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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: Hoosierarcher88 on May 22, 2020, 04:58:55 AM

Title: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: Hoosierarcher88 on May 22, 2020, 04:58:55 AM

How are you guys doing your leather grips? Ive got a longbow i am refinishing but plan on doing a leather grip on it. Ive done leather grips on straight gripped longbows but this will be my first index style grip.

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: bucknut on May 22, 2020, 05:31:27 AM

Big Jim has a really good youtube video for grips. 

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: Crooked Stic on May 22, 2020, 08:17:59 AM

X2 on Big Jim VDO. Several coats of contact cement and one right before you put it on and cut as you go.

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: canopyboy on May 22, 2020, 08:27:52 AM

I think Big Jim's video is great, especially for doing beaver tail and other leathers that are already fully tanned and finished.

I take a slightly different approach and use some thin tooling leather. I get it nice and wet an pliable, then stretch it around the curves of the grip, trim, and stitch into place. After it dries in that shape, I remove the stitching and dye as desired and finish with some wax finish. (There have been times when I've tooled something into the grip, either a little texture or an image.) Then I add a little contact cement to both the bow and the grip about half way around from the back and put it back on and stitch it up. Always a perfect fit that way.

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: Flem on May 22, 2020, 09:41:34 AM

I do it in a similar fashion to Dave. Soak it till it's stretchy, then pull it tight around the grip and wrap it with an ACE bandage till dry. I don't like to use glue, so I coat the dry leather with silicone seam sealer. After the silicone cures, stitch it onto the handle. It's real grippy and does not slide around.

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: Eric Krewson on May 25, 2020, 09:51:33 AM

I glue them on without stitching;

Title: Re: How do you do your leather grips
Post by: Bowjunkie on May 26, 2020, 05:46:17 AM

I use deer leather. No need to wet it. It's stretchy and easy to conform to contoured grips. I get it all trimmed and fit just the way it needs to be, skive the backside of the top and bottom edges, spray the backside of the leather with 3M spray adhesive, put it on, and stitch down the front.