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Ian Hutchison
Location: Louisiana / Nordrhein-Westholland Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 626
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 Posted: Mon 01 Feb, 2016 8:54 pm Post subject: Wrapping a grip with ray skin. |
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I'm going to re-wrap one of my sword grips and I thought I'd try stingray skin for a change. Does anyone know whether stingray wraps like cow leather or is the process different (cut, soak, glue, wrap, shrink)?
'We are told that the pen is mightier than the sword, but I know which of these weapons I would choose.' - Adrian Carton de Wiart
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Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 02 Feb, 2016 11:15 am Post subject: Ray Skin |
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Hi Ian
I have had some good success with trimming it as best one can to the appropriate size with a bit of overlap. Then soak the piece in water. It will become very supple. Then I wrap it around th e grip and bind it down as tight as I can with some string. After it has dried I will cut away the overlap (have found a roto saw blade on a dremel to work pretty good). this can be done on the grip or off. There is some flex in the skin so usually I slide the grip core out and then trim. Trying to keep the seam gap nonexistent to minimal. Then put some glue on the inside and slide the core back in.
Best to get small grained skin. They work a bit easier. The nobs are dentin like your teeth so they can be tough to trim and cut.
Hope this helps.
Craig
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Ian Hutchison
Location: Louisiana / Nordrhein-Westholland Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 626
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| Posted: Tue 02 Feb, 2016 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Craig,
Thanks for your advice, do you skive the ray skin at the seam like with leather?
'We are told that the pen is mightier than the sword, but I know which of these weapons I would choose.' - Adrian Carton de Wiart
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Jeffrey Faulk
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| Posted: Wed 03 Feb, 2016 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| Ian Hutchison wrote: | Hi Craig,
Thanks for your advice, do you skive the ray skin at the seam like with leather? |
I'm not Craig, but I'll offer my answer:
No. Rayskin is a very different material from leather. It tends to be much too tough to really skive. Consider working with it to be more like working with a sheet of plastic than leather. Takes a lot of care.
That said, it does make somewhat of a difference whether you're using rawhide or tanned rayskin. Tanned will be more leather-like and easier to manipulate. My experience is with rawhide rayskin, which is very hard and stiff, but has a rougher texture which may be what you're looking for; the tanned stuff is softer and less rough.
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This is a standard topic