Whip making is the highest refinement of the art of leather braiding. The craft was mastered in England centuries ago and was carried to Australia by whip makers who were familiar with the lashes used on finely braided carriage whips. Australian whip makers began using Kangaroo instead of cowhide. Kangaroo, one of the finest leathers available for braiding provides material for high quality work. The “fall” is also an Australian technique which is an addition to the lash which takes the abuse away from the point of the lash and is replaceable.

 
From deciding the length and weight (thickness) of the finished whip to constructing the belly to carefully cutting the strands and bolsters using a micrometer to measure the strand width, numerous hours are involved in making a custom whip before the actual braiding begins. After several hours of braiding is completed a fall is made and attached to the lash with a special knot and a “cracker” is tied to the fall. The final step is a Turk’s Head knot tied over the beginning of the braid to cover the irregular area and provide decoration. I always use black kangaroo for this knot as a trademark.
Repair of English style lashes usually involves repairing the “eye” on the point of the lash being cracked off of the end. The best repair is to add a fall to these lashes which can be replaced.
The goal of all case and whip repairs is to make the repair fit the original construction so that it blends as much as possible to hide the repair.

 
All of our whip stocks are made from local materials such as bamboo from Caroland Farm, white oak cut locally, and iron wood and hickory from Three Springs Farm woodlands. Horn hooks are all local white tail deer antlers. All leather is either latigo tanned cowhide or kangaroo.

Some of the stocks we have available are rebuilt or restored antique whip stocks.