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. 6 Plait Belly - Plaiting Wednesday January 28, 2004 Step 9: Bind the 6 strands together behind the handle end using waxed thread. Clamp these loose ends (behind the handle end) down in a vise. Apply leather dressing or plaiting soap to the strands. This will result in a tighter plait. Remember, "Pull tight, plait loose"! Cross the 2 middle strands bringing the right one over the left. Reach behind with your left hand and take the back strand on the right and bring it around and under 2 strands and over 1. With your right hand reach behind and take the back strand on the left and bring it around and under 2 strands and over 1. Continue the plaiting sequence of under 2, over 1. Periodically apply leather dressing to keep the strands supple.       When the plaiting gets crowded you'll need to drop 2 strands to a 4-plait. Simply take the 2 middle strands and leave them in the middle and go straight into a 4-plait sequence. Remember to cut the 2 strands you're dropping into staggered lengths and also cut them in a taper. [At this point the whip had not been rolled and I hadn't quite finished plaiting the full 36" in length] The plaiting continued in a 4-plait until the length from the end of the handle to the end of the plaiting was 36". Then one of the loose strands was used to tie a half-hitch around the remaining strands to hold them together. When it comes time to wrap the next bolster, I'll cut these loose strands in a taper, and maybe roll them together to form a sort of core around which the bolster will go. NOTES: I was conscious of pulling tight while plaiting to get a nice, tight braid but perhaps I could've pulled a bit tighter still. At this stage I was really hoping to avoid breaking any strands so maybe didn't pull as hard on the strands as I should have. Will have to experiment more on the amount of pull I can give these strands before they'll break. 6 Plait Belly - Handle/Thong Junction Thursday January 29, 2004 Step 10: ROLL the belly to smooth out the taper and any lumps. Bind the handle/thong junction to prevent 'limp whip' syndrome. As mentioned previously, 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. On Jerry's illustration he covers a 3" long area with the waxed sinew. For some reason, I thought it was supposed to be 3" on either side of the end of the handle so I wrapped 6" worth of sinew over the junction. I don't forsee that being a problem, though. Perhaps this will make the whip more suitable for target work. HA! After the sinew is wrapped around the whip, ROLL it to smooth it out.            [The first picture of the handle is without the flash, the second picture is with the flash] NOTES: The loose strands at the end of the 4-plait only measure between 6 and 8" so I don't think I cut the belly strands too long!                             page 1   page 2   page 3   page 4   page 5   page 6   page 7