Making a Cow Whip

Revised: April 9, 2007

©DallasDogsled.com 2004-2007  

 

First take a cow and put her in the blender.  No that is a cow shake.  Wait a sec. 

Oh yes, now I remember.

Actually the term Cow Whip is a bit of a misnomer since most definitions agree that a cow whip is a long whip, between 7 and 12 feet, that is designed to be used from the back of a horse.  Some of my whips are long but most are between 4 and 6 foot.  The design of my whips more resembles the much shorter Dog Sled Whip -  a cross between the Florida Cow Whip or Florida Stock Whip, and a Dog Sled Whip. Thus the name of the website.  DallasDogsled dot com. 

	A couple of notes:  •   You are hereby cautioned that whip cracking is a calculated risk sport and contains inherent risks and dangers (including serious injury, disfigurement or dismemberment), that no amount of care, caution, instruction, or expertise can eliminate.  All due regard shall be taken for common safety and eye protection shall be worn anytime you have a whip in your hand.  Anyone using a whip must be aware of the scope, nature, and extent of the risks involved in whip cracking.  Ouch is the sound of learning to be sure but take precautions to limit damage to that which does not require professional repairs.  Please read the whip safety page by clicking the CAUTION image above before heading out to crack your whip.

•   Most of the pictures link to a larger version.  

This page is ©DallasDogsled.com 2003-2007.  Artistic techniques remain the property of DallasDogsled.com and the owner retains copyright.

 

The Florida Stock Whip or Cow Whip is the tool of the Florida cowboy.  The Florida Crackers, or cowboys have used their  long leather whips to help drive their cattle for five hundred years.  The long whips were considered to be unique to Florida, where cattle often drift off into the tangles and woods.  The Florida stock whip is normally used in herding cattle from the back of a Marsh Tackie or Cracker horse.  It is common for a Florida Cracker to use a whip 12 feet long and sometimes longer.   The unique "tie on" design is intended to increase durability and reliability when a thong may have needed to dry out for a time.  

In the 1970's thongs made from nylon paracord began to replace the leather cow whips.  This innovation gave the cattlemen of Florida a worry free whip to use in the swamps and  during the often wet weather conditions in which they had to work their cattle.   For sport whip crackers,  it allows us to practice in the damp grass of early morning when those expensive kangaroo whips have to stay safely inside and unused.  Many say that it cant match the speed and accuracy of a kangaroo whip but at the Dallas Whip Enthusiasts Whip Weekend IV it was raining.  This whip won a medal in the speed and accuracy event. The "Garden Hose" (The one Charlie is holding) and "Wild Grape" have won their share but in the hands of others, not me.

The Dog Sled Whip pictured has a lot in common, at least in construction, with the Florida Stock Whip except that it is much shorter and lighter and like the "signal whip" is designed, not to strike, but to signal the team.  I measure my whips from the beginning of the plaited thong to the end of the twisted fall and most of my whips are between 4 and 5 feet in length.  Short enough to allow you to practice in a room with a moderately high ceiling and long enough to let the lead dog know you are back there.

 

A modification of the dogsled whip is the martial arts flexable weapon with Delrin Handle. This is the only type whip I have been making for the past year or so. Thedifference is that the core is often a bit heavier and the strands are dropped by threading into an adjacent strand rather than tucking. Artistic technique©DallasDogsled.com.

 

The Dog Sled Whip pictured has a lot in common, at least in construction, with the Florida Stock Whip except that it is much shorter and lighter and like the "signal whip" is designed, not to strike, but to signal the team.  I measure my whips from the beginning of the plaited thong to the end of the twisted fall and most of my whips are between 4 and 5 feet in length.  Short enough to allow you to practice in a room with a moderately high ceiling and long enough to let the lead dog know you are back there.

You will want something sturdy to work from.   All of mine are made from a saddle for no good reason other than I like having all these nice places to tie things off.   To start the whip you may want to use something substantial for the belly to go over.  

