I spent most of the last week and a half trying to learn how to cut lace. I’ve watched dozens of videos by Bernie Wojcicke and Bill Nones and other whip makers, and read books by Ron Edwards, David Morgan, and Bruce Grant, and I must say that those guys make it look and sound so easy.

It’s not.

In my hubris I tried cutting strands for a 6 foot stock whip first thing and I’ve been re-cutting those strands into smaller, shorter strands all last week and this to make bracelets, just so I didn’t waste the leather.  And to practice cutting lace.

Last night I worked up my courage and tried cutting longer strands again, this time 8 foot, 4mm wide lace for a quirt. It came out OK, not perfect yet, but OK.

Tools: bottom right-aussie lace cutter,

bottom middle and left- skiver and beveler

middle-splitter

Top-strand resizer and beveler

Veg tanned drum stuffed full side (cow hide, not kangaroo, yet)

Bracelets made from the first screwed up laces

4 mm wide, 8 ft long lace and core for the quirt

Finished quirt (from a design by Bruce Grant). I used 3 8 ft, 4mm strands, middled them and wove the handle using a 3 strand hair braid, folded it over and then used the combined 6 strands to make a 6-strand round braid around the core and then back-braided to produce the doubled-up diamond braid.  The lash is doubled 28 inch, 6mm wide strap. (In the plans, Mr. Grant does the back braid utilizing a short herringbone pattern, but I screwed up the start and didn’t want to redo it so mine is a diamond pattern.) The heel knot is a 7×6 Turk’s Head. The quirt was shellacked and then rubbed down with Aussie leather conditioner.