-in a slightly different edition.
The cat of nine tales (or just "the cat") dates as far back as 1695,
and seems to be an English invention.
If you'd like to know more about this, Wikipedia has a good article about it. More
The version I'll show you here has the common denominator with the original
one, that it's madfe of rope, but that's about all, that it's got in common with
it's ancestor.
well, besides the fact, that this one also has nine 'tales' (or, more correctly,
'talons').
Maybe I should mention the fact, that this whip has quite a 'punch' to it,
although it makes very lille noise when in use (apart from the masochist's happy
groaning, of course).
Well, enough talking, onto the whip:
What will you need?
- About 7½ meter of rope ( equals 24'6") for a whip app. 60 cm long
(equals 2').
- a sewing needle of minimum 10 centimeter length (equals 4"), with an
eye big enough to handle a line some 1½ millimeters thick.
- A good sharp (Stanley-)knife.
- A few meter line, about 1½ millimeter thick.
- Some meter of Chinaman thread (comes in many colours).
Cutting:
For a whip app. 2" long, you'll need to cut the following lengths of
rope:
- 1 piece 140 cm (app. 55").
- 1 piece 60 cm (app. 23½").
- 3 pieces 120 cm (app. 47").
- -and 'the rest', which will be used later on
Making the cat:
- Lay the 140 cm (55") piece, and the 3 120 cm (47") alongside
one another, so that the ends are aligned.
- Thread the long needle, and sew the 1½mm line through the ropes, just
below the bends.
- Tighten the ropes on the line.
- Lay the 60 cm (2') piece, in the middle of the ropes. (at the arrow).
- Bind the ends of the 1½ mm line together, in such a manner, that the 60
cm (2') piece ends up in the centre of the ropes sewn together.
- Sew the ropes together, in such a manner, that you sow the 60 cm (2')
piece onto all the other ropes, and tie a reefers knot on the thin line to
lock it...
- Having sowed the ropes tightly together, cut the thin line app( 5
millimeter (¼") from the reefers knot.
- Now lay the remainder part of the rope, alongside the whip, as I show in
the next two pictures.
The procedure you're about to make is actually very much like binding a
hangman's rope, but the outcome is the handle.
- Now grab all the ropes, with your right hand.
Having acquired a good firm grip, you strat to wind the long end, of the
rope around all the ropes, as if you were whipping them.
- The whipping, you're making now needs to be tight it's actually
what holds the whole thing together!
- having achieved a satisfactory length of the handle, pull the end of the
rope, through the loop, at the end of your handle.
(Here I've used a needle to secure the rope, for photographing it, but you
can do likewise i.e. to rest your hands for a moment, if you like to).
- Now you pull the loop, which is a part of the whipping, (at the 'top' of
the handle), and make sure that you're pulling the right one...
The aim is to pull the loop, at the 'bottom' of the handle so small, that
it'll (almost) disappear.
Unlike a whipping, you do not pull the end in under the whipping. If your
whipping is as tight as it need to be, it's actually rather impossible!
- Now lay the loop you just pulled around the top of the ropes, alongside
the first round of your whipping, and pull the 'loose end' of the whipping
rope, until the loop at the top end of the handle places itself nicely
around the top of the handle. (That is, you'll need to pull the rope end
coming out, at the 'bottom end' of the handle).
Pulling the right end of the rope, yopu'll see the loop, at the 'top end' of
the handle tighten itself around the top of the handle. It does not need to
be really tight, it just needs to 'be nicely placed'.
- By now, you have what we could call a "cat of eleven tales", but
as the two rpe-ends from the whipping rope does not align with the others,
it's a necessity to cut them away, as you're bound to get difficulties
controlling the whip, if you leave them there. Cut them short, but long
enough to enable you to whip them, 1-1½ cm (½") will probably do
nicely.
- Whip the two rope ends - I have chosen a white line for the purpose, as
I'd rather not have them 'shouting out' about their prescence..
