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.