My method of tying on a cow whip handle. I get questions in this because it’s something I left out of my whipmaking DVD. I hope it helps.
Category Archives: whip handles
New bullwhip designs on the horizon
I’m not sure why, but I’ve noted recently that a plain black bullwhip will garner many more “likes” and attention on Facebook than something more flashy looking. That being said, I’ve decided to start promoting my fancier work a bit more than in the past.
Whipmaker Tony Layzell in the U.K. was the man who was graciously helped me with learning a more simple way of doing the designs around four years ago. I’ve done this sort of work when requested in the past, but I never really advertised it much as I always preferred doing the simpler designs. My personality type likes “comfort zones,” so that’s where I tended to remain.
Now that I’m full time making whips, it does get somewhat dull doing the same old patterns all the time. I also figure my Facebook fans will eventually tire of seeing the same things over and over again when I post whip photos. I will be updating my main website soon to make these options easier to select without having to contact me to make a special request. Here are photos of a couple of recent examples:
Bullwhip grip change method
Today I received a question in an email about how I made the bullwhips with the grip portion of the handle in a different color than the thong as seen on the Young Indy style bullwhips and on many of the 12 plait bullwhips I have posted on my website.
I agreed to help out and took a few snap shots of the process on a 12 plait bullwhip I was working on at the time. I’m posting them here to maybe help others who wonder what to do. This is probably not the only way, or even the best way, but it’s my way and it has worked for me so far.
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- I tightly bind the point with sinew where the grip starts
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- Cut and unplait the scrap
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- Removed scrap with wood burning tool
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- Plait grip portion and bind
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- remove the scraps
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- bind whole area tightly with sinew
From here, I just build my transition knot foundation as normal and cover it with a turkshead knot.
That’s all there is to it!
-Rhett
“Your handles are High Priced!”
Top to bottom: Zebrawood, Redheart, and Bocote
For a while now on my main website, I have not advertised that I sell custom cow whip handles. Though I do make custom handles on request, I don’t really want to get bogged down with orders for them.
The reason:
Cow whip handles are one of the least profitable items I sell given the time they take me to make them.
Yet, I was recently told by someone that my handles are “high priced”.
Steven Huntress recently posted a great article on his blog addressing the erroneous idea that the value of a product should be based solely upon the cost of the materials used to make it. I commend it to you as I share his point of view on the subject.
In my article, I just want to touch on how my handle prices are figured and the rationale behind it.
My wife would probably tell you I’m the King of Wasting Time, but I do value my time and I like to spend my productive hours in a profitable way.
In general, making whips is probably the best paying job I’ve ever had on an hour per hour basis. However, that doesn’t mean that every facet of whip making is profitable alone. That’s sort of the situation with making cow whip handles.
I normally charge a base price of $25.00 to make a standard ash cow whip handle. On exotic wood handles, I charge roughly what it costs me to get the handle blank being used, plus $25.00 per handle for turning and finishing it on the lathe. In the photo, you’re looking at roughly $140.00 worth of handles. That may sound like lots of money, but when I deduct the expense for materials and figure in my time, I could’ve made much better money working on a 12 or 16 plait bullwhip instead.
The price I charge for making a custom handle is really the minimum amount I will accept for the time it takes me to do it. I would ask for more, but I’m making a conscious effort to keep the price low. Unlike many markets today, the “whip market” is free and unregulated. Buyers are free to buy, or not to buy a product, and there is a growing number of sellers from which to choose.
Are there other, less expensive options out there? Sure. There’s Eli’s in Florida that sells handles cheap. I suspect these are mass produced because all the ones I’ve seen are all clones. What you see is what you get. It’s not a bad handle, but when I sold them as part of my whipmaking kits last year, people didn’t really like them as much as my standard handles. After you figure in UPS shipping rates, the cost of a plain Eli’s handle isn’t much less than one of mine.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind making handles. If you want one, please get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to take care of you. Just know that even though the price may sound a little steep from your view, from my view, I’m offering a real bargain.
