25/01/2009 by Paul Carpenter.

Well I had to go and try this three colours method after having seen it on various other whips. Not too sure if the colours match but the wife likes it, so I guess it must be OK.

Used similar knots as on most whips except the end knot being a heel knot, enabling me to use all three colours. The braid on the handle is something called ‘birds eye plait’ and the strap is braided in a L - o1,u2,o1 R - o2, u1 fashion.

 The next experiment is something unusual for me. A few people have asked if the fall and cracker could be eliminated at the end of the whip. I have figured that this can be done by ending the whip in a loop in a similar fashion to how ropes are spliced but will have to try it to see how it can work. The loop will then enable either a cracker or lace to be attached.

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21/01/2009 by Paul Carpenter.

I’ve been making whips now for about a year and am still constantly learning new techniques to make then better. To start with the idea was to gain experience with cowhide before moving onto using kangaroo, but the more I used cowhide the more I felt comfortable manipulating it the way needed to make a good whip.

Not only that but I do like to experiment with different colours and styles of braiding. To do this with kangaroo would cost a fortune.

This present whip is a typical example. I have started to include straps on the whip which also meant that I used different knots which I was planning to do because I did think that the previous one’s were too large. Also I  now finish the whip with 6 strings rather then 8 and use a narrower fall developing a smaller knot which some people had commented on.

For my next whip I am going to use three different colours and look forward to seeing how that turns out.

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18/01/2009 by Paul Carpenter.

Here’s a tutotial detailing how to make a braided dog collar - made this for some one wanting to know how he could make his own. Dog collar tutorial

Have also included some details about lace making and preperation. It is very heavy on the photo side and is 6mb in size.

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16/01/2009 by Paul Carpenter.

Finally got this finished, has only been in the pipe line for about 6 months.

30 inch fully leather carved shield with 4 separate scenes. Originally there was only going to be one scene but that made putting a boss in almost impossible and I’d have to say that it looks better with one included.

The leather is laid on 12mm plywood and the edge is rawhide laced onto the shield with thick cow rawhide lace. All together it weighs a ton and could’nt see me being the one to carry it into battle! I’ll leave that to the pro’s.

The pro’s being members of the glasgow vikings and one in particular who has written three great books about a certain group of vikings called the Oathsworn. Best books I’ve had the privilege to read in a long while - Robert Low.

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