To leather cover your recoil pad



This is not all the parts ands pieces you'll need, but a good start...Visit a Tandy catalog or store.




Here’s something like your objective...following photos and comments may be of interest.

Years ago, I posted an article in ACGG's "Gunmaker" with much the same procedure. Updates are in large part contributed by Canadian Gunmaker, Martin Hagn. Some of the products, due to environmental considerations, have changed or are not available anymore.

"Neat Lac", for instance has been replaced by "Saddle Lac"—Seems to work pretty well. Leather dyes are becoming more and more water based, but the old type is still available at higher cost and in smaller packaging.

Enjoy...good luck!




I assume you've already properly fitted the pad flush to wood.




Scribe a witness mark all around pad...about a 1/16 inch from the edge




Here's a fixture...scrap aluminum in this case...just a ledge to bump the base material

The leather I'm using is about .020 thick pigskin. You’ll want to incise a groove .010 deep around the pad (half the thickness of the leather).

After you've ground down the pad to JUST touch your inscribed groove and put it back on the stock to make sure everything looks even.




Put the pad back in the fixture and repeat the incising, then deepen evenly with a small round (about 1/8" ) file all around to form a "quirk" Once the leather is installed, you'll press the leather into this quirk to form a neat border.




Using a Dremel tool, grind away a relief in the base material just shy of the edge. This is to keep the leather tight up against the wood. This little trick is courtesy of Martin Hagn.




Using a Scotch-Brite™ wheel, makes short work of blending contours...sharp corners will telegraph through the leather.



Push in plugs to form leather. Good idea to put a little wax on the plugs to avoid cementing in place.




Let the cement set up. Then run a tool around base to establish the decorative quirk.




Trim leather; make "pie cuts" so everything will lay nice and flat, glue in place.




Moisten the "corners", install on stock, reinstall plugs (again moisten the fold) and then set aside for a day or so.




With the leather well soaked in water, position over pad. Stretch and pull to remove wrinkles. A couple of stout rubber bands will hold everything in place...set aside to dry.




Put in a couple push pins to maintain
position, remove rubber bands, peel back leather on one end, apply contact cement…be sure and get cement into the screw holes and in the quirk at the base...repeat for other ends re install rubber bands and make sure you've not developed wrinkles.




Carefully find screw holes and make star shaped incisions.

Wow! Thanks Duane. Great tutorial as usual. Just recdeived a Silvers in the post and can hardly wait to start the process.
What is the process for covering the plugs? The same or does one leave them red?

Stephen

Top notch work as usual. But I think the pictures are a little out of order or maybe Im confused.

Fourth from the last with plugs in. I don't understand?? You are forming the leather around the plug but a few pictures down you are cutting a hole in the leather to form to the hole??
Maybe there is a step missing It seems that you are using a separate piece of leather to cover the plugs. But then the plugs are not covered in the last few pics.

Either way Great work And better yet Thank you for passing this along. Skills like these are apprenticed down the line and inherited. We need to pass these skills along.

There are another couple of good leather-covered-pad tutorials over on the Doublegunshop.com site, scroll down to the classic rifle forum and search.

An especially interesting method is one shown by Recoil Rob, a plugless hidden-attachment design.(!?)

Also discussed are the best types and thicknesses of and sources for the leather. Good info from both smiths and leatherworkers.
Regards, Joe

Thanks for the tutorial. I have not had the chance to examine a leather covered pad in person, and always wondered how they were done.

They have a classy look that can't be duplicated by anything else.

Jeremy

kcscott....yep...out of order..My website "boss" is a lovely lady...just doesn't which end the bullet comes out.

I'll not try and re-arrange...you guys can figure it out..

By the way, the leather is Pigskin "lining" 1.5 oz. I once was talked into elephant hide for a cover and I'm sure on the right part of the "body" could have been just fine. As you get up to the back, the leather just WON'T stretch

With this lining material, you can pretty much use the entire hide.

Goatskin (Kid) is another favored material..can be stretched from Washington to Iowa..just doesn't have the nice pattern of pigskin.

Some guys install these "dry"...sure wouldn't mind hearing from them.

The one thing I remember Bob Evans admonishing...never leave a raw edge of leather. I've seen it done and the leather will ALWAYS pull away in time to leave a "big ugly"


Have as much fun as you can!

Been thinking about such a project and info much appreciated. If you check out Griffin and Howe web site, they only charge you a mere $350.00 for leather and if you want goatskin, it is I believe $475.00 Must be some very rare goat!!

That is a nice looking pad. I have done a few, but the "quirk" is a new touch i had not seen before. I have a gun i will be installing one on pretty soon and i might put that little touch on it. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Mr. Wiebe

I am sure there are a lot of variables, but in general, what length of service can one expect from a leather pad like the ones you install.

I imagine that depends on how often you set it down on a bunch of sharp rocks.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Mr. Wiebe

I am sure there are a lot of variables, but in general, what length of service can one expect from a leather pad like the ones you install.

I imagine that depends on how often you set it down on a bunch of sharp rocks.

This is true. All things will only last as long as you take care of them. and storage is not taking care of something. Periodically wood, steel, & leather need a wee bit of certain types of oil to maintain preservation

Dear Mr. Wiebe:

Thank you for the illustrative tutorial. I'll follow your instuctions for my up and coming 416 Ruger.

Why did you choose a "Silver" recoil pad? I know nothing about them.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

kc scott: How long will they last...guess it's like anything else..if abused or not abused.

I've seen guns well over 50 years old with leather in pretty good shape.

Pincipal advantage is the ease in mounting the gun..especially shotguns.

Back in the day, the leather served to protect the imperfectly-vulcanized rubber of the early recoil pads. Nowadays it's a mark of the maker's skill and the relative cost of the weapon as well as a mounting aid. The decorative bead IMO adds greatly to the aesthetics.
Regards, Joe

I just wish I owned something worth that kind of effort. One day... One day.... everything i own in firearms wouldn't come close to a down payment on one of Duane rifles

What happened to the widows peak...Something tells me that isnt all that easy?

Thats a classy pad in the top photo!

I think it was just one finished product and different works in progress.

No one bothered to comment to the scope base with the flip up peep sight in the back ground. That's nice work And no It's not one of mine

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
I just wish I owned something worth that kind of effort. One day... One day.... everything i own in firearms wouldn't come close to a down payment on one of Duane rifles

I did my first one on a Ithaca Flues 20 ga I paid about $250 for... have some fun on any gun you own...BTW, I later dyed this pad.

duane-

thank you for taking the time to post all of that. you do many things differently than i do. i always like to see how others skin a cat, as others are almost always smarter than me and i can pick up a nugget or three that makes the job easier or better for me.

re: length of service, as well as quality of arm deserving of a leather covered pad

the first one i did was put on my "rough weather deer rifle." it (a brno 21h) has been through a lot of snow, rain, submerged in beaver ponds, hauled through briar patches and tag alders, dropped from a tree and landed on the only rock within 500 meters of me, and subjected to all other such sorts of abuse. the pad has had exactly zero maintenance since i installed it well over a decade ago and the pigskin is holding up just fine. the only mark at all on it is where a saw briar scratehd it a little. same briar made a much larger scratch on me.

I have read that shoe polish is a good protector and maintenance for a leather pad. i ony use pig skin dyed black and put on a coat of black shoe polish before screwing on the pad. i should re-polish it every year, but don't out of pure lazieness.

well, i just thought of something i incorrectly stated above. the pad has had some maintenance. i always coats my entire rifle except the scope of course, before each season begins. i have put some johnson's paste wax on the pad as i wipe it all over the wood and metal. i have no idea how this pretection compares to shoe polish. maybe i should polish, buff, and then wax the pad before each season. i am currently working on a rifle that will have a leather covered pad and it will be maintained much better, as it is a "good" rifle and not one relgated for only rough use. i have soem other leather pads, but none have seen anywhere near the field time as the 21h

oh, one more thing. i love the look of the silvers/galazan pad when the ped is not covered. this is purely for the looks. i used to use decelerators when doing a leather covered pad because they actually help a good bit more with recoil distribution. but now delecerators are old technology and i plan to use a much better pad for the rifle in progress. i will frist try it on the remington supercell, as that won out on my extensive and expensive pad testing last year. if i cannot get it to work on a supercell, i will cover a pad along the lines of a hi-viz, kick-eez, limbsaver, or soemthing of that ilk. all of these give noticeably better recoil distrubution than a decelerator, and are miles above a silver's. due to health problems i likely will never use a silver's on a personal rifle again. but damn, i sure do love the way they look!!! especially when used on a dark blank with an ebony fore end tip

thanks again duane. i know you are busy and i really do appreciate you taking the time to teach us your method of making a leather covered pad

skunk out

quote:

*** A gunmaker who fixes American Custom Gunmakers
Guild smiths' fuckups***

Hmmm.. I could have used you a while back...

Great Tutorial. I do a little saddlemaking and leatherwork myself, and can say that all other things being equal, pigskin is the leather most resistant to wear and scratching (we use it for the seat and flaps (fenders) of top quality saddles. (Genersally speaking - of course there are few exotic leathers that may be an exception).


Many saddlemakers are using Renia or Bostik Neogrip 888 polyurethane glues now, these are a little "tougher" than the older latex type cements.

Thanks

Thank you, Mr. Wiebe for a great how to. I hope someone here can / will pin this to the top like the "feeding mag box" thread. This is on my bucket list. I agree with Recoil Rob, put one on something you own, regardless of $$ value. Do it for the sake of doing it. BTW, RR, your workmanship is very good. That turned out cool.

Thanks for posting this Duane, been looking for this for awhile! Looks good.

Another source for some exotic leathers.

http://www.columbiaorgan.com/col/skins.htm#CML

Forgot to mention it ..don't overlook using the "suede side" out...gives a little texture..

I've been tempted to try ostrich..never had the chance but possibilities are endless.

It's been pointed out that I forgot to post the "plug making" part.



I made a hole saw, beilng careful with dimension so a snug fit will result (figure out the leather thickness, etc.) A 1/2" washer makes a perfect lay out tool, the drafting template just makes it real easy to lay out a segments to make "pie cuts".

The leather is then placed over the home made die. Apply glue to the cork cylinder that you made with the hole saw and shove the assembly into the die. Good idea to put a little wax inside the die to keep things unstuck.

There usually no need to wet this part first, it will form nicely. I use cork, but almost anything will work..some guys even use wooden dowels.

Duane, did you write that article in the gunmaker years (or more like decades) ago about leather covered pads and the search for bulls balls leather?