Monthly Archives: November 2009

The All-American Bullwhip

In July I received an order for a bullwhip inspired by Old Glory. I finally got to make the whip last weekend and here is the result.

I wish I could claim to be the first nylon plaiter to make a nylon bullwhip to resemble the U.S. flag, but as far as I know, that honor goes to Ron Allen. It was earlier this year when I met Ron and saw one he had made. I thought it was the coolest nylon whip ever.

This whip is 8ft long and built in the traditional American style with a short, 8″ handle (Australian style bullwhips have 12″ handles). The heel knot is a 7 part, 6 bight turkshead and a the transition knot is 5 part, 4 bight knot.  I hardly ever build whips for myself, but this is definitely one of those whips I will hate to ship out.

Happy Crackin’

-Rhett

www.cowwhips.com


Happy Thanksgiving!

One thing I am very thankful for today is all the great customers that have made my little whipmaking business such a success. I appreciate everyone’s support and hope you all have a joyous Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

-Rhett


Sorry, No Whips Christmas!

Just a quick note to let you know that if you’re looking to order a whip for Christmas, the deadline has already passed.  I’m still working on orders from July and I do not have anything in stock. Historically, August has always been the best month to order to be sure the whip will be ready by Christmas.

You might try contacting my friend Joe Driver at Joe’s Custom Whips, he may still have some room on his list.

-Rhett

www.cowwhips.com


Hanging out with Joe Driver

Yesterday I was very blessed to have Joe Driver come over for a visit. Joe is one of my best friends as well as a fellow preacher and maker of nylon whips.

Joe drove over and preached at our church Sunday. After lunch, we got together for a little whip cracking.  After that, I showed him my leather making projects and how I turn handles on the lathe. The great time of fellowship seemed to come to an end much too soon as Joe had to leave around 3:30pm in order to make it home at a decent hour.

Joe’s website is Joescustomwhips.com. If you need a nice nylon whip without waiting very long to get it, I highly recommend you give Joe a try. His prices are the same as mine and he backs his work with a guarantee that’s hard to beat.

Here’s Joe with my 6ft Aussie stockwhip made by Simon Martin. Joe was really excited about getting to crack this whip as he and Simon are friends as well.

Here is Joe and I throwing a couple of bullwhips. Joe has my 6ft latigo woody bull made by Skip SanSoucie. I’m cracking a 7ft woody bull made by Drew Schrag. (The Schrag whip is on loan to me from one of my customers.)


It was really great to get to see Joe again today. Getting to hear him preach was icing on the cake. We don’t get to hang out nearly enough. I look forward to doing it again soon.


Odds and Ends

The last two months have been very busy. Work picked up at my job, so now I have returned to being a “part-time whipmaker.” With that, I have gotten behind schedule on my orders. I am currently working on orders from early July. I hope to be done with the July orders by the first of December. I currently have between 25 and 30 whips on the slate to be made. If you’re still waiting, please hang in there as I am working feverishly to get to everyone.

In other news, at just 10 year of age, my son Cordell will be finishing his second whip order very soon. He is currently working a large order of 6ft cow whips that are destined for a cattle ranch in Cameroon, Africa. As you can imagine, I am very excited for Cordell and quite proud of him.  Cordell’s whips are currently $11.00 per foot.  Cordell only takes on a limited number of orders each month due to school and other activities.

The latest exotic wood that I have turned for cow whip handles is Mopani. This African wood is very hard and makes a very nice looking handle. I have a picture of the new handle in my exotic handle gallery.

That’s all for now!

-Rhett

Cowwhips.com


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.