Third whip: belly, 2nd layer

And here is the second layer of my third whip's belly.

This is 12-plait with 26, 26, 20, 18, 16 and 12 foot lengths of cord. 12-plait went for 2'9" before dropping to 10-plait. I tried tucking strands by threading them inside another thread like suggested in Dallas Dogsled website. I didn't like the result, it was not smooth at all. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Anyway, I have a problem with droppimg strands. Everytime I drop a strand (or especially if I drop two) I get a bulge to my plait. The dropped strands add too much to the core thickness. I don't know if this happens only to me or just that other makers don't worry about it.

Strands were once again too short. 6-plait should have gone further down, so next time the 6-plait strand will be at least 26ft and 4-plaits 30ft.

I was thinking of trying to make an extra handle plait that would have 2 extra strands that would add some bulk to the core. I could drop them when I drop the thong plaiting from 16 to 14 and there would hopefully be no bulging.

I tied the transition with sinew for about 20cm and taped it a bit further.