• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Another name for #40 drill?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The bolt I get my drill cloth from has always been marked as #40 Cotton Drill. It can be located in the located in the utility cloth shelf of the fabrics. My drill cloth measures 0.018" for a slip measure and about 0.012" compressed. I have been accused of measuring my cloth as if it were a sheet of metal. I learned to measure things from my father who was a tool maker. He would never abuse his micrometers by compressing cloth between the jaws. I still can't do it. I can squeeze the jaws of my vernier calipers. The measurement is well withