I did my first a couple weeks ago, not having any prior instruction. It came out okay for a field grade gun that's going to get a fair amount of hard usage. I faced a Silvers pad that I put on a little 20 ga. Sterlingworth. Looking around for some thin leather in my shop all I found was some scraps from Grandaddy's old leather hunting coat. I was given it by my Grandmother after he died in '75, and it eventually fell to pieces, but I salvaged some of the leather. Very old and wrinkled, dried out .....not the best condition for this application. But, I used it with a nod to nostalgia, knowing that when hunting birds here with the little gun I'd have something with me as a tangible reminder of him, and his taking me on my first quail hunt. Actually, he had told me it was the coat that he wore when drifting the river for ducks on the coldest of days. The leather is probably a little too thick, and deteriorating to the point that the cut edges look a little "ragged".
So, now I'd like to learn the right way to do it, with the right kind of leather, and the right glue. Can anyone point me towards some written instructions? I searched and all I can come up with is leather covered pad tutorials. Do any of the gunsmithing/custom gunbuilding books give it any more than a passing mention?
Thanks in advance, SRH
