From remarks on this board it appears pigskin is the leather of choice for covering butt pads. Anyone have a source for such leather of appropriate thickness and quality?

The Leather Factory (formerly Tanday Leather Co.) has outlets both on line and physical. Should be no problem finding one near you. It is best to choose your skins yourself as the markings on the skins may limit just how much usable material there is to be had. One likes to not have scuff marks, skive marks, brands, or other disfiguring attributes on the face of the newly created leather covered pad.

Dennis Earl Smith
The Stock Doctor

Tandy Leather #115 - TEMPE
Manager: Jim Augustson
tempe@tandyleather.com

1932 East University Dr
Tempe , AZ 85281
USA

Phone: 480-966-4151
Fax: 480-966-0241
Toll Free: 800-668-5174

There are Tandy stores in most cities. I just bought a whole pig skin for around 40.00. I have found that the best skin is the skin around the edges. The skin on the back is stiffer (is that a word) and you can pull the skin aorund the toe of the pad a lot better. I found this out the hard way when I tried to stretch some back skin around the toe of a 1 3/4 inch pad and finally had to to remove the leather and go to some Kid leather skin that is a lot more plyable and thinner.

Just my two cents.

Regards, Gordon

I want to put a leather face on a Silvers pad which has gotten slippery from use, but not cover the entire pad. What is the best glue to use for this? I plan to order some black pigskin (1.99 sq ft) from Tandy, Thx

Barge Cement will work very well, also sold at Tandy.

Thank-you

I was told by a stock maker that also did pads that he was only able to use about 50% of a pigskin for pads if he was lucky, the rest was too thick.

That's pretty much true about the yield on pig skin.

BTW, for what it's worth the new Barge cement in the blue & white tubes is not nearly as good as the original red & yellow from my experience. I buy the stuff by the quart in the yellow & red cans from Tandy. A quart lasts a LONG time.

I use goatskin. It works well for me and is probably easier to get, too. Good luck.

I was wondering about that new glue, Doug. I have not used it yet, but the guy I always buy mine from says it is just the same as the older. Sometimes people just can't leave well enough alone.

Post some photos Jammy.

Barge cement is very good but I've had equally good results with any of the better contact cements, like Pliobond. Barge Cement is not always easy to find, in stores.

Part of my selection process is to bring my calipers with me. A hide of 1 to 1 1/2 oz. can be no thicker than .035. Being picky of what you buy helps in the long run. I can get 8 to 12 good pieces from a selected hide. The thinner the hide the better it is to stretch. Too thin however runs the risk of tearing the hide when stretching. Each piece of leather I cut from a hide is approximately 6X9 inches in size. If I have a BIG pad to cover I will cut a larger piece of course. I too use Barge Cement.

I get mine from a guy who runs an old shoe repair store near here, Jim. But you can buy it online. Just go to your Yahoo or Google and type in Barge Cement. I think you can buy it direct from Barge. Good luck.

Your local fly shop should have it for glueing on felt soles on waders

Good advice on the leather selection and thickness.

The stretch of the leather can be improved a great deal by soaking it in a mixture of 50% water and 50% rubbing alcohol for 10 minutes before stretching it across the recoil pad. I let the hide dry for 24 hours after stretching, then glue it to the pad via contact cement such as Barge. I owe the water and alcohol tip to Jack Rowe who immigrated to USA from UK.