The Tool Whip
A few weeks ago I was working on my truck. I picked up a Craftsman screwdriver and got to looking at it’s classic, almost iconic grip. All of a sudden the idea hit me: This would be an interesting grip for a bullwhip. That is, in a “novelty” sort of way. I had never seen anything like it before. This prototype is built to the same standard as all of my 16 plait woody bullwhips, but with a Craftsman handle.
Guided Tour of the New Cowwhips.com
Cowwhips.com has a new look, new products, and a new way to order!
The first new tab you’ll notice on the navigation tab is the new online store. There you will find all of the nylon whips and other products that are available. Under the store tab you will find a FAQ page where I have attempted to post most of the common questions people ask me as well as a few hypothetical questions I think may arise from time to time.
As far as products, we have a few new additions to the site:
- The FCE stockwhip.
- 12 plait nylon bullwhips.
- Nylon Indiana Jones bullwhips.
- Paracord Survival Bracelets.
- Whip Basics DVDs.
- Whipmaking Kits.
- Rhett Kelley Whips t-shirts.
- Coreless Nylon Paracord
- How to Make Whips, by Ron Edwards
The 2nd tab is all “About,” there you will find a drop down that contains lots of information about myself and the business.
The 3rd tab is the Gallery. There you can find lots if pictures of whips I’ve made. I intend to keep this updated with new pictures on a regular basis.
The 4th is the Contact page. Please note the new business hours and email address.
The final tab is a link back to this blog.
And that’s about it for the tour. I hope it helps.
Rhett Kelley
Rhett Kelley Whips, LLC
Cowwhips.com Relaunch
Stop by and see the newly remodeled Cowwhips.com!
New look, new products, and new lower prices on standard 16 plait bullwhips!
Rhett
The FCE Stockwhip
I’m very happy to introduce my newest line of nylon whips. It is the very affordable “FCE stockwhip.” FCE stands for “fast, cheap, and easy,” a name coined by my wife and I while out for lunch recently. The FCE was developed out of a desire to offer a simple, high quality, nylon whip at price low enough that even those on a very tight budget could afford it.
Why the name “Fast, Cheap, and Easy?”
FAST: With its 4ft thong and 20″ fiberglass handle, these whips are fast. Not only that, the FCE whips are fast to make. By using a fiberglass handle with a non-slip rubber grip, it reduces the amount of time it takes for me to make the whip and enables me to get them out more quickly.
CHEAP: At a base price of just $87.00, these whips are among the cheapest professionally made nylon stockwhips on the market. And although the FCE is priced cheap, it’s not cheaply made. Unlike a certain popular line of low priced whips from New Zealand, the thong of the FCE are handmade [by yours truly] to the same standards as my regular stockwhips -and cost less than the competition to boot. No machine woven nylon rope here!
EASY: Easy to crack, easy to make! These little whips really crack nicely. It takes little effort to get a very nice crack out of them. With the 2 major customization options being the handle colors and the length, the whips are easier for me to make than some of my other more customized whip designs.
Options:
The basic $87.00 FCE whip is 4ft long with choice of handle and the keeper and thong in solid black. The main option for customizing the FCE is handle color. Handles are available in orange, blue, purple, pink, and green. Add $10/ft for thongs longer than 4ft. Other customizations will be handled on an individual basis with prices to be determined during the ordering process.
To order, visit my contact page.
Taipan’s Review of My Whipmaking DVDs
For years, “Taipan” of DallasDogSled.com has maintained one of the only cow whip tutorials on the web. I have referred countless people to his site for
information on making whips and it has been a help to many. Recently Taipan got a copy of my Florida Cow Whip Tutorial DVDs. The following is his assessment of my production:
Supersonic Synthetics
A review of Rhett’s Cow Whip tutorial
Tony Layzell’s review of Rhett’s Cow Whip tutorial says “If your looking to improve your current whip making ability, looking to make a whip for the first time or like me just a collector then click the banner, visit Rhett and buy the DVD set off him, I can’t recommend them high enough, a really comprehensive, educational, value for money purchase I think…..”
