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WHIP FAQs
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How do I choose the right whip length?
It helps to decide on the whip length you need by thinking of where you are
most often likely to be cracking your whip. Cracking mostly indoors with
standard ceiling heights will mean any whip longer than 4ft is going to be
too long. If your practicing out on the lawn then a whip of any whip length
will probably be fine. But even if you have all the space in the world to
crack a whip in, getting a whip too long for what you want to practice the
most is all too easy.
For targeting, the distance your cutting targets at should correspond to the
overall length of your whip - this includes the
fall (and whip handle if a
stockwhip) because it's the cracker of your whip that does the cutting.
Falls range in length from 1ft on some 3ft snakewhips and bullwhips to
nearly 3ft on long bullwhips and some stockwhips.
For stage work, wraps and pick ups you have to assess how much room the
'normal' ( there is no such thing - any performer will tell you) stage
environment is going to give you. This will limit the whip length you
choose. As a general rule, choose the longest whip that can be thrown
safely. This ensures you get the best sound out of your whip. The physics of
whip construction means the longer whip magnifies a given amount of energy
you impart into the whip much more than shorter whip.
For double handed whipcracking choose 6-7ft bullwhips or
5-6ft stockwhips
depending on how tall you are. A pair of 6ft stockwhips to a tall person
will feel more like 5ft stockwhips to a shorter person. Whip lengths shorter
than this will make you work much harder to get good sound out of your
whips. This means you either put more muscle power into your whipcracking or
you move your whips faster or both. Either way it's not as satisfying with
short whips in double handed practice. Whips longer than recommended will
also zap your energy so much so that a whip an extra 6 inches long might as
well be a mile. Practicing double handed whipcracking with whips that are
too long makes you feel like your running up hill all the time and, again,
it makes for less satisfying practice sessions.
Practicing with a friend's whips is also a good place to start to get a
handle on the whip length that suits you best.
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How
is whip length is measured?
Signal whips are measured from the butt of the handle section to the last
knot of the plaited cracker point. Some measure the signalwhip to the tip of
the cracker - an extra 3 inches.
Snake whips and bullwhips are both measured the same way. Overall length from
the butt of the handle section to the start of the fall hitch. This
measurement doesn't include the length of the fall - no whip length ever
includes the length of the fall.
Stockwhips are measured from the knot that is tied in front of the thong's
keeper to the start of the fall hitch. This is the length of the thong - the
length of the handle is not included.
Stockwhip handles can range from 16-17
inches for early colonial Australian stockwhips to 21 inches and on odd
occasions even longer for the spring steel and cane handles of today.
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What are the
different types of
whips?
Signalwhips were innovated by Whipmaker David Morgan. Originally
designed as sound-maker in sled dog handling it is now favoured in the adult
whip play scene. It is easy on the eye and looks fantastic in 2-tone and is
an excellent short range targeting whip. In practiced hands it is capable of
great accuracy but with a strike that can be as light as feather. The
cracker point is plaited into the whip and is not replaceable by anyone other
than a good whipmaker. So order your signal whip with a replaceable cracker
point. Even if you choose a standard signal whip it's cracker will last for
several years - so long as you don't want to crack the whip as a sound maker.
Snakewhips are similar whips to signalwhips - shot loaded without a
stiff handle section. They are easy on the eye and they evolved from cattle
work in several American states as a pocket whip - a whip capable of being
coiled into a saddle bag. Snakewhips have a replaceable fall and cracker
set-up. So a snake whip makes a better choice as noisemaker/target whip
combination than the signalwhip. It is inherently a little less accurate
than the signalwhip, but in practiced hands the accuracy that can be
attained is exceptional. As a whip suitable for
complex whipcracking
routines it is a little lethargic and reluctant.
Bullwhips have a stiff handle section that can be as short as 4 inches
and as long as 18 inches. There are two main styles,
the finer proportioned Australian
style and the robust American style. Both styles are lovely whips and when
made well are energetic and give big sound with the minimum of effort. Poor
to average whipmakers get the handle connection wrong resulting in a hinge
at the stiff handle/thong junction. In my opinion there is no shortcoming in
this style of whip so long as the whip is made by a good whipmaker. For
complex whipcracking routines the bullwhip is less hungry than the stockwhip
to get the job done. This won't phase the bullwhip afficionado - it's all
part of it's charm.
