Whip Basics. The Forum

Craig, why don't you go ahead and wax the concho? I always do, just dunk it right in there with the rest and if the wax is hot enough, you can wipe most of the wax off. If you have a lot of detail, hit it with a hair dryer and it will melt right off and soak into the rest of the knot.

I tend to crack a whip as soon as it's complete and before waxing. I bind tightly so do a little breaking in and then do a wax.

Roger - I actually have a bad habit of cracking it after every layer in order to get a feel for the progress. I don't know if that's bad for the whip or not.

Jessie - guess I'm just paranoid.

Craig I feel of the whip every stage too. Might not crack it with a cracker, but I definitely wave it around. If one layer doesn't do right I can feel it right away and redo.

Craig and Rachel - That makes complete sense to me. I can't imagine any reason not to 'test as you go'....

I sort of do that too Rachel. I also , using my index finger, run the whip over it in front of me and see how it "drapes" and how the curve is as I pull it over.
If there's any part that is not consistent it shows.

Ron

Roger - I received your whip today, but I got home from work really late. I looked it over and cracked it a few times, but didn't get a chance to take pictures or really review it. I'll knock it out tomorrow. It looks fabulous and is very stiff.

Thank you for it!

I'm going to start by saying, I love this whip. It looks great, is very well tapered, has a good, stiff transition, has excellent knots, and is very well braided. There is one issue with it: it does have a noticeable right hand pull. Not enough to mess it up, but enough to see in the roll out test and to feel while cracking. The biggest result of that is that I need to use more forearm movement then usual. Some whips I can crack with mostly wrist action, but this one doesn't work well like that. This, unfortunately means that I can't do the underhand crack very well. However, cattleman, coachman, and overhead work well. The weird part is that I can actually do the figure eight crack with this whip with pretty good consistency, which I can't do with any other whip I have.

I honestly think that the right hand pull comes from the fact that you dropped a single strand at the beginning, went to double strand drops after that, and then kept the other side of the first strand until the end. I could be wrong.

There are a couple of small gaps and bunching when the strands were dropped, but not enough to affect anything. There is also some lumpiness, which I think comes from the way you dropped the strands, but once again, doesn't affect usage and actually adds some character to the thong. Oh, and your fall hitch is awesome. Way better than mine.

I did swap out the cracker for one of Jessie's, but that's just because I've grown rather found of hers.

I'll make a video later when my daughter gets home.

Nice colours and the knot looks real comfy. Something you can comfortably hold. The fall hitch is tidy. The bunching and small gaps might be part rectified with a good roll. Might help with pull to the right as well,...

Wait! I take back what I said about the single strand drop! I don't think there actually is a single strand drop. I wasn't paying enough attention and may have missed something.

Really good job Sir Roger.
I like the colors and the knots are really nice.

Ron

It's all doubled dropped, Craig.

Interesting what you said about the right hand pull. I've noticed that with all three whips that I've waxed, the first few cracks out of the bath, there's been an almighty tug to the right which has got progressively less and less the more I use the whip. I wonder if the waxing has exaggerated a slight twist towards the end. It's always been my biggest issue - and always towards the right. I've been focusing on my left hand more during the plaiting process. Still more attention required.

Roger - maybe it has something to do with the orientation of the whip when you put it in the wax.

question Roger: how do you get the foundation anchored if the silicone sealing tape only sticks to itself? do you use glue or wire brads or anything?

is it possible for the wax to be shrinking it more on one side? My logic is that the wax heats up through convection. The closer to a heat source an item is, the more heat the object takes in. If you always lay the whip on the right side, that would be closest to the heat source.

Jorden, I don't know about anyone else but I always either staple or use brads to secure the heel foundation.

Ron

Jesse Bessette wrote:is it possible for the wax to be shrinking it more on one side? My logic is that the wax heats up through convection. The closer to a heat source an item is, the more heat the object takes in. If you always lay the whip on the right side, that would be closest to the heat source.

I wax my whips in the oven on hot air and stir the bath before dipping - so the temperature huld be pretty even - i see different schrinkage more in the direction of the bend of the whip

Jorden,

I bind on my overlay strands with artificial sinew. Once I've tidied up the heel ends, I then wrap the silicone tape around the heel to create the foundation. By stretching the tape slightly as I wrap, it creates a very tight bulge as it tries to 'relax', locking itself to the handle. Three or four tightening turns of the heel knot pulls the cord tight and the 'tackiness' of the tape stops any movement. Add wax and you've got a solid heel knot.

As to the possibility that it's an uneven heating, all the whips I've waxed I've made sure to turn over in the pan halfway through.