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I wanted to try my hand at making a 3 foot Snakewhip. A snakewhip is apparently a Bullwhip without the handle. I'm following the instructions from Nicks Whip Shop videos #1 and #2
First thing I needed to do was obtain some 4.5mm BBs, which are used to add weight the core, which will make it easier to crack. I had a bunch of paracord from other projects.
The Core
I measured 4 ft of paracord and de-stranded it (took the string out of the middle of the cord). Next, tie a string around the paracord (at 1 foot + 3 inches + 1 extra inch) because adding BBs apparently shrinks the paracord by 3 inches per 1 foot, and you want 1 foot of BB-loaded paracord for the 3-feet core, plus an extra inch for trimming at the end.
Stuff 62 BBs into the paracord. Use a fork to help drag the BBs thru the paracord. Seal the end.
COGS: 62 BBs * $6/2500BBs = 15 cents
Cover the BB-loaded section plus an extra inch with 20 inches of electrical tape (to protect the BBs from getting wet).
COGS: 20 inches electric tape/12 inch per foot * $1/66 ft = 3 cents
Measure the paracord 3 feet plus 1 inch. Cut and fuse end. The core is ready
1st Belly (8-plait)
The first belly is made of 8 lengths of paracord (or more specifically, 4 lengths that you half). According to Nick, the lengths are
5.5 feet
5.5 feet
4 feet
2.5 feet (not long enough)
I have Green, Red and Black paracord. These will be inside, so it won't make any difference in appearance. Cut the cord, de-strand them, fuse the ends, fold in half and tie a knot in the cord at the half-way point. I tied the knot a little off-half (about 1 inch), so when the plaits drop out, they won't both be at the same point.
The smallest length needs to be a little longer than Nick indicates. I'll try 3 feet next time. It should drop out just as the BB section ends, but 2.5 feet isn't quite long enough.
Use some of the inner-strand-string to bind the tails of the plaits to the core.
COGS: 18 feet paracord * $7/100 ft = $1.26
Here are some progress pictures:
Wrap the first 6 inches with cloth/hockey/first aid tape. Then bind it with some de-strand string just past the tape. Down and back.
COGS: 6 inch firstaid tape * $4/720inches = 4 cents
Place the whip on the floor and, using a board, roll it to make it round and uniform.
First pass belly complete!
2nd Belly (10 plait)
10 lengths (5, folded in half)
8.5 feet
8.5 feet
6 feet
5 feet
3.25 feet
COGS: 31.25 feet paracord * $7/100 ft = $2.19
COGS: 6 inch firstaid tape * $4/720inches = 4 cents
Cut, de-strand, fuse, fold, plait, bind, roll.
Start
Middle
End
Add binding
2nd Belly - Finished
Overlay (16 plait)
16 lengths (8 folded in half)
11 feet
11 feet
10 feet
7.5 feet
6 feet
5 feet
3.5 feet
3 feet
COGS: 57 feet paracord * $7/100 ft = $4.00
Finally, the outer layer. 16 plait. I wanted it to be bold, so I'm using black and gold. This time I used some tape to hold the strands in place. Managing 16 different strands is a little difficult. I also cut the strands in half and then melted them together so there was a different color on both sides. That's so there would be 8 black strands on the left and 8 gold strands on the right. That' so, when I do the fancy plaiting, I can get designs to show up.
We invited a family over for pizza and just love them. Their children expressed interest in my very strange hobbies, and I think the parents enjoyed just being relaxed for a few minutes. I decided to make this snakewhip for their eldest son, who talked with me about Australian strander tools and plaiting and heel knot tying and he even took my 8 feet bullwhips outside for a few cracks.
I thought I'd plait his last name into the beginning area (since Snakewhips don't have handles).
I used whipinfo.com/faceplait to generate a plaiting pattern. It turned out OK.
More plaiting.
Finally, I can attach the fall. I went to a Big-Box construction store to find a very small diameter brass rod, but was unsuccessful. Then I went to Ace, and found just what I needed. I cut it to my desired length, forced a screw into the end (to create way to thread the paracord into the end, and made myself a threading needle. You can see it 'underlining' the last name in the above picture. With that, I created a 2-feet paracord fall and attached it to the snakewhip.
Roll the whip.
Attach fall
1st knot
2nd knot
Finished fall attached
Heel knot Foundation
I need 22 mm of base foundation to support the heel knot. Plus, I need to chop off the beginning of the snakewhip where all the cords started (and look ugly!)
I used about 3 feet of waxed dental floss, and 10 inches of first aid tape. I used a couple inches of leather that I had around. I attached a US quarter to the heel using some hot glue. I also used some staples to help hold the leather to the whip; that's to help keep the heel knot from slipping off when you crack the whip.
COGS: 10 inch firstaid tape * $4/720inches = 6 cents
COGS: 1 yard floss * $1/100 yards = 1 cent
COGS: 1 quarter = 25 cents
Bind the base
Tape the base
Cut leather for base
Cut off ugly beginning
Discard the dregs
Staple and bind
Tape, hot glue quarter to end
Heel Knot
I used 6 feet of Gold paracord to make the foundation knot. A 2-pass 6 x 7 Turks head.
Start the Turks head knot
1st pass
2nd pass
I made 4 crackers in gold mason string, to match the snakewhip colors. Here's the finished product!
I took it out on the patio and gave it a few cracks. Not as easy to use as a bullwhip, but you could easily put this in a backpack and take it with you. My 2nd snakewhip is made of leather.
Footnote: Just for fun, here's the plaiting pattern I used.
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