Stockwhips are the Australian contribution to the whipcrackers choice
of whips. Originally developed in the droving routes of England were it's
'concept' evolved in Australia into the stockwhip we recognize today -
forged out of necessity in the Australian droving environment. The stockwhip
lacks the classic 'whip' form for most people (other than Australians). It
is the easiest of all the whip styles to make into a poor performer. Made
well though, it will punch out the hardest of whipcracking routines with the
cleanest sound imaginable.
Other Whip types have evolved to meet special requirements. The Bullock whip
has handle section that is very long, sometimes as tall as the bullocky (the
driver of the bullock team and dray). The thong is a heavier/cruder version
of the stockwhip thong and is nearly always made out of cowhide. This
is the iconic colonial Australian whip - but it's form was copied from the
Dutch colonies on the African continent visited by the early tall ships that left
England to colonise Australia. Take another look at the bullock team picture
on my home page, that's a bullock whip being held, in the classic way, in a
circa 1895 Western Australian goldfields scene. There are many other types
of whips and these are sought after by whip collectors (including myself!) as
they are a fascinating window into our past.
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Is 16-plait better than 8-plait?
My opinion on this question is no. When I say this I'm assuming
the same care in manufacture has gone into making both
8-plait and
16-plait whips that are to be compared. I personally judge a whip on it's
action foremost. If it's action is good only then will I give the plaiting a
closer look. In my opinion too many people fall for the trap of homing in on
the fine plaiting of a whip first..."Ah - that's a nice whip" and they
haven't even cracked it yet! To me there is no whip more ugly than a fancy
plaited whip that promises so much because it looks good and delivers so
little when it's cracked.
A whip though is more than just about function. Some are bought as treat, as
a gift, to match a corset or performer's costume, to add to a collection, to
get a 'representative' example of a whipmaker's talent...the list goes on.
Everyone has a different opinion on what a beautiful whip is to them. Most
people love a finely plaited whip and more power to them. It's no small
thing treating yourself to a beautifully plaited whip and having the
pleasure over the years of using it and showing it off to friends. No matter
what reason a new whip is ordered for - the assumption is the whip is going
to be well constructed no matter what plait count it is made in. With good
whipmakers this assumption is a reasonable one to make.
A well constructed whip means the foundation of the whip is made to a
standard that can't be improved on. This means the best materials to suit
the task are used. This means the plaiting is tight and neat. This means all
the component that combine to create the foundation are well prepared.
A whitehide stockwhip is hard to beat if it's your first whip
and it's going to get a hard life, lent to friends and taken to an Aussie
Ute show etc. Bullwhips in 8 through to 16-plait are all good performers.
The shorter the bullwhip though, the more the flexibility inherent to the
finer 16-plait overlay becomes useful. It gives a short bullwhip (and
snakewhip and signalwhip for that matter) a smoother action. 8-plait
snakewhips and signalwhips take longer to relax but will break in to become
great movers. 16-plait snakewhips and signalwhips start off from day one as
good movers and only get better with time. I'm not sure whether I like
8-plait over 12-plait for stockwhips more. I think I'll give the
recommendation to 12-plait on looks and the ability of the whipmaker to
adjust weight a fraction more as the stockwhip is plaited. Obviously
a
24-plait whip of any type is not suited to serious daily practice nor for
hard work in a cattle yard. Few whips will stand up better to hard yard work
(or to the BS Ute crowd for that matter) than a 4-plait cowhide stockwhip.
Such a stockwhip, well made, will out-perform many of the fancy looking
kangaroo hide stockwhips that get made. So when choosing what plait count
your whip should be in, remember that a good whipmaker is going to build
your whip on the best foundation possible - no matter what plait count it's
going to be covered in. The overlay is just like paint on a car. If your
budget lets you get 16-plait then fine, just make sure it's not pretty paint
on a poor car.
Lower plait count whips can be more durable than higher plait count whips.
Remember that a 16-plait whip will terminate in 8-plait, just like a
12-plait whip and often 8-plait whips end in 8-plait as well ( I make them
this way). The last couple of feet of a whip thong is what is most
vulnerable to damage and wear. An 8-plait point, be it on a 16, 12 or 8-plait whip is
inherently a very stable long life plait to end a whip thong in. Arguably an
8-plait whip terminating in 6-plait, with it's wider strands, is more
durable. Fair point. But no whip is going to stand up to sustained
punishment on abrasive surfaces, being cracked with lots of muscle power and
mistreated in other ways for long. From this standpoint it's an academic
discussion deciding on what plait count is more durable.