- The final thing to do, is to whip the nine 'tales' of the cat (talk about
cruelty to animals..;o), in such a manner, that the whippings ate
exactly aligned with one another,
and then to cut off the ends of the tails, so that all 9 tales have exactly
the same length,
upon which you 'cuddle' them., to make them 'fluffy'
(and if you're asking yourself why you're supposed to wait till now,
whipping the tails, the explanation is rather simple: the ropes might twist
a little in the process of making the handle, and thus slide a little.
that's why you're recommended to wait until completing the handle, before
you whip the ends of the tails).
- Congratulations, you now have a "Cat o'nine" (or just about).
Just for the effect, I've used a black Chinaman's thread for the whipping.
You'll see the effect in this picture..*S*
You can, most certainly, choose to make the tales in one colou of rope, and the
handle in another colour, and/or use the whipping-thread to either stand out
from the rope, or i.e. reflect the color of the handle or, or. the options are
legio!
And, the best of it all, this whip is machine-washable, if you use one of those
bags, that ladies use for their 'sensitive underwear' (Lingerie), in order to
keep the tales from getting to creap out of the holes in the washing machine
barrel (as this will most probably ruin your whip, as well as your washing
machine).
I guess the term now is: "Happy slapping"...*G*.
Now that I'm talking of all the options...
I just made myself another cat, in order to illustrate some of the options in
coloring and so on. (What I do for my dear visitors).
For this one I've used an 8 millimeter rope, as contrast to the 6 millimeter
rope, I used for the one above.- that is, for the tails - the handle is made
from a piece of 6 millimeter rope, from which I've removed the 'core', to allow
the rope to become more 'flat'.
And, just for the bragging, that I can do such a thing, I've made my own
whipping line, incorporating the white / red / white look of the rope, I've used
to make the handle.
How it's dones:
- removing the core of the rope (splitting the rope).
a/ Start by cutting away any whippings or melted ends from the rope you
want to split.
b/ Separate the 'stocking' carefully from the 'core'.
c/ Pull the core out of the stocking, carefully. you might experience
that the stocking have a tendency to tense itself around the remaining part
of the core, but the remedy is to pull (or rather slide) the thickened part
of the stocking further down towards the other end of the rope. It'll take
you a while to split a rope, but with a little practice, you'll get the hang
of it.
Below you can see the two ends of a piece of rope, during splitting. Notice
the difference in thickness, from the rope at the bottom, which is
'untouched', to the rope at the top, where the stocking have tensed (very
badly - for your eyes only) around the core..
d/ After splitting the rope, you'll actually have two ropes, the
stocking, and the core..
One of the advantages of having a split rope is, that when using the
stocking, without the core, the stocking will 'flatten' when tied around
something.
Here you see the two parts of the rope I just split, the stocking to the
left, and the core to the right hand side.
- Making whipping line in fancy colors.
Well, I found out, that there was so much to say about that, that I made
a separate page for that altogether... More>>
- The differences between the whip shown above, and the more 'colorful'
version - in short.
a/ I've used an 8 millimeter rope for the tails, in opposition to the 6 millimeter
rope used to make the one above.
b/ I've used a split rope for the handle, this has two significances:
- The layer of rope shaping the handle is thinner, using a split rope,
in contrast to using a 'full' rope.
- I have been able to ull the ends of the rope, shaping the handle, all
the way 'up under' the handle, as the stocking (as previously mentioned)
collapses (gets flat) when exposed to pressure.
c/ I've whipped the tails with the line I made myself, from two red and
four white sewing threads, getting it to reflect the color-coding of the
rope I split for the handle
The difference here is, however, purely cosmetic, which leaves it as a
matter of taste, if you like it or not - and as we all know, taste is always
open for discussion..*S*
Finally the two whips,
and a picture of how the ends of the (split) rope used to build the handle
have 'vanished' up under the handle.
