SSC News, Conditioning a Whip, Seminar
Posted by James Maxwell on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Seattle Trip 7/22/10-7/26/10
Took some time to head to Seattle for a boat show. While there got some whip cracking done, went to the David Morgan shop and spent a few minutes with Louie Foxx.
That is the girlfriend on the hook at Morgan's Shop ably assisted by David's grandson Alex and his apprentice Meagan Baldwin cutting some hide. We saw how the Morgan whip was made and got to ask a lot of questions about the American pattern bullwhip. David was a pleasure to talk to and he once again cracked all of my whips.
How the Morgan whip is made. By hand in his own shop. The craftsmanship was a pleasure to watch. Thanks to Alex, David, Will, Meagan and all those at the shop for their hospitality. We hope to see you again soon!
Whip maker and magician Louie Foxx doing some whip cracking. Louie has made a few of my whips over the years and each time I see him the whips get better and better! I also handled my first Joe Strain and I'll tell you that's a right cracking good whip! You can see more pictures and video from our visit HERE
Cracking the DeLongis in Gas Works Park, my favorite place in the world to play with bullwhips. Here you can really see how much more training this whip needs! The stiffened transition is retarding the formation of the rolling loop. Still a wonderful whip and a dream come true for me.
Conditioning a Whip
I have developed a system for conditioning my whips and thought I would share it with you all. I condition my whips as needed, something that for me has come with time and experience of how they all feel at different levels of conditioning and dryness as well has handling other peoples whips to see how they feel. There are two main things to condition on a whip, the thong and the fall. The knots are not conditioned and the handle can be conditioned with the natural oils in your hand. I only use Pecards Leather Dressing for my whips and a 9 oz. tub will last quite a long time. I start with the top of the fall and work my way down. I get a dab of dressing half the size of my little fingernail on the whip and start working it down in a stroking motion towards the popper. Your hand should get a bit warm from the friction as you work the dressing in. I add a new dab about every five inches and work it in the same way, always going over again where I've been. Once the whole fall has a good tackiness to it I begin to work on the thong.
Here is where things get personal. I discovered after working on my falls I had a nice sheen of Pecards all over my hands. I used to just wipe it off but now I go to the thong and leave a very thin film of it along the length.
I use a twisting and kneading motion to work the very small amount of dressing into the whip. If you need to add some, do so but it's only a dab. I start at the keeper knot DON'T CONDITION THE KEEPER!!! and work my way up towards the handle. When done the majority of the whip should feel a bit greasy and tacky. At this point I put the whip up with the fall dangling free to spend a night. I like the whip to be laying down, not hung. If you have the space you can hang it from its wrist loop. In the morning I take a rag and pull the whip through a closed fist to buff the whip to a nice shine and get a good clean.
Whip Seminar
I've spoken to Steve and I can hold off on final registration until mid September. So the new cutoff date will be August 15th to make sure you have a whip for the seminar.
Took some time to head to Seattle for a boat show. While there got some whip cracking done, went to the David Morgan shop and spent a few minutes with Louie Foxx.
That is the girlfriend on the hook at Morgan's Shop ably assisted by David's grandson Alex and his apprentice Meagan Baldwin cutting some hide. We saw how the Morgan whip was made and got to ask a lot of questions about the American pattern bullwhip. David was a pleasure to talk to and he once again cracked all of my whips.
How the Morgan whip is made. By hand in his own shop. The craftsmanship was a pleasure to watch. Thanks to Alex, David, Will, Meagan and all those at the shop for their hospitality. We hope to see you again soon!
Whip maker and magician Louie Foxx doing some whip cracking. Louie has made a few of my whips over the years and each time I see him the whips get better and better! I also handled my first Joe Strain and I'll tell you that's a right cracking good whip! You can see more pictures and video from our visit HERE
Cracking the DeLongis in Gas Works Park, my favorite place in the world to play with bullwhips. Here you can really see how much more training this whip needs! The stiffened transition is retarding the formation of the rolling loop. Still a wonderful whip and a dream come true for me.
Conditioning a Whip
I have developed a system for conditioning my whips and thought I would share it with you all. I condition my whips as needed, something that for me has come with time and experience of how they all feel at different levels of conditioning and dryness as well has handling other peoples whips to see how they feel. There are two main things to condition on a whip, the thong and the fall. The knots are not conditioned and the handle can be conditioned with the natural oils in your hand. I only use Pecards Leather Dressing for my whips and a 9 oz. tub will last quite a long time. I start with the top of the fall and work my way down. I get a dab of dressing half the size of my little fingernail on the whip and start working it down in a stroking motion towards the popper. Your hand should get a bit warm from the friction as you work the dressing in. I add a new dab about every five inches and work it in the same way, always going over again where I've been. Once the whole fall has a good tackiness to it I begin to work on the thong.
Here is where things get personal. I discovered after working on my falls I had a nice sheen of Pecards all over my hands. I used to just wipe it off but now I go to the thong and leave a very thin film of it along the length.
I use a twisting and kneading motion to work the very small amount of dressing into the whip. If you need to add some, do so but it's only a dab. I start at the keeper knot DON'T CONDITION THE KEEPER!!! and work my way up towards the handle. When done the majority of the whip should feel a bit greasy and tacky. At this point I put the whip up with the fall dangling free to spend a night. I like the whip to be laying down, not hung. If you have the space you can hang it from its wrist loop. In the morning I take a rag and pull the whip through a closed fist to buff the whip to a nice shine and get a good clean.
Whip Seminar
I've spoken to Steve and I can hold off on final registration until mid September. So the new cutoff date will be August 15th to make sure you have a whip for the seminar.
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