One last point - I have friend who was the Australian Men's whipcracking
champion several years in a row. He was given a few whips by a whipmaker who
was hoping he'd use them. He was desperate for good fall leather and not
having a good supply of whitehide he cut open one of these whips to get at
the wide strands of the plaited belly...for fall leather. It's a pretty
honest assessment of how good he thought those whips were.
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How do I look after my whip?
A stitch in time saves nine. If you look after your whips with
this motto in mind your whips will outlast you.
I encourage all whipcrackers to take the time to learn to replace a worn
fall and to make their own crackers. While Murphywhips offers 10-packs of
crackers in nylon and
polypropylene, it's a handy skill to learn
how to make your own crackers. There's two benefits, one is it's fun and a
cheaper alternative to buying them ready made and two, you get to experiment
with cracker weight and length to get the best action out of your whips.
Check out Plaiting
Supplies for cracker making threads of nylon or
poly. If your not sure how to go about making your own crackers and don't
have someone close by to show you, treat yourself to Whip Maintenance and
Repair. It's available in DVD and in
VHS. This video deals with
every whip repair challenge you'll face, from simple cracker making and
cracker/fall knots, to fall making and fall hitch methods, to re-plaiting
your whip point and repairing a broken strand in your whip and lots more.
Changing a fall is very easy once you know how, again that's what the "Whip
Repair" video is all about if you don't know how. A fall is not unlike a
tyre on a car. If you don't crack your whip or drive your car much it lasts
a long time. If you thrash your car or muscle a whip along then the tyres
and the falls wear out real quick. There are a couple of things that are
important in getting the most life out of your falls. The first is use
leather dressing. See
FAQ6 for how often you should apply a leather
dressing to your whips. Secondly - how you crack your whip makes a huge
difference. The best habit to form in your whip practice is that of taking
muscle power out of you whipcracking. The ladies do this naturally, most of
them anyway - they go for timing skill instead of muscling a whip into
action. Fellas tend to use far too much muscle power. If you're
falls are breaking, you're most likely adding too much power.
The stress will show up somewhere, the weakest link is the fall
which is it's job, to take the wear and tear etc. When you
working on the new skills, the whips don't cut clean lines and
because timing is undeveloped, you naturally add power to get
the whips into position. The best whipcrackers
make their whipcracking look effortless and that's about right - it's pretty
well is effortless. Their timing is so refined and perfected that their
whips change direction at the perfect moment and the sound they get is big
in volume. Yet they are using a quarter of the effort of the whipcracker who
is starting out. The by-product of this habit is your fall gets next to no
stress and your whipcracking gets better and better. Mastery of a
new technique on it's own will come when you feel effortless
cracks with decent sound. It's only when you start adding the
'new' technique to earlier ones you've mastered that you'll find
there's a new level to master it at, so you'll practice it more
so it becomes instinctive as well. That's when your falls get
next to no stress. Make a habit
of asking yourself "Can I take more power out of the mix?" The more
muscle power you remove the more you must perfect timing skills to get a
sharp crack.Where you crack your whips makes a big difference on the whip repair
challenges you'll face later on. A dry grass lawn or smooth polished floor
is the best for longer whips. Concrete or bare dirt is abrasive on whips,
steer clear of this sort surface if you don't want to have a broken strand
or two in the future. The best test I've come up with to determine whether a
surface is suitable is if you wouldn't want to kneel down on it with bare
knees because it would be uncomfortable then it's not suitable for your
whips either.
If you keep all these common sense points in mind when you practice you'll
face next to no whip repair challenges for years and years. Expect to
replace crackers on a regular basis and the odd fall depending on how much
you practice and that's pretty well it. But if you do need whip repair help,
repairs are done at a nominal cost plus postage.
One more thing, don't lend your whip or what happened to Sarge's
whip could happen to yours - eaten by a bull terrier. A fall that's had a long life by being
well managed by good whip care and practice habits will be gone in
2 seconds by lending it to someone who just wants to show you
they can crack a whip. They'll crack it so loud and with so much
force you'll wince. You'll wince again in a few minutes too - as
you watch your half your fall sailing off into some trees. Come
prepared with a 'loaner' whip so you can encourage friends who
want to have a go.
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Leather dressing
or waxing your whips
It's vital your whips get treated with
leather dressing when they need it. A
good leather dressing coats the leather fibres of your whip thong and fall.
This excludes the oxygen in air from coming in contact with the fibres.
