doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT - Fitting a Butt Pad

Since it was the only option open to me to get a deer shot this season, I'm now a bona fide muzzleloader. I'm trying to fit a Limbsaver butt pad on my T/C Omega (laminate stock) and find it's a bit too long from heel to toe. I have a pretty good assortment of equipment, including grinders ... but have never tried this operation. How do I fit the new pad to the dimensions of the stock? Thanks as always. TT

I fit butt pads as a sideline to my work as a cabinetmaker. There are guys on the forum who have done a lot more of this work than I have but I'll tell you what I know.

A stationary disk sander is by far the best way of grinding the pad. An eight inch machine would work but a ten would be better. You can use a belt sander but the disk sander excels because the work is being pushed into a table as opposed to your holding it against the force of the moving belt. Bigger is better since a ten in. machine allows the entire pad always to be on the downside rotation of the disk.

To fit the pad attach it to the butt and scribe the outline with a sharp awl. Remove the pad and fill the scribe line with chalk.

The difficult part is maintaining the angle at the toe. The only practical way to do this is with a jig that can be set to maintain that angle. There are a number of them on the market. You can see a couple of different ones in the Brownell's catalog. I tried one of them and plan to go back to using the one I cobbled together with scrap plywood and hardware.

Once you have the jig set to the proper angle it's a matter of sanding to or just taking the chalk-filled line. Depending on the type of jig you may have to remove the pad or re-set the jig to grind the heel and sides.

I'm sure if you do a search on the board you'll find better and more detailed explanations of all this.

The jigs seem to cost $50-60. Not sure if you have a sander. From a practical point of view unless you have several pads that need to be fitted it may be cheaper to have a gunsmith do it.

If you decide to give it a go e-mail me if you have any questions or need any clarifications and I'll be happy to help.

SK

Hi TT,
Cooter has given you a pretty good outline. I would only question his second paragraph. I also don't understand his reasoning. Both styles push the work down against the table, assuming the belt sander has a table and is set up vertically. I bought a 10" disk sander for the sole purpose of fitting pads and didn't like it as well as my 6" belt sander. I have also installed lots of them using a 1" belt before the larger one came my way. I sold the disk sander because it didn't work better for me and the disks were a pain to replace.
Either style will certainly get the job done for you. I like the B-square jig as sold by Brownells. I've been using one for more than 30 years. Instructions are included.

Post deleted by JDW

2 things to add:
Soft pads are generally harder to finish, I'd try putting that Limbsaver in the freezer before grinding if you find it tearing.
Use a dust mask or vacuum - that rubber dust goes for your nostrils like a tornado heads for a trailer park.

Good advise. My recommentation is if you have a disc sander, and if it has the option to tilt, it will make it a lot easier. Mine is a Harbor Freight 12" with a big tilting table, and a 1 hp motor. The discs are pressure sentitive held in place. The only problem is that while not being used in a while, they come loose, you just have to reposition them and start it up.

I used an adjustable bevel gage (Starrett) and found out what the angle is from both the top and the bottom and set the table to that. On the top bevel, at least on mine I had to tilt the table towards the disc to give me a minus bevel. On the bottom bevel leave your self some extra that you can file or sand to final shape because the bevel will want to carry over to the side of the pad if you are not careful.

The part we all forgot to mentioned is to actually attach the pad to the stock before you start sanding and like someone said, trace it with a sharp awl. You will not be able to see this line as you are sanding, so be very careful and stay away from the finished lines by approx. 1/32" until done, then refasten pad to stock with screws and finish hand sanding and tape stock with release tape so you don't sand stock.

It would almost be better to make yourself a thin template of the finished pad final size to put it against the stock as you go. And be very CAREFUL OF BOTTOM BEVEL on sanding of pad to keep that line straight from wood to pad.
Good luck, and let us know.

Another way to make the outline easier for old eyes to see is to cover the flat side of the pad with white tape, masking tape will also do, and cut around it with an Exacto knife, instead of scribing. Then remove the tape outside the cut and sand until you just touch the edge of the tape remaining. Making the pad base perfectly flat before starting will also give a better fit. Pads are often warped a bit, as they come out of the box.

You're right, Jim. My belt sander is strictly a horizontal edge sander. One that could be tilted to vertical would work fine.

If all you had was a horizontal belt sander I suppose you could make a fence perpendicular to the direction of the belt and grind the pad on its side. I did a couple on the belt sander without such a fence and while it's possible it ain't much fun. A pad can fly a pretty good ways coming off a big sander!

I also like the idea of the tape. I might try that next time.

SK

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll give it a try. I have a disc sander that attaches to my lathe, which would allow vertical sanding as discussed. TT

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll give it a try. I have a disc sander that attaches to my lathe, which would allow vertical sanding as discussed. TT