Ok PatB, am I doing this right?

[toomanyknots]

I picked up some veg tan leather scraps from tandy leather. I got em wet and pliable with some hot water, and glued up on to the back of the bow with some tb3. Afterwards I wrapped the leather with some innertube. Now, after it is dry, should I soak it in the watery super glue? I got a bunch of cheap watery super glue that never worked to glue anything together I was thinking of using.

[Bryce]

I like to use rawhide. It's waaaaay easier.

[bubby]

I usually glue a stack together and pre shape it some before it goes on the bow, but that's just me, Bub

[RBLusthaus]

I do like Bubby says.  Yes, saturate with super glue.  You can then work it down to shape with a rasp./ 

Russ 

[PatM]

Better to just use the superglue alone to saturate and glue the leather together. I would think the TB layers are going to clash a bit with how solid and uniform your stack of leather will be.

[toomanyknots]

I usually glue a stack together and pre shape it some before it goes on the bow, but that's just me, Bub

(slaps self upside the head)

[toomanyknots]

I do like Bubby says.  Yes, saturate with super glue.  You can then work it down to shape with a rasp./ 

Russ

So the leather will just soak up all that super glue?

[Pappy]

Yep it will soak it up and when it dries you can work it with a file to get the shape you want,they turn out pretty cool looking.
   Pappy

[Pat B]

Basically that is it, TMK but like Bubby said I usually glue up the stack and preshape  before glueing it to the bow.   What I'd do now is take a sharp razor and carefully shape the leather so it fits your hand. The top and bottom tapers are the critical areas. Be careful not to damage the back of the bow. Don't use a belt sander to taper the ends while it is on the bow and don't ask how I know. 

[koan]

@ Pat.... mistakes are the best teachers. Been there, done that... Belt sanders are the Devil, lol

[Pat B]

Yes they are Brian and I tell myself that every time I screw something up on the belt sander. 

[toomanyknots]

Basically that is it, TMK but like Bubby said I usually glue up the stack and preshape  before glueing it to the bow.   What I'd do now is take a sharp razor and carefully shape the leather so it fits your hand. The top and bottom tapers are the critical areas. Be careful not to damage the back of the bow. Don't use a belt sander to taper the ends while it is on the bow and don't ask how I know. 

  Well it is coming along just fine so far, rasping and filing away nicely. Thank you for the tip btw. I'm really liking it, I might end up doing a couple more built up leather handles in the future. I really needed to build up the handle on this particular bow though, as the bow was made from a twisted goofy sort of stave, and the cross section ended up being a crooked oval, if you know what I mean. So with the leather, I think I will be able straighten the cross section out at the handle. I'll post some pictures to show what I mean when I get the bow finished in a bit, it is almost done.

[Pat B]

I've made handle risers and tip overlays from leather saturated with super glue. It has a nice grain when it is sanded smooth.

[toomanyknots]

I forgot (or rather, was too lazy,  ) to post pictures of how the built up leather handle turned out like I said I would, but luckily I screwed the first handle I put on, so here are some pictures.  The blue stuff is ink that came off from the first leather handle. I really like the feel, but it is not super easy to get a great fit for the leather handle. At least for me it is not.





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Heres my crappy cross stitching. It really bothers me when I do the cross stitching all uneven. Sometimes doing these handles with the cross stitching and all can be very frustrating for me. I love how this one turned out though, it feels great in the hand.

[mwosborn]

That turned out great - nicely done!