My Indiana Jones bullwhip story

[folkprophet]

Added the 2nd bolster and bound it on. Due to some thickness issues I had to split the bolster for a few inches at the handle transition, and bound it quite tightly there to compensate.

 

[folkprophet]

Did some measuring and calculating for the final overlay strands widths/lengths (I put my calculation paper/mess image here in case its of interest to anyone). The radius is timesed by 1.5 and divided by 12 to get the starting width. The length is the final length x 1.5. The short of it (with some averaging) is that each strand will start at 8 mm width and drop a millimeter every 24 inches to end with 3 mm. I'll probably extend the 3 mm by an extra foot or so at the end and use strand dropping to get the final taper as I find that my strands often end up being a wee bit too short.

 

[folkprophet]

First strand for the overlay cut out...well...technically first two. I cut my strands out for the overlay one at a time (rather than having them all connected like in the bellies), but one strand is double length and goes past the end so as to have an easy way to hang from the hook whilst plaiting. So this strand is 26' in length. It is thicker (throughout) than the final strand will be because it will need to be stretched and paired still. I won't post every strand as I complete them.

 

[folkprophet]

And...the final overlay strands cut out. (Note, there are only 11...the far right one is twice as long).

 

[folkprophet]

So the process for prepping the strings...

You cut them wider than you need them because of stretch. I usually cut them 1.5 x the final width on the outside of the hide (which is stretchier) and 1.3 as I get to the inside. Then I stretch them by wrapping them around something a few times and pulling while holding onto the other end to create the tension needed. I stretch each strand twice this way. Then you cut the strands down to their final length, then pair them*, and then grease them up with the plaiting soap.

So I completed one strand with this process (the double length one) and then moved to the next one and....forgot to stretch it. I got halfway through cutting it to size before it struck me. In retrospect it should have struck me much sooner. I mean I thought to myself, "Wow, this one's a lot wider than the last one," as I started cutting, and yet...

So that strand is wrecked for the overlay. So it will become extra that I'll use for the knots and/or the handle strap later and I'll cut out another strand for the overlay.

*pairing is tapering the edges so the strands lie flatter crisscrossed against each other.

 

[folkprophet]

Added note: I usually stretch all the strands in one go and so the above is not an issue. I approached it differently this time to try and avoid a bit of hand fatigue. I think I'll go through and stretch the rest of them upfront now.

 

[folkprophet]

Comparison of the thinnest end pre and post stretched, cut down to size and paired.



Edit: I'm not very happy with the images I'm getting from my phone right now. With the flash it washes out the strands. Without it isn't sharp. Guess I'll try taking them without the high-contrast black background moving forward and see if I get better results.

 

[folkprophet]

Here are the overlay strands stretched, cut to size, and paired...



...and here they are greased and ready to go:

 

[The Terminator]

It is like a whole science onto itself

Edit: I'm not very happy with the images I'm getting from my phone right now. With the flash it washes out the strands. Without it isn't sharp. Guess I'll try taking them without the high-contrast black background moving forward and see if I get better results.

Phones are crappy cameras, end of story

 

[justanuthercap]

Did some measuring and calculating for the final overlay strands widths/lengths (I put my calculation paper/mess image here in case its of interest to anyone). The radius is timesed by 1.5 and divided by 12 to get the starting width. The length is the final length x 1.5. The short of it (with some averaging) is that each strand will start at 8 mm width and drop a millimeter every 24 inches to end with 3 mm. I'll probably extend the 3 mm by an extra foot or so at the end and use strand dropping to get the final taper as I find that my strands often end up being a wee bit too short.

View attachment 635678

Hey folk, thanks for this. I was working on mine quite a while ago and stalled right here on the overlay cutting. It had completely stumped me but now I might be able to pick it up again.

 

[folkprophet]

Here's the rig I created for braiding the overlay. I had an old thick piece of wood that I actually got for the purpose of being an electric guitar body (that's what it was made for), but I never got around to it. So I drilled a hole in the end, screwed the hook in, and c-clamped it to a box.



- - - Updated - - -

The handle.



Edit: Incidentally...my goal of getting a thinner handle: Success. My goal of getting it to same width as the Raider's whip: Fail. Close. But not quite. I'm at 22 mm. Should be 20. .87 of an inch instead of .8.

 

[folkprophet]

Around 30 inches in.

 

[Sheeple]

It's coming together great!