What I have been doing lately is to thread some beaded chain though paracord.  It is not all that hard to do and you can do it with either a lacing needle or just florists wire. The result is a flexable weight in the core that goes nealy all the way to the fall.   This one shows the core of the whip as I have been making them lately.  It is a bead chain pulled through paracord and doubled over to form the core. Once it is folded it is wraped with 3M Vetrap.  For the short whips, I am making the core about 24 inches long so I run chain through a 3 foot section and fold it over so it is 12 inches and 24 inches.  This helps create the taper.  

 

 

Click on the image above to get a larger version then download it. It is large and there is much detail you will not be able to easily see in the browser.  

I generally put the core over a tie down strand.  I feed 6 inches of paracord in the center of a fathom to reinforce the tie down.  If you want a snake whip you may want to use a brass ring.  I fold the core in thirds.  For example a 3 foot core would be 12 and 24 inches.  I overplait that with 6 or 8 plait depending on what I am making.  in the case of a dogsled whip that would be 6 plait.   

 

Start01 shows the beginning of the final 12 plait overlay.     Look at the pictures Start02 through Start08 in order and I think you will see what is happening here.  Stretch out 3 strands and put the middle of them in the tie down thong.  This is shown using the three red strands.  Next take another three strands and place them through the tie down thong as shown.  Take the top red strand and pass it behind the whip and under the top three red strands going to the left and over the bottom white strands going to the right. I generally go under 4 and over two rather than the under 3 over three shown for this illustration.

Start02 shows how this looks when done and the next step which is to take the top red strand on the left and pass it behind the whip under the three top strands on the right and over the bottom three strands on the right.

 

Hint:  - I had a lot of trouble with the plait twisting around the whip in a spiral until Sebastian suggested putting the whip in a vice.  Guess what?  Nice straight plait now.   I generally do my first drop at about the midpoint where the double core chain becomes a single.  

Click on the image above to get a larger version then download it. It is large and there is much detail you will not be able to easily see in the browser.

Tucking strands is a matter of taste. The smoothest way is to turn the whip over and tuck the top strand into the plait on the belly then turn it over and tuck it again. A stronger way is to tuck one strand inside another and continue to plait.

 

After you have worked your way down the thong until you have 4 strands coming out of a 4 plait.  Use a lacing needle and place the one at the top right inside the one on the bottom right.  run the needle down inside the lace a as far as you want the 4 plait to last (about 2 inches or so).  Poke it back outside the lace, cut it then pull it back inside.   I used to burn it but cant see that it really helps much.  Repeat this on the other side - this time running the needle down the lace as far as you want the 3 plait to last (about 6 inches).  

Screw the end of one strand into the end of the lacing needle.  You have to cut the strand at a bit of an angle and heat it with a lighter to get it to melt a bit.  A better way is to heat a knife and use it to cut the paracord at an angle.

Screw the lacing needle onto the strand immediately while it is still a bit soft - don’t burn your fingers.  If there is any rough spots of melted nylon cut them off.  Poke the lacing needle all the way through the adjacent paracord.   It is a bit easier if you use an awl to poke a hole half way through so you can put one cord inside the other.  Run it down about 10 inches or so then push it back out and cut it off - do the same to the other side but this time 12 or 13 inches. The result should look like the photograph shown Artistic technique©DallasDogsled.com and the series you will see if you click this photo.

Spin these up these two tapering strands and clamp them together.  Now we change the procedure again.  I run the needle all the way through one way then put a needle on the other strand and run the other end all the way through.  Artistic technique©DallasDogsled.com

 

I have heard this called a Mexican Braid and you see it on saddles and other horse tack.  I have also found it useful for making crackers but that will come later.  Then put the shorter strand inside the other strand of the fall and cut it off and pull it inside.   I used put a couple of stitches in it too but the new procedure makes that unnecessary.   Still the inside strand may work its way out so you may want to put a small stitch in it or add a bit of glue.  This results in a whip with no knot at the end with a very smooth constant taper.  (Hint:  you need to taper and sharpen the lacing needle a bit.  I put mine in a drill and used a file on it then smoothed it with a very fine grit sandpaper then polished it with Scotchbright.)

I rarely wax the core - I almost never wax the outer plait of the whip.  I have found that waxing will cause the strands to weaken quite a bit.  They stay cleaner this way but the strength is compromised. There has been a lot of discussion about waxing and more than a couple of accidents and fires.  Put the paraffin in a double boiler.  If you don't have one, just use a big pot and a coffee can.  Boil the water in the pot and the wax will melt.  I just hold the strands and dunk it then bring it out to dry on a bit of wax paper or aluminum foil.  If you get it too hot it will weaken the paracord.  Be careful here.

