolster. Cut it a couple inches longer than the end of the leather from step 3. Leave some extra length of leather past the end of the handle so that you can punch a hole in the leather and hang it from a hook while binding. After the bolster is cut, apply some leather dressing to it and bind it to the handle/thong using the waxed thread. ROLL IT. Reinforce the handle/thong junction with more binding as was done in step 3. ROLL IT. The length of the whip, with the first bolster on, now measures 32" in length.       NOTES: If need be, you can cut a bolster from two pieces of leather. Use fine sewing thread to hold the bolster in place. You want the whip to be able to flex and move on its own. The thread usually breaks down after a short period but has served its purpose of holding the bolster together until it gets covered. Next time instead of adding this bolster over the core/handle try adding a 4-plait belly. On a Morgan style whip do not start cutting laces until the 8" point. The first 8" will act like a bolster on the handle and will eliminate building up the handle too thickly. With every plaiting you are adding 2 layers because you've got laces going over laces. Currently with this whip there will be about 10 layers. Layer 1: handle and core, Layer 2: bolster, Layer 3 & 4: first belly, Layer 5: bolster, Layer 6 & 7: second belly, Layer 8: bolster, Layer 9 & 10: overlay.                             page 1   page 2   page 3   page 4   page 5   page 6   page 7