My strike plate of calf hair was wearing out. So instead of buying a new one I decided to make my own out of an old leather belt I had. Will the leather off a belt work as strike plate and rest material?
The belt will work if not too thick. To thick might cause tune to change.
It will work for a rest, but I prefer something softer... fuzzy Velcro.
Just FWIW ... I think it was Sam Fadala that first called it a "strike plate". Don't know why when it was always called an "arrow plate" for decades before him.
I like fuzzy Velcro too. I use it on the shelf as well.
Velcro here, too with leather backing to build it out for tuning.
Soft side of velcro works great
I also use leather belt pieces for my longbow for rest and strike plate. I take a razor and shave the leather to about 1/16 to 1/8 thick and cut the desired shape and use barge cement to apply it to the bow.
My velcro side strike plate for both of my recurves is 1/8" thick.
QuoteOriginally posted by lpcjon2:
I also use leather belt pieces for my longbow for rest and strike plate. I take a razor and shave the leather to about 1/16 to 1/8 thick and cut the desired shape and use barge cement to apply it to the bow.
That's exactly what I do. I made sure my leather was the exact same thickness as my calf hair.
Velcro for me!!
You can micro-tune your point of impact by the softness of the strike plate. For a RH shooter, a hard leather plate will move the point of impact to the left. A plate with some resiliency like Velcro or calf's hair will move the point of impact to the right of that. A soft strike plate like a Martin rug rest will move the point of impact further to the right.
For a homemade leather rest/plate, a piece off a worn out leather glove should be thinner than most belts. I think I have also made a rest once out of an old chamois cloth.
thin leather stick on mole skin leather will be tough
QuoteOriginally posted by Scott S.:
For a homemade leather rest/plate, a piece off a worn out leather glove should be thinner than most belts. I think I have also made a rest once out of an old chamois cloth.
I don't think any of my gloves would be thin enough as I sanded the leather down to an even 1/16 inches.