I used an antique rope machine to spin the ends but I also put a couple of pictures on the site about how to make a machine of your own to spin up the end of the whip.  Now I use the Bradshaw Rope Machine. Tie the two strands to the two hooks on the machine and tie the other end of the whip to the sled.  I have a coffee can full of concrete. tht I tie to the sled to keep the tension on the whip (my sled is a bit cobbled together - one of these days I might make a nice one).   Be sure to practice this a few times before doing it on a good whip you just worked 2 days making.  If you have a nice sled monkey you can turn both the machine and sled handles easily but if you are by yourself you will have to go back and forth between the two.  Resist the temptation to make it too tight.  

Next comes making the handle.  If you want the best just get Josh to make one for you.  He does wonderful work.  Otherwise, you really need a lathe for this but you can hack out a strong oak clothes rod with a drill and a pocket knife.  Here is where an angle grinder with course sandpaper comes in handy too.  You can get one at Big Lots for 20 bucks.   If you don't have a lathe put an oak clothes rod from Home Depot or Lowe's in a vice and use the grinder to shape it.  You can also use the grinder in conjunction with a crank to make an inexpensive lathe wannabe.  Once the handle is turned, drill the hole in the end.  It helps if you use that grinder to taper your spade bit a little so that the thong fits. 

 

If you have a lathe, never use the angle grinder to speed up the process like I do.  Certainly you don't want to get the chain saw attachment for your angle grinder.  (Lancelot & Squire Wood Carving Discs from www.woodcraft.com ).  I like 12 inch handles for the short whips and generally either 14 or 16 inch handles for the longer ones.  Artistic technique©DallasDogsled.com.  If you happen to have a drill press you can get that socket drilled just right otherwise you are probably going to be off a little bit.  I like to have the thong fit the handle tight but different folks like different feels here.  I recommend that you leave as much wood as possible because there is a pretty good bit of stress involved.  

A single hole to pull the tie off stands through as opposed to dual holes reduces the weakening a bit too but it also allows the whip thong to turn a bit more.   Stain and varnish as desired.  I use a marine spar varnish and put on several coats.  I recommend that you use a foam brush, let harden, then rub it down with a Scotchbrite pad and add another coat.  Repeat till satisfied.  

Tie on the cracker of your choice and you are ready to go.  We will wait for the 101 illustrated ways to tie on a cracker by Sebastian for more on how to do that. 

But how do you make a cracker?  I have tried a good number of ways to make crackers but the best that I have found thus far is to triple the length of the cracker that you want ( say 2 foot) and half the amount of material. (if you want a cracker with 12 strands of thread make it 6). Put one end of this 2 foot length in a vise then wrap a couple of inches of the other end around a bent coat hanger in your drill. When you bend it hold it there with your fingers. (hint: you are going to have to file down the coat hanger to make it a smooth cut) Spin it up till the drill moves about 4 inches. Unhook it and hold the end. Put the drill in the middle of what you made and reverse the direction and go again. Very fast very easy and so far works with about anything I have tried. I do waxed thread, poly rope, poly binders, nylon thread, Kevlar, you name it. They all have their places. Poly is the best for a nice sharp clean crack but they don't last as long as Kevlar when you are hitting targets.  Note that Kevlar will also cut your whip if you are not careful. 

Read the safety page again.   Hope this helps some.  As I find new tips and tricks - I will add them.

Any ideas, suggestions or hints that you may care to share are gratefully accepted.  Specific designs and artistic techniques are free to you to use for individual non commercial purposes but I retain the copyright on my artistic product.  In other words I ask please that you don't make your whips just like mine and sell them.  I am particularly sensitive about the fall tuck design and handle designs.©DallasDogsled.com This picture shows some of my cow whips hanging over the door.Taipan taipan@dallasdogsled.com©DallasDogsled.com 2003-2007 Artistic techniques remain the property of DallasDogsled.com and the owner retains copyright www.dallasdogsled.com