What Recommendations for Grip Leather and Lacing?

[ballen28115]

Hey everyone, I have a couple of longbows I need to add leather grips to.  I was wondering what was the best type of leather to use and what sort of lacing you used as well.  Oh yeah, is Tandy the best place to get this stuff?

Thank you!

[Pat B]

Some folks use tennis racket handle wraps.

[walkabout]

depends on the style you like,but if you got a hobby store near you more than likely youll find a good selection there. i just bought a bag of leather remnants there and it had some decent pieces. just gotta look for the bag with something you like. as far as lacing or not lacing its all preference too. i havent had the chance yet to test much leather in the rain aside from shoes but id think that lacing with a piece of leather strip would add some extra grip on rainy days, kinda like on a football

[WestTexan]

You can get about any type leather you need at Tandy..I bought a 15 Dollar piece that I can do about 10 Bows with. I lace mine up with artificial sinew natural lace. Also if you go by the store look in the scrap box you can just get a few pieces for cheap.

[MercilessMing]

I got a 1-lb scrap from a local craft shop.  Then I did the same as WestTexan using artifical sinew.  You might need to twist more bundle of sinew togethr to make a thicker thread.  It looks fine on my bow but the leather moves because I did not put glue on it.  I was told later to use some double stick tape will help.

[BWD]

If you can't find what suits you from a sponser here, you might want to think about the bid site. I buy small pieces of upholstery leather. It is thin (2-2.5mm), has a fair amount of stretch, and conforms well to locator type grips. You might want something a little thicker for straight grips, however. I like thin material because it has a minimal effect on grip size.

[Jeremy]

Send me your address and I'll send out some grip leather for you.

I have deer, elk, cow, moose, goat, calf and a few others I'm forgetting.

For a wrapped grip like on the old Bears, veggie tanned calf or goat work great.  For a laced grip, the garment tanned deer and cow, and a pig split work excellent.  The elk and moose is usually pretty thick for a grip.

For lacing I've used artificial sinew, any of the string material (B50 is cheap) and leather lacing.

-Jeremy

[Jeremy]

A wrapped calfskin grip on an old '56 Kodiak Special:
 

A laced grip on a Horne TD
 

Some stitched grips (I used white B50):
 
 

Most of those were with a chocolate deer hide.  I also have black, a lighter brown and some red.  Some lighter browns and golds in some of the other leathers.

[walkabout]

saw a pic of a takedown recurve the other day with a beavertail wrapped grip, if my girlfriend saw the way i looked at it shed prolly be mad.lol stuff looks nice when its done right.

[White Oak]

Marty has a great pc. on this subject in the Build Alongs.

[Brently]

Check with a furniture store, they have leather samples for the furniture and they change colors every year so they are always getting new samples.  I have friends who have a furniture store so they keep me in grip material.  You can get some pretty cool colors also!!

[Steven Russell]

I also recommend checking your local thrift stores for leather jackets, purses, boots, etc.  They can usually be had cheap and there is an almost infinite variety of leather.  I've actually built up a big enough stock that there is no way I'll come close to using it all, but it gives alot of variety to choose from in order to find what looks best when I'm done with a bow.