6 ft roo stock whip

[Rachel McCollough]

Oh that handle is beautiful!

[Mark Elliott]

I thought so, too, Rachel. Wish I could take credit for it but, the tree did pretty much all the work.

[Georg Ernst]

Beautiful handle

[Robert Gage]

Mark, this is a very exiting project!

[Mark Elliott]

Starting the overlay. I had a lot of trouble cutting the belly from a yoke and will probably try it a few more times on bellies before I try it on the overlay. Tied on the keeper and then started the overlay with a square start.

[Mark Elliott]

I meant to add that making lace with the thickest part in the middle of the strands was a bit different, but not that hard. I cut 8 strands and resized them to about 5 mm with bevels and them middled the strands and and started tapering a few feet down from the middle. Worked out pretty good.

[Ron May]

It's looking good Mark.

Ron

[Georg Ernst]

Looks fine mark

[Ethan Mitchell]

Cool! Great job coming up with a solution!

[Jeff Roseborough]

Mark, cutting a belly or overlay with a keeper is not too difficult, but takes a bit of practice to get everything even and balanced. The same principle applies to bullwhips. Having the ability to switch strands is key. The Aussie strander is not good for this. The Dene Williams strander is excellent. If you can cut freehand with a knife and thumbnail is good too. A Morgan strander works well also.

I would start by marking out a piece for the keeper. On one side there will be a long tail, about a foot long, that is used to secure the keeper when it is plaited. On the other end of the keeper start cutting out strands. Try to keep them even and centered on the keeper. Cut about a six inches and then gradually taper wider over the next foot. From there keep the width even for another foot or two. Then start tapering over the remaining length. It depends upon the final length and if you plan to drop strands. With an 8plait I would drop down to 6 or even 4 strands. With a 12 plait I end with 8 strands. Same with 16 plait, but I've only done that in 2 tone. I used a double keeper for that.

Your method is good but as you found cutting strands that are wide in the middle and taper towards both ends is challenging. You could cut strands the same width, middle it and place it in a vise or clamp, and then bevel/taper the strands so both ends are even. Much easier than cutting directly from the hide with a taper. You could also cut strands in a gang without the keeper, taper them, start plaiting checkerboard and secure it to the thong. You would then trim the part where the strands started / joined and cover it with a turks head.

Bernie shows a method where he tied individual strands for the overlay, trimmed the ends, and covers it. Same principle as cutting out strands in a gang.

It is all a matter of preference, skill, and what you are comfortable doing. There is no right or wrong way, just your way.

Can't wait to see how it turns out. I am partial to stockwhips myself.

[Mark Elliott]

Thanks Georg.

Jeff, what you describe is what I ended up doing. I agree that there is no absolutely right way to do things

[Scott A. Cary]

Isn't it amazing how much of a difference the right piece of wood makes?

[Mark Elliott]

Scott, I've been really lucky with the blanks I've been getting.

[Brandon "Sparky" Lam]

Mark, can't wait to see the final result~

[Ethan Mitchell]

Looking great!

[Mark Elliott]

Brandon, neither can I!
Thank's Ethan.

[Mark Elliott]

Finally got a chance to finish the thong, today. Had some problems getting strands to lay right with the drops, and redid some of the several times. I just seemed like some of the lace was very stiff, even though I conditioned them with Picard's and with plaiting soap numerous times throughout the process of cutting and plaiting. Not sure what the problem was.

[Rachel McCollough]

It still looks great! Were you in a cold room with the a.c.? That makes a lot of difference for mine. How does it crack?

[Ethan Mitchell]

Very very cool! Looking forward to the handle!

[Mark Elliott]

Thanks Ethan.

Rachel, it wasn't that cool, but we did have The AC going. And it was only a few of the strands. I've decided that I may need to split them, I think that the problem may be that some of them were thicker than the others.