Extended exposure to air oxidises the leather so it becomes weak and
brittle. Most people have seen old harness or a bridle that's been hung up
in a shed or stable that is so stiff it hardly flexes. This is oxidised
leather - it's brittle and cracks when it bends. The leather in this case
cannot be revived and cannot be returned to useful service. But you can
still halt the oxidation process on this leather by adding a good leather
dressing which means your preserving what's left.
Leather dressing your whips benefits them in other ways. It makes water bead
off the fall and thong for that rare occasion you end up cracking on a damp
lawn. It also keeps the weight up in the thong. Whip enthusiasts who've been
cracking for a while will know what their whips behave like when their falls
get too wet - the whip starts to buck and kick. Keeping leather dressing
topped up in your whip has the opposite effect...getting weight where your
need it. With leather dressing your making this effect of weight on the whip
work in your favour and that translates to more sound with less effort.
Don't underestimate this - it's important.
There's basically two types of leather dressings or conditioners. The type
that is liquid at room temperature is not to be used on your whip. It will
tend to loosen leather fibres and it evaporates out of your whip too
quickly. Leather dressings that are a wax or thick grease consistency at
room temperature are what you want. I prefer beeswax based leather dressings
because beeswax is one of the least reactive compounds with air and natural
fibres. There are several good leather dressings on the market but the one's
we offer at Murphywhips are the ones we recommend.
How much do you put on your whip? About a teaspoon will be enough for a
whole whip for a week or so if your using the whip nearly every day. Gauge
the amount to use next time by checking how your whip feels the day after
you've waxed it. If it feels dry to touch then you've got it right. If it's
damp to touch then use less next time and wait a week or few days longer
before you wax the whip again. Your whip leather should never 'chatter' when
it flexes (a noise similar to twisting a paperback book in your hands). It's
a sure sign the whip is too dry. Apply the wax at the start of the stockwhip
thong or bullwhip's handle/thong connection and run the wax off your hand
until you finish at the fall. Use the fall like a rag to wipe the last of
the wax off your hand. A bullwhip or stockwhip handle doesn't need much
leather dressing. A little bit now and then won't hurt. Don't forget the
keeper of your stockwhip, use your fingers to move the grease into the folds
and loosen the knot up a bit and spread a little wax there.
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I want to learn how to make a whip
Plaiting a whip is a bit of a misnomer. The plaiting part of making a whip
is the way you combine all the whipmaking techniques you've employed in
preparing the raw materials that are needed. Start off with small whipmaking
challenges. This way you'll accumulate whipmaking and plaiting techniques at
the same time. As you progress to more challenging whip projects you'll
build up more of both techniques. I suggest you start off making a 6ft
4-plait cowhide stockwhip for your first whip. After you've completed it,
give it a fly. If it doesn't crack so great then that means there's some
whipmaking techniques of yours that need some ironing out. A well made
cowhide stockwhip is a good moving whip so if your first attempt is a good
moving whip - well done. Maybe next time you may want to try a 6-plait
cowhide stockwhip or even a kangaroo hide stockwhip. Either way, depending
on how well this first stockwhip moves, you're still going to have a decent
hit-list of things that you need to improve on to make a better stockwhip
next time.
After you've cracked it for while have a critical look at the neatness of
the plaiting. Run your hand (and eye) down the the thong - are there any
lumps and bumps? Have you twisted a strand in plaiting somewhere? Twist the
thong - can you see heaps of daylight under the strands as they open up? If
yes is the answer to any one of these questions I suggest you take your awl
(What's an awl?) and unpick your whip thong all the way to the start
and re-plait it. This time shave down the bevel edge of the 'heavy' strands
at the swell in the thong that was not in the right place. Make sure this
time you don't fold over a strand by mistake. Put more wax on your strands
as you plait and pull each strand tighter. If you do this you'll see how far
you've progressed and how the small things really count.
All the tools you need for whipmaking can be found in Knives and
Tools. A good knife, a lacing needle for turkshead tying and an awl
are the important ones. You'll also need a worktable to prepare your work
on, a tape measure and a hook attached to something solid to plait from. All
the raw materials you need can be found in Plaiting
Supplies. The
redhide blank Murphywhips stocks will be enough cowhide leather for a
stockwhip keeper, fall, filler and 4-plait thong. Pre-cut kangaroo
hide lace for plaiting a 1/2-cane handle is available in several
colours. Cane, waxed thread for turkshead preparation, tacks, thread
to tie your keeper on, shellac to polish your whip handle are also available
in Plaiting Supplies. There are a number of books that will step by step
guide you through the process.
Happy whipmaking.
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How heavy do you make your Signal whips?
I make two distinct styles of signal whips. One is noticeably heavier and
has a girth at the handle base of approximately 1 1/4 inches in diameter.
The lighter signalwhip is still loaded with lead shot deep down the whip
thong but it's overall proportions are finer and this whip style has a girth
at the handle base of a fraction less than 1 inch in diameter.
If you
gravitate towards heavy whips, like to feel that you've got lot of whip in
your hand or you just have big hands, the heavy signal whip is for you. It
cracks with a fraction more energy than the finer proportioned signal I
make, but not as much as you'd think.
The finer proportioned signal whip is
a fast moving whip and will feel more comfortable to use for the ladies and
anyone else who prefers a whip's action to be effortless and the weight to
be less noticeable in your hand.
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How can one whip feel too heavy and another feel too
light?
A whip walks a fine line between being too light
and requiring 'more' effort to make good sound than a better
crafted/shaped/weighted whip. A similar whip can equally be too
heavy and also zap your energy (and annoy you). It's more likely
to give good sound in this case, but it'll most likely feel
lethargic. A well weighted whip is where the shape/weight of the
whip is just right so it feels like your holding nothing when
you crack (weightless) but it gives good sound. And this is
really a comparison thing. It helps a lot if all you have is a 'cheapy'
whip so the contrast is monstrous when you crack a good whip for
the first time! But the thing is my goal in making any whip is
to make that whip move right - that is - gives good sound with the
least amount of fuss.
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How do I tie a whip cracker on?
Tying on a
cracker is very simple, but it takes a bit of
practice to get a perfect knot first time every time. Start with
a fresh cracker - thread it on your
fall and slide it up so it
sits several inches up from the fall tip.
Fold the fall tip around the cracker - it helps to keep the
cracker straight when doing this. Poke the fall tip back though
the loop you've made with the cracker.
Snug this loose knot up by gently pulling both cracker and fall
in opposite directions. Now check that a 1/4" of fall tip is all
that is free of the knot. Now pull both fall and cracker away
from each other tightly. All done.
Hints:
Flatten the first inch of the fall tip with the back of a
smooth knife handle or similar against a bench top - or you
could lightly tap it with a hammer. You're forcing the fall tip
to take on a 'ribbon' shape profile. This is far better to tie a
cracker on than a rounded fall point. Now look at the tip - does
it taper in any way? If so, the cracker will eventually work
loose no matter how well you tie the knot! Remove the effect of
any taper by shaving a fraction off the flesh side of the fall -
start 1/4" in from the tip and shave no more than 1/2" up the
fall with a super sharp knife. This creates a 'lock' for the
cracker knot. The cracker knot takes up an inch of fall length
so doing this doesn't weaken the fall. The shaved part of the
fall is hidden inside the cracker knot.
More on whip crackers:
I was first taught to make crackers by Old Tom. He taught me
to twist the crackers up on my leg - Australian Aborigines use
this same method in their string making. His method was typical
of the Australian stockmen - a cracker was tied with three
evenly spaced hitches. Today when a cracker is worn we just
replace it - and today's whip cracker is only made with one
knot. But the old stockmen preferred the 3 knot style - when it
wore to the first knot - that knot was simply cut off with the
stockman's belt knife and the cracker tail fluffed up to the
second knot.
Old stockmen like Tom were always stretching the truth. So when
he told me about the crackers they used to make out of spider's
webs I flat out refused to believe him. This must have rankled
him a bit because next time I visited he had one of these spider
web whip crackers there to show me. It wasn't the prettiest
cracker to look at but he assured me it was good and that the
web they used 'up North' were much heavier and made much better
crackers than the ones he found locally. I tried break it - no
chance! On the whip it gave good sound and proved very long
wearing. Spider web whip crackers - I didn't mention them to a
sole until I bumped into a whipmaker friend of mine - Gary Marsh
from Kojanup WA. It turned out that his uncle also used to make
them - he'd wrap the web around his hat until he had enough to
make a cracker.
Since then I've found out a little more. Did you know spider's
silk that makes the frame of their web has something like 70
times the tensile breaking strain of steel wire of the same
thickness? G. Wellard wrote the book "Bushlore" and on
pages 135-6 he discusses the Spider web whip crackers the
stockmen made from the Golden Orb Spider. I've seen bird's
feathers in these spider's webs. Not to say the spiders ate
them, but it gives you an idea of how strong the webs are for a
bird to struggle and lose a few feathers in the process of
getting free. Wellard talked about how they used a forked stick
to "break the webs down and avoid riding into them" when they
were mustering cattle. He went on to say "Billy Seward told me
these webs made very good stockwhip lashes and claimed they were
very much better and would last much longer than string, which
was the usual material used. Frankly I did not believe him, but
during a lunch break one day, I asked him to show me how to make
a lash from the tangled mess he had around his forked stick. In
no time he did just that by teasing out the web he had collected
into a long string in much the same way as wool is teased out
before it is spun. Billy then twisted the web string he had made
by rubbing it over his thigh. Billy then doubled a length of the
web string and twisted that by rubbing it over his thigh and
knotting it every three inches. He very soon had produced a
tradesman looking lash..."
 Reference - G.E.P. Wellard's "Bushlore" published by Artlook
Books, 1983 - PO Box 8268, Stirling St, Perth, Western
Australia.
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How do I replace a fall?
Cut a point on the tip of the
new fall.
Slide the new fall up over what's left of the old one so the new
fall loop is 1ft up the plaiting of the point of your whip.
Push your awl point (a knitting needle works well too) under the
old fall's loop where it meets the fall hitch/plaiting of the
whip terminates. Make sure no whip strands are caught by the
awl. Twist the awl like a turnbuckle for an old fashioned
tourniquet - the fall loop will snap.
Pull the old fall out - use a
multi-tool if you don't have
enough fall length for a hand hold.
Thread the new fall into the hole left by the old fall - with
that tip point you've just cut on the new fall.
Put a little leather dressing on the wider diameter part of the
new fall and pull the new fall in place - the dressing makes it
slippery.
Finished.
Hints - pull the fall in place in one smooth motion - get
someone to hold the handle end of your whip - look at the old
fall and make sure the new one isn't too fat to get back into
the old fall hitch hole - shave the new one down if this is the
case - smooth/grain side of the fall is upper most when it gets
threaded on - make sure there's no twists in the new fall before
you pull in place - to remove twists - twist against the twists!
and pull the twisted bit through the fall hitch until the fall
is sorted and the you can pull it in place in one smooth motion.
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Removing stains from light coloured whips?
A friend of Andrew Conway's
had a few bullwhips stored one on top of the other, a black one
sitting on a tan one. In a few days he noticed the black one had
transferred dye to the tan one, leaving a few spots like a pen
had leaked on it. His friend asked...
"Is there any way to get rid of these? It does seem like the
black has sunk in to the individual strands. I'm heartsick over
this. It doesn't ruin the performance of the whip, but it gives
an expensive, collectible whip a cosmetic flaw that I'd love to
correct. Any advice would be appreciated."
It annoys me when this happens because this black whip has been
made from hide that is stained black and not tannery dyed where
the colour fixes chemically to the leather fibres. A stain is
painted on and sits on the epidermis of the leather. A dye is a
space invading, totally different way of colouring leather and
the tanneries incorporate it as part of the tanning process so
it's stable and permanent.
In most cases it's an oil based stain that has coloured the
leather and it's most often a denatured alcohol solution. Ed can
paint the stained area with methylated spirits (won't harm the
whip) after the area is saturated, press the affected area deep
into talc powder and leave overnight. Or powder up some clay
kitty litter - that'll work just as well as talc. If there's no
transfer of stain then try dry cleaning fluid. Repeat the
process until it's sorted.
What's happening here is re-hydrating the dry stain particles
with the solvent and then having the clay or talc out-compete the
leather in wicking off the liquid.
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Polishing your whip
with Shellac
Shellac is one of the few polishes that will dry on a damp
surface. There a different grades - blonde being the best (also
called ultra or super blonde) because it doesn't darken what it
covers. Shellac is a naturally occurring secretion of the 'Lac'
beetle and is commercially harvested in India.
Ideally your whip should be cleaned and waxed -
basically this is how a new freshly made whip is before
polishing with shellac starts. Make a 'rubber' out of two 100mm
x 100m squares of t-shirt cotton cloth - fold them over corner
to corner and when it starts bunching up hold the corner 'ears'
of the squares together with an elastic band.
Dip the rubber in the polish and rub it on softly - it's a thin
coat - so start at the fall - work you way to the handle and
then repeat. 3 coats will be perfect. Don't polish in damp
weather - or the polish will go a slightly 'milky' colour. You
can wax your whip anytime, polished or not - it'll take a little
longer to absorb when the polish is fresh - but it's permeable -
it lets the whip breath. Polish your whip when-ever you feel
like it.
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