5' Cow Whip

[Hayes Rutherford]

I'm calling this a cow whip because of the wood handle and thong attachment. I quite possibly am not capturing the true character of a cow whip, but learning as I go.

I started with a tt belly of 30", followed by a single 8 plait belly of 38", then a 12 plait overlay of 5' 2", 15" fall, and 9-1/4" cracker.

The 16" handle is birch with a bit of pyro engraving and texturing. The diameter and thickness are down to a minimum for this type of connection, a metal ferrule or sinew binding might prevent cracking but so far no problem. The finish is furniture wax. Not sure if I will wax the whip, hoping it loosens up a bit actually. Overall, more fun to practice with than my last attempts and plan to make another basically the same. C&C always welcome.

[Ron May]

Hayes, that is a cow whip by any standard.
The handle is awesome.
I would like to see some close ups of it.

" Fun to practice with." is the key phrase. That's what it all about.
Very nicely done.

Ron

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thanks Ron.





While the handle was in the lathe, close spaced double border lines were burned in with a wire. On the bench, loops were branded with a home made bent wire tip, the dots were a store bought ball tip, the texture is stippled with a fine tip and the heat cranked up. i'm fortunate to have a pretty good wood burner where the base unit and electronics is separated from the "pens" by a fairly flexible wire. Wanted to take more in progress pictures but just couldn't quit!

I notice a bit of wax in the grooves that could be brushed out, but its gonna get used and the wax feel gives a good grip.

[Ron May]

Hayes, I like the attention to detail.

Ron

[Mark Elliott]

Hayes, that looks really cool. Ron, is right, definitely a cow whip. I worry about the cup cracking as well and have thought of placing bands around it but have never gotten around to finding a source for ferrules that size. Biggest I've ever bought have been about an inch. I've done the bit with the wire to burn rings into the wood but have never tried using a birner. Great job.

[Robert Gage]

Hayes, that handle is extremely sylish! I like it!

[Rachel McCollough]

Beautiful!!!

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thank you all. Yesterday while waiting for wife at her eye appointment, I was searching paracord prices and colors. (Mark, I sure like the rust you have posted)

[Rachel McCollough]

The ones I’ve had best success with are E.L. Wood brand. Sometimes I have to use another brand, but it is the best. Paracord galaxy dot com has it listed as “163” item number. It has a nylon sheath, which plaits smoother. Their 650 sheath only paracord is all el wood. It is also already gutless.

[Ron May]

I agree with Rachel about Paracord Galaxy and E.L. Wood cord.

Being nylon, it melts better and more evenly. That comes in real handy if you ever have to join cord, or stick dropped ends to the thong after cutting, and the end cords of a TH knot as well. Made in America too, I believe. With cord made in China, you really don't know what kind of sleeve you're getting.

Ron

[Mark Elliott]

What Rachel and Ron said. Paracord Galaxy is where I bought the rust coed.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thanks for confirming what I suspected. I have some tan from Paracord Planet that was noticeably thinner after waxing whip #4 than the acid brown from Paracord Galaxy. Haven't ordered any yet because my wife gets mad when all the packages delivered are for me.

[Ross Buckley]

Beautiful looking whip great job

[Ron May]

Hayes, put the order in your wife's name, then she can get the packages and you get the contents.

Ron

[Hayes Rutherford]

Thank you Ross.

Ron, great idea, might have to get her 1000 or 2000 feet so she has enough to share.

[Hayes Rutherford]

I just wanted to report back on this one that after waxing it.

The handle is my least favorite thing. Mr. Robert suggested a more ball in socket type shape in the first whip I posted, and it's obvious in Ms. Rachel's whips and others. The black handle with aluminum ferrule I posted in my last project is more on those lines and just feels so much better. Could always make another, or even switch them as the socket hole is the same size.

The fall is ugly! Looking back on this, not a good color combination, just using up waste.

I'm on about the 3rd cracker and will no doubt continue to experiment. Ron has mentioned using the waxed binding material and I like it. A single strand folded over worked but two strands seemed better. Not sure how many strands others use. Kinda fun when you can see the excess wax crack into a mist.

This is my favorite so far and as a beginner, I would describe it as versatile. A sense of how binding and plaiting relates to the finished product is starting to sink in. But no matter where it falls on the scale of good to bad, I'm learning.

[Ron May]

Hayes, that is the proof of improving. Being to recognize what works and what doesn't and improving on that information will take you far to becoming a premier whip maker.

I also split the artificial sinew to make less bulkier crackers. I also do this while combining the smaller strands, like you would do with thread, to make even more different ones.
Tapered twisted crackers works very well too.


Ron

[Mark Elliott]

Hayes, don't be too quick to throw that handle away, that style is pretty common for cow whips. RhettKelley makes whips with this style of handle and does Roy Partain of Gator Whips. Most cow whips aren't made for intricate routines, they are for working cattle and this style of handle works great for that. Besides, it isn't ugly, I like the way it looks.

Also, contrasting crackers and falls are pretty common in whips as well. It makes it easier to see where the whip is headed.

We all find faults in our work but I have to say I've seen much worse, and very little better, first efforts.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Mark, thank you and not throwing that handle away any time soon. Was doing a bit of cracking this morning and it felt better than my last black handle today.

[Ben Varsek]

Hayes, beautiful work!

Ben