My source for 3mm or 1/8 inch polyester felt in hunter or Christmas green has dried up. I've been trying to source in Canada and the US on internet companies without any luck. Does anyone know where I might try next? Thanks in advance for your help.

Have you tried Peter Dyson in the UK?
It might all be traditional 100% wool though.
Jeremy

I read once where someone said to go to a place where they repair/restore pool tables.

Search "Pool Table Felt" on EBay. Tons of it. If you just search "felt" it's even better.

Regards
Ken

That is right.
I get mine from a pool table manufacturer & get the remnants at the end of the roll.
They cannot use it because the next roll might be a bit different in colour.
I pay half new price.
Look for a deal like that.
O.M

Pool Table/ Billiards Table restorers are good sources but I have got it from what in England is known as a Haberdashery Shop which sells material such as ribbons and stuff. Usually a shop full of ladies so you may get some odd looks but they do stock it in a variety of colours; red and maroon can look nice. Not expensive. The shop where I get it from in Derby sell it by the yard but oddly it comes in meter wide rolls.

If you want an 'older' slightly worn look just ask the pool table restorer for the stuff they have just stripped off the old table; should be for nothing. Lagopus..... p.s. use green as blue looks awful in a gun case!

Fabric Mill Direct, on Ebay, is where I got my last batch. Sold by the yard.

Lagopus I agree blue should be reserved for a pimp's casket not a gun case but the customer get what he pays for.

Hainsworth in the Uk, will have anything you might need. I used their doeskin, which is a lighter weight fabric, to re-line a Westley Richards case. It was a perfect match in both color and weight. If you need something heavier, they have many different series of fabrics to chose from. They even sent me sample booklets of their product lines before I ordered so I could pick the best material.

http://www.hainsworth.co.uk/

I've phoned 10 companies in the US and Canada this morning and got no where. 3mm (kelley, hunter or christmas) green polyester felt is proving hard to source.

Sorry I've skipped the UK as half the firms don't ship outside the UK and those that do the shipping costs are prohibitive.

Friend of mine does nice case work. He looks in goodwill for old overcoats and ladies dresses to cut up for material. Lot of quality wool

Boats

Just hit up a few of the fabric shops in Calgary and Edmonton, ...they used to have it as I picked some up in green a few years ago. If time allows, I'll check if I have any still laying around.

I Simmons, Simmons cloth in Indiana or Illinos. Google them. They have a website and will send samples of what ever colors you need. They do not sell direct but will provide a list of vendors.

Tamid,you mean you've googled up ten pool table replacement cloth companies and came up empty?

Pool table replacement felt cost is like buying dog supplements vs equine supplements even though they are mostly the same thing. As soon as it says 'dog' the cost escalates. I can get 100% 24 oz, 3mm polyester felt for $15 per yard on sale. Pool table felt starts at $60 and up and pool table felt is mostly 21 oz or 2mm.

Arctic,
Both Calgary and Edmonton fabric stores don't have any and aren't expecting to get any green in the future.

I am just wondering if there is a description difference on your side of the pond between Baize and Felt because it seems to be an interchangeable description.
On this side of the water Baize and Felt are two distinct products.
Baize (sometimes known as Melton Baize) is a true woven fabric with a very high Wool content sometimes containing a small amount of manmade fibre to improve ware quality. Also after weaving the cloth is given a “Nap” to bulk up the surface and hide the warp and weft threads.
The finest Quality versions of this cloth is used for the lining of high quality gun cases, and at up to £40 a linear yard very expensive to purchase.
On the other hand, felt is a non-woven product made by condensing the fibres under heat and pressure (also there is another method of manufacture called “Needle Felting”) this type of felt very often contains a high proportion of manmade fibres and sometimes manufactured from 100%l manmade fibres. Unlike Baize it does not have any size stability and can be pulled out of shape quite easily and also torn apart with little effort, though it is reasonably cheap to purchase.
This product is not very surface stable and prone to surface breakdown if rubbed with this being the case if used to line gun cases it’s looks quickly deteriorate at places of contact.

Could not resist “gun in a music case” Picture of an Adams 12 bore fitted in a Victorian Wood Violin Case.

Which material is more appropriate? Merino wool or a polyester blend?

Regards
Ken

Tamid,thanks for the info I'll check my last receipt.

If expense is not an issue then yes line your case with baize. A 75% wool with 25% nylon wears very well. But a 3mm polyester also wears very well. You can not pull it apart or tear it.

The pic of the gun case is very close to what I am endeavouring to accomplish.

Damascus, nice case work. I think you are correct in that we sort of mix up the term "felt" over here. We talk of pool table felt, but it is not really felt, that pressed fabric you are referring to. The pressed fabric would not be proper for a good gun case.

Holland & Holland doesn't seem to agree.



Curl

Daryl I think I should say that the Adams gun was fitted into the Violin case during the early 1900s by the grandfather of a now late friend of mine, his grandfather was what we would now call today a professional poacher bringing up eight children on the proceeds. My friend worked as a part time game keeper and village handy man, but kept up the family tradition of moonlight game acquisition, also teaching a rather green city lad me!! On the how what and why of that clandestine tradition.
The gun and case spent its years sliding around the bottom of his old van with mole traps and rabbit purse nets waders to name but a few of items, though by this time the Violin case was in rather a bad condition with splits no locks or handle and held together with string. It stayed in this condition when in my position for some ten years until I needed a case for a 20 bore so I restored it to the condition you see today. One thing is that you cannot fit another 12 bore jones under leaver gun in the case, over the years every gun I have tried will not fit they are all too large in the action, so the Adams is its permanent resident.
The case was fitted with low cost green felt when the work was originally done, between the Moths and a 100 plus years there was nothing of it to save, so I kept things the same and re-lined the case with felt though of a higher quality than the original.

Beautiful double rifle. Just think how much better it would look in a nice claret coloured case.

Always fancied getting an old violin case to do up as a gun case. Really need a Thompson to go with it though! If you still have those old mole traps you mention you might consider going back to a bit of mole catching. There is a great demand for that in the U.K. since poisoning them was outlawed. I've bought one or two guns on the proceeds of mole catching. Lagopus.....

Damascus, thanks for your story. Makes it all even better. Daryl

Baize

Noun - a soft, usually green, woolen or cotton fabric resembling felt, used chiefly for the tops of billiard tables.

Felt

Noun - a kind of cloth made by rolling and pressing wool or another suitable textile accompanied by the application of moisture or heat, which causes the constituent fibers to mat together to create a smooth surface.

Most people I know use felt to refer to both types of material.