Any leather workers out there?

[Gil Verwey]

After a long bow arm shoulder injury I am finally back to trad. I shoot what was called a wrist tab and now some call it a thumb tab. I have an original leather one that broke and would like to make another. I have some leather but it isn't the same thickness.

Can anyone familiar with leather give me an idea what to order? I have soft cordovan but it is too thin, although I used it to make finger tabs and it worked fine, but I do not think it will work for this application. I have very stiff cordovan but it is uncomfortable.

I know it may be hard to judge from the picture, but if you get me close that will be good enough.

Thanks
Gil

[Pine]

My guess without measuring would be 5oz.
You can go online and find a chart that shows the thickness to the ounce .
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/leather-buying-guide.html

[Huntschool]

Really cant help much with a picture.  Take your leather down to a local auto shop or perhaps a hardware store and ask them to measure the thickness with calipers in mm.  Most leather supply places go by mm thickness.  You may need to convert mm to oz but most leather places have a chart for that.

[Gil Verwey]

I picked up a caliper from a friend. The dark soft leather is 1.16 mm. The light colored stiff leather is 2.75 mm and the glove leather is 2 mm. I will try to find a chart to convert mm to oz. I looked at prices and cordovan is very expensive now.

What type of leather other than cordovan do you recommend?

If I can't make one out of leather I will just modify the Talons I have or make some other ones out of the webbing straps he uses.

Thanks again
Gil 

[Gil Verwey]

Thanks everyone, I got my answer. Working with SLC to get the right leather.

Gil

[Kelly]

Gil, which one are you trying to duplicate, the brown or white one? I have a brown one here somewhere that I could measure for you.

Am curious about how the white one works for you.

Are you not liking the Talons? Know they are not made anymore because I tried to get one recently.

[Gil Verwey]

Originally I had a brown one like the white one. I lost the brown one and picked up the white on on the auction site. These were called wrist tabs 45 years ago. The white one broke and that is the one I want to replace out of leather. The other one I made (light brown one) which works great but is uncomfortable.

The black ones in the picture are the Talon thumb tabs, which work good, but don't have as smooth of a release as the white or brown one. I just came back from picking up some glue. I am going to change the Talon to give it a smoother release. 

I am going to use the white one as a pattern for when I get the right leather. You can't beat them. That is what I am trying to create.

Thanks
Gil

[Gil Verwey]

Kelly this is how you use the white one. Very comfortable and extremely smooth release. You can see by the pictures that there is a small dowel. The white plastic piece is what is in the talon. The talon is also much wider.

In the picture where I took apart the Talon the white piece of plastic is what he put inside lengthwise as you see it in the picture. I am going to replace it with the dowel. You can see in the same picture that the Talon is much wider than the leather one I used.

The next picture shows what are in my two leather thumb tabs. They each have a small dowel and are super smooth releasing.

The next two pictures are how the wrist tab is used. It is super comfortable, you don't even know it is on. Also you just put the web between your thumb and index finger on the string and the the tab will be in the right position and you just grab it with your thumb. It is also is much smoother releasing than the talon. 

I am in the process of modifying the Talon now. I think the dowel will make it as good as my old one. If it does that would be easier for me to do than leather but I would much rather have my old leather one.

I am glad I bought I bought 3 talons while he was making them. It will let me fool around with them to find what works best for me. 

Thanks
Gil

[Huntschool]

I was going to suggest SLC (https://www.springfieldleather.com/?_ga=2.221923743.664194302.1539979714-2020955654.1539979714&lang=en_US) as that is where I get almost all my stuff.  The girls on the phone are great.... really helpful and knowledgeable.

Good luck with your project.

[Gil Verwey]

Thanks Bruce.

I sent them a question and they got right back to me. I had a question on a leather item they had and I wanted to buy. I gave them the story of what I wanted to build and asked if it would be too stiff. Sent them a picture too. They recommended a different item based on my requirements. I placed the order yesterday.

Ranger Oil Tan Side - Dark Brown. 5 - 6 oz.(2 - 2.4mm) Sides average 24-26 sq ft. Sold by the sq ft. We will cut.         

Cement,Contact,Latex,4oz    1    Bulldog Brand. 

Thanks for the help
Gil

[Gil Verwey]

Moving this up for Bow Bender.

Bow Bender the second picture from the top shows the simple one to make. With that one you put your middle, ring and pinky through the loop and use it like the wrist tab.

Gil

[Bryan Bondurant]

The thing about leather, once you complete a project you tend to come up with more projects. Looks like you got it figured out and turned out nice.

For future reference, You can take a file folder to make a pattern from leather to paper, then back to leather, its a lot easier than trying to copy from leather to leather, and you can keep it as a reference if you want to make more.

You can go to Tandy or any leather place and get a "Skiver" and better a "Super Skiver" which is a fancy razor blade tool to thin leather down, around 20 bucks with extra blades and it will last a lifetime.

[Gil Verwey]

Thanks. I was going to trace it to paper and make a plexiglass template. I intend to make more of these. For every three I make I guarantee I loose 2 of them at my age.

Thanks
Gil

[Eskanto]

I read thru this and the other thread on thumb tabs or strap tabs a couple days ago. I have problems with the middle finger of my string hand which for the most part is manageable but sometimes I can't shoot because of it. So, planning for the future if this becomes worse, I thought I'd give this a try and this is what I came up with. This is 3/4" wide nylon strapping with a loop sewn in for my ring and little finger and a triangular piece of hard rubber sewn into the end for better gripping purchase with my thumb. The excess strapping between my middle and index fingers is just what I didn't cut off after sewing the loop. I used it shooting a 30# ilf bow to test it and it works great. Turned out very comfy and easy to hold with the lightweight bow. I do think it might benefit from a second block of rubber (or other material) sewn in on the index finger side, and closer to the string, that the end block could butt up against when pulling the string as it would take less squeezing pressure to hold the strap at draw with heavier bows, but for 30# this was no problem. Hope this helps. David

[Gil Verwey]

Great I am glad it works for you.

Gil

[Gil Verwey]

Just a follow up. I contacted Springfield Leather Company about leather for this project. They recommended "Item 579-1400 Ranger Oil Tan Side - Dark Brown. 5 - 6 oz.(2 - 2.4mm) Sides average 24-26 sq ft. Sold by the sq ft". It is $6.49 a square foot. I bought 4 sq/ft.

This is beautiful leather, no stretch and supple but sturdy. It looks just like beaver tail. If I were still shooting longbows, I would be putting this stuff on them for grips. I am going to use this to make the original wrist tab I had. I will show some pictures when I am done.

Thanks for all the info
Gil