Because of my father’s work in the field of whips — which included writing the book Whips and Whipmaking — I occasionally field general queries regarding whips.

A few weeks ago I took a call from a Mr. Patt Patterson of Missouri who asked me if I knew anything about stage coach whips. He was writing a book on them.  I told him no, nothing past what was in my father’s book. I offered to check David’s list of whips, I checked and found Dad had a couple of stage coach whips in his collection so I said I’d clean them up for him and send him photographs.

A few days later I took a call from Jimmy Wilson in Texas who was looking for someone to clean up and put new falls on his wife’s whips. His wife had been a Wild West arts performer in the fifties and sixties. Jimmy mentioned that, by the way, he ran a business building stagecoaches, see J Wilson Stage Coaches.

I introduced Patt and Jimmy by email and Patt is now busy fixing up the whips and has gained a friend in the world of stage coaches.

After receiving the performer whips, Patt mentioned that some of the whips were made by the J.M. Bucheimer Co.  I found a Bucheimer catalog or three in David’s files that dated from the mid-sixties, when they were in Frederick Maryland. Included with the catalogs was correspondence from David where he mentioned that he was interested in buying the Drovers and Performers whips.  He then bought a couple and responded they were advertised as 12 plait but arrived as 10 plait.  Later Bucheimer catalogs described the whips as 10 plait.  In 1967 the performer whips cost from $10.60 to $31.00 depending on their length, with extra long lengths available on special request.

The stage coach whips in David’s collection were labeled and measure as follows:

No. 94 Stagecoach Whip, Bert Hill, 1960s.  He had made coach whips for Cobb & Co.  11′ thong 6 plait dropped to 4. 12 plait. Covered handle is about 54″.

( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_%26_Co  )

No. 95 Stagecoach Whip Bert Hill, 1960s.  9′ thong 6 plait dropped to 4. 12 plait covered handle is about 53″. (No photo.)

No. 98

Useless Thong by DWM on a Lungewhip handle by Millowick. Thong lacks weight in the belly. Handle is a bit under 50 inches.

It appears David had made an attempt at copying the stagecoach whip thong and failed.  Thankfully David kept on trying his hand making hundreds of functional whips albeit not for stagecoaches.

Our best wishes to Patt and Jimmy’s respective and collective endeavors!

Will Morgan

Enjoy a few more photos below:

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If a fall has broken to shorter than 12-18 inches, it needs replacing. If it has stretched, it should be replaced when it has become noticeably thinner than the end of the thong. Red hide falls tend more to hold their shape, but break off. White hide falls tend to stretch more but break off more slowly. The kangaroo strands adjacent to the fall may eventually break because of the sharp flexing at this point. The fall should be replaced as soon as the first of these strands breaks.

Fall Replacement Method 1 

If none of the braided strands adjacent to the fall are broken, the old fall may be removed without undoing the hitches.

To do this, attach the main body of the whip to a hook or some other secure anchor, then trim the end of the new fall to a point. Put the eye of the new fall over the old fall and the end of the thong. Grease the new fall with braiding soap or Pecard Leather Dressing.

To remove the old fall, put a fid through the eye of the old fall (between the fall and the braid). Using a sharp knife, cut the fall against the fid, taking care not to cut the braid. Pull the old fall out of the hitches.

Feed the point of the new fall through the tunnel left by the old fall. Pull the new fall into place while holding the strand of the final hitch. Put this strand through the eye of the new fall as it is pulled into place. The result should appear as shown below. 

Fall Replacement Method 2

If the strands of the braid next to the fall are broken or badly worn, the hitches and part of the thong must be undone until the shortest strand of the loose ends is about four inches long.

Place the end of the thong through the eye of the new fall as shown below and grease the strands with braiding soap or Pecard Leather Dressing.  

With the top strand on the left, tie a half-hitch around the fall and the other strands in the direction shown and pull tight. (With short strands use pliers to pull the strands tight.)

  Move the remaining strands to the left, leaving any core strands against the fall. Fold the end of the first strand down and hold it against the fall. Taking a second strand pull it tight and tie a second half hitch in the same manner as the first.  

Continue on with the remaining strands of the braid, but after the final strand is hitched, put the end of the strand up and under the eye of the fall.  

Tighten all strands again in sequence from the first to the last, pull the fall securely into place, and then trim the ends of the strands to a uniform length.

Attach a cracker.

Lastly, roll the attachment between two hard surfaces to make it smooth.

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Leather and Braiding Supplies

Attaching a Cracker

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When we receive our kangaroo leather, it is a light tan. Almost immediately the color begins to darken. In the two photos below, the two whips are placed on top of a piece of kangaroo leather that we received a few months ago. You can see in the image how light the skin is.

Compare the skin with the two whips. The lighter whip in the photographs is approximately one year old. The darker whip is approximately ten years old. Both have remained indoors and have not been directly exposed to sunlight.

Close up of two whip handles, ages (left to right) one year and ten years.

Two whips, ages one and ten years.

We strongly recommend that you do not try to prematurely age your skin. This is a natural substance and excessive trauma on the skin will weaken it. We all know what happens to our skin when we expose it to intense sunlight and heat

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Braided Leather Goods

Braiding and Leather Supplies

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Joe uses a Karaka whip from New Zealand to help desensitize Gucci to unexpected noises like firecracker and gun shot sounds that he will likely experience in the outdoors.

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Karaka Whips

The post Desensitize a Horse to Whip Cracking appeared first on David Morgan.

Watch as he demonstrates a brief multiple cracking routine with a pair of black six foot Karaka bullwhips.

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Karaka Whips

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If you still don’t want to do it yourself, you can have us do it for you.

The post Whip Fall and Cracker Replacement Video Now Available appeared first on David Morgan.

Leather falls also stretch and should be replaced when they have become noticeably thinner than the end of the thong. In addition, the kangaroo strands adjacent to the fall will, in time, break because of the sharp flexing at this point. The fall should be replaced as soon as the first strand breaks.

People often ask the difference between red and white falls. Neither one is better than the other. Red hide falls tend to hold their thickness but eventually break. On the other hand, white hide falls stretch more but need watching to prevent them from getting too thin.

We get many questions on how to replace a whip fall. For whips with the thong strands intact, it’s quite easy! If the strands of the whip are damaged, the process is a little harder, but you can do it with a little patience. Here is a link to the instructions at davidmorgan.com.

If you wish to have us change it for you, you can check out our service here.

Update:

We now have a video that demonstrates a whip fall replacement. Click on the YouTube Icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to see all of our videos.

The post How to Replace a Whip Fall appeared first on David Morgan.

In the first video, David explains the theory on trimming a kangaroo skin.

In the first paring video, David explains how and why to pare 4-strand round work.

In the second paring video, David explains how and why to pare 6-strand (and above) round work.

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Kangaroo Skins

Kangaroo Lace

The post Trimming Kangaroo Skin and Lace Paring Videos Now Available appeared first on David Morgan.

You can find our lace cutters here and our kangaroo skins here.

The post Lace Cutting Video Now Available appeared first on David Morgan.

00:00:55
All right. So, here’s your first question.

 

00:00:58
Since 1981,the David Morgan Company has crafted 38 kangaroo-hide bullwhips for the use of what Harrison Ford on-screen archeologist?

 

00:01:09
Um — oh, man,why am I blanking on this?

 

00:01:13
Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones.

 

00:01:16
Indiana Jones.

 

00:01:17
That’s it. We got our first.

It’s always fun to see a pop cultural reference to our company!

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Indiana Jones Whips

Whips and Whipmaking

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