doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com How I do leather pads

The pad and stock are both trued up on the end and made flush to each other, the pad is mounted and ground to within a few thousandths of the wood, a layer of masking tape protects the stocks surface. Final fit is done by hand with paper glued to paint stir sticks.




A simple lathe made tool to bore the screw holes, lubricated so the rubber does not tear.





Line scribed around the pads base with the thickness of the leather, filled with white chalk to help see the line.




setting up for the jig



Grinding set up




Now comes the really tedious part, I try to get as much as I can on the belt, just doing the last bit by hand after lots of carful measuring with a caliper. It takes time and is a slow process to get the fit really nice.




The pad is mounted to a piece of wood that is slightly smaller than it is.



I the leather is soaked for 20 minutes or so in warm water and the stretched over the pad. I like to use a piece of leather that is plenty big enough to grab a hold of the edges when pulling it tight. All of the wrinkles are worked out before leaving it to dry, this can be very frustrating, especially around the toe.






More tomorrow.

Steve,
That is super informative. Thanks for taking the time to put the post together. I look forward to more.

can't wait for tomorrow

Barge cement is applied to the leather, I stop short of the edges so the pad does not get glued to the wood.




Holes are cut now to remove the pad from the plate. I use a scalpel which are cheap and easy to find on Ebay or Amazon. I replace the blade several times each leather covered pad.






Terrible pic but here is where I cut the pie shaped relief out of the leather at the heel and toe. The leather is lightly skived towards the center of the pad.



A burnisher is used where a lump decides to form, usually from too much glue I believe.




A creaser gifted to me by my late friend Jim Wear who was a superb leather worker is used to put the two parallel lines on the base of the pad. It is heated with a torch and worked around the circumference of the pad. A scrap piece of leather is used to test that the creaser is not too hot.









A slight relief is cut in the but under the pad then sealed with finish.




The lines and pad installed





Screw holes being glued, shoe polish used as release agent on the bullets.




Plugs after lunch.

A good use for an old pad



I skive the leather inside before gluing it in place and on the outside of the cylindrical portion of the plug after the glue has dried, bit of shoe polish helps the plug slide into place.








A nice Clayton Nelson custom is now ready to go home.




A couple of thoughts after completing this pad.

This is a 1" pad, I think the .800" look great. When you get down as thin as the .600" pads, the plugs become hard to deal as they are very short. I like the dark brown color.

I'm farther up and away from the belly on this piece of leather than the ones I used earlier from this skin, this piece was slightly thicker and a bit less uniform than the earlier pieces I selected making it a bit more challenging.

David Trevallion was not incorrect in his description of how frustrating the job can be, and at the same time I find it rewarding and something which I enjoying improving at.

Another thing came to mind, Pachmayr has been purchased and changed the rubber as well as elongated the lower slot, neither of which are an improvement in my mind.

Four more on the bench ready for new leather pads.

Thanks for this great post. I'm planning to do some pads soon, and this is very helpful to see how you do yours.

Could you explain the relief cut a little more? what is the purpose? and what exactly did you do? it is difficult to tell from the picture

Sure, I use a sharpe gouge and cut a slight trough in the butt that is very close to the edge. This relief cut allows any high spots on the leather to fit into the trough and gives a tighter fit between the leather covered pad and the butt. I usually have to adjust the cut a bit after my first pass. I install the pad, locate any gaps, then remove the pad enlarge the relief where I have a gap, re-install and check the fit. I hope that helps.
Steve

Very nice.

A good result is worth any price you have to pay. I have two outrageous leather pads and don't need any more. The two I have are very satisfying. Thanks for a great post.