Ozbow

Hello all

I have finished a bow and would like to wrap a leather handle. My plan is to use a golf tee as a arrow rest and either hot glue gun a leather handle or stitch it on. Either way I have never wrapped a handle before so I was wondering how you guys went about this and whether you could provide any advice. I have not learnt how to stitch a handle was thinking maybe stitching with bowstring material? Any hints are much appreciated.

Many thanks Andytuck

Andytuck I make a Paper Pattern of the Handle region to make sure the Leather is a perfect fit as sometimes a simple rectangle of Leather won't fit properly. Just jig about with the Pattern until it fits perfectly, then jig about with the Leather, trimming here and there if necessary. The best tip I can give you if the Bow has a straight Hill style Grip is to use a waterproof PVA Glue like Weldbond or Bondcrete to act as lube and to slip the slightly damp Stitched Grip over the Limbs and onto the Handle. Cleanup is easy being PVA. Overnight it will shrink a little as it dry's and it will not move for ever more. I find that stitching a grip while it's on the Bow is a sure recipe to Scratch the Bow. Of coarse Pistol Grips are a problem with this method so I cut a length of Leather, glue it in place and then wrap the Grip around it. The strip of Leather will protect the Bows finish from scratches from the Needle.

Another option is to wrap the Grip using a 2 tone Nylon String. It's about $11 a Ball at Spotlight. You can use any strong String that takes your fancy though. You start and finish wrapping the Handle with the String by smoothing Weldbond or similar on the Handle and start and finish Binding in the same way as you would bind a Guide on a Fishing Rod. Clean up is easy with a Damp Rag. This sort of grip looks amazing, is very durable and provides an excellent grip even when Wet

This is a reasonable tutorial on stitching a Leather Grip on

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.p ... 0;t=000106

regards Perry