I cannot agree more. I have watched the DVD’s more than a couple of times and want to add my recommendation that any aspiring whip maker get this DVD to put in their toolbox.
He starts off the DVD talking a bit about the history of the Cow Whip and even a bit about the Cow Cavalry which brought a smile to this old troopers face. I can never get enough history so I would have liked to have seen a bit more but I am happy that he put me on the track to learn more about the ancestry and use of the Cow Whip. It is fun to know that you are making your own version of what was probably the first kind of whip ever to reach the American continent.
I was a bit disappointed with the production value of the DVD. Rhett has talked about the difficulty he experienced with producing the DVD and I certainly would have done no better. That said, making a video is much like making a whip. Function first and the video does a great job of teaching how to make a whip. The lighting is good enough so that, usually, the details are easy to see. Focus was sometimes a problem but it is not even enough of one to require more than a couple of rewinds.
The audio is good and Rhett has a pleasant voice that is easy to understand. There is a bit of background echo since he was not in a sound studio but it is not a distraction. Okay, the birds had their say about the process but I have birds too and they can be heard in the background of most of the videos I have made.
Rhett repeatedly says that “Whatever works for you” and “If it works for you” that is the way to do it and this video shows his way. I have my way and you will have your way to do things. When we learn from one another it is more tools in the toolbox and I am very appreciative of learning from one of the best whip makers there is.
Learning to plait is an individual skill that is not really covered in this presentation. He shows how he does it without going into detail. Watching his hands fly is a joy to see.
He covers his method of dropping strands very well and I am going to try his method next time I sit down at my vice to make a new whip. He hangs his whip from a door jam and plaits “from the hook” in the way of the old timers. I am not that good so to prevent my whips from looking like a candy cane I need the crutch of the vice.
I was thrilled with the way he made his tapering twist. I will probably still call it the twisted fall without meaning any disrespect to him. I will try this method too since I have always hated the necessity of using what he called “Machines and different do-dads”. His method is so much easier than the way I had been doing it. I hope my hands are strong enough to complete the process.
I will probably not tie off the end of the whip as he does but knowing the process is a huge help when it comes time to replace the fall on an well used whip. I have some that are going on 10 years old including the old “Garden Hose” whip. One day I will need to make a repair and this is yet another great tool in the box.
Speaking of extras he spent a good bit of time explaining how to splice in a strand. This is a great part of the DVD which I rewound more than once to 14:23. He even dropped a stitch at 17 minutes and I have done that more times that I can count. It was great that he showed how to recognize and correct that common problem in whip making.
The use of the lacing needle is an important part of making what he calls Synthetic and Supersonic and which I am going to steal for the title of this review. His way seems quick and easy but again I am still going to cut my strands at an angle with a hot knife to thread my needles. “If it works for you” that is the way to do it.
As for the wax, again I think he has convinced me that it is worth the effort so I am going to give it another try. I was not happy with the result the first couple of times I did it early on in my whip making so I quit. I will have to report later on the result.
His handle is beautiful. Mine never look so good and my method is somewhat dangerous if not downright crazy. I do like the shape he has made and his method of finishing it has changed my mind completely on the way I will do things in the future. This alone was worth the price of the DVD just in savings of money spent at Home Depot.
In conclusion, do yourself a big favor and buy the DVD. You will save enough time and money to recoup the investment many times over. That said this not the most important thing you will gain from this DVD. Most aspiring whip makers fail and quit. There are half finished whips balled up and put in storage all over Texas for sure and surly more across the country and even world. Rhett’s presentation teaches you to relax and make creating your own Supersonic Synthetic fun and not a chore. Put Ben Dehart’s song “Cow Hunter Dreams” on in the stereo and enjoy what you are creating.
Mark
If you would like to purchase a copy for the discounted price of $67.00, please email me at rhettswhips @ Yahoo.com
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Synthetic and Supersonic 