It looks cool and saves a tool



Preparation

Proper preparation of the thread will aid any whip finish dramatically.

- Make a smooth and hard head as a foundation. The whipfinish will not add much volume if done properly.

- Make sure that enough thread is out of the bobbin holder to accept some fairly 'wild' motions of the fingers.

- Proper preparation of the thread will aid any whip finish dramatically.- Make a smooth and hard head as a foundation. The whipfinish will not add much volume if done properly.- Make sure that enough thread is out of the bobbin holder to accept some fairly 'wild' motions of the fingers. Untwist the thread and flatten it by spinning the bobbin holder and running two fingers down the thread pressing it flat.

Whip finishing without a tool is not at all difficult. Lots of people use and praise the whip finishing tool which comes in many variations. I have personally never used one, and hence totally fail to see the advantages in using a tool for something that can be done by hand - faster and with better results in my opinion.

The advantage of the hands is foremost that they are always available. I personally feel that I have better control over the process, and the hands can be used to control material near the knot as well as the thread. They are just nearby anyway.



Describing in the process in words is quite difficult and it is much more time consuming to read than to do. The best way is of course learning from someone else, but I hope these pictures and this text can help.

















[A] Pull the thread downwards and expose a fairly long piece out of the bobbin holder

[B] Form a V-sign with the index and middle finger of the right hand and turn the hand with the back facing yourself. The index finger is now lowest.

[C] Place the tip of the extended index and middle fingers on your own side of the thread and press a bit. (1)

[D] While constantly pressing and holding the thread tight, twist your hand 'forwards' or clockwise while keeping the thread on the two fingers.

[E] While rotating the hand you need to follow the thread on the index finger upwards with the bobbin holder to a horizontal position. (2)

[F] If properly done this will leave you with the palm of the hand facing yourself and the thread going from the bobbin holder along the hook shank to your index finger, down to your middle finger and up to the hook. The thread forms a cross and a triangle. (3)

[G] Now you need to slowly rotate the hand back again - meaning 'towards' yourself or counterclockwise - letting the thread slip against your fingers. What we want is that the fingers switch position but the thread remains as it is. (4)

[H] The next step is the first turn of the actual whipfinish knot. Guide the vertical strand of the thread over the horizontal strand and the hook shank. (5) This will lock down the horizontal thread against the shank. (6)

[I] When winding the thread a full turn over the hook shank, you need to let the thread slip on your fingers without loosing it. Do this by turning the hand back counterclockwise in one contious motion while you lay the thread over the shank, bringing the hand back to the starting position shown in (5).

[J] The result is seen in (7). The process is far more diffcult to describe than to do.

[K] Now repeat the twisting, slipping motion of the two fingers several times, each time adding a turn of thread over the hook shank and the horizontal thread going to the bobbin holder. (8)

[L] Each turn of thread must be laid in front of the previous

[M] When sufficient turns have been made - that's typically 3-5 - you pull down the thread with the middle finger and pull your index finger out of the loop

[N] Now you press your index finger against the back of the hook, holding the thread.

[O] When you let go of the thread with the middle a loop will form under the hook shank. (9)

[P] Tighten this loop by pulling the bobbin holder to the rear of the hook. Guide the loop in place with the fingers of the right hand and pull tight the thread. If the loop twists and becomes a knot, you will need to untwist the thread before doing this the next time.

[Q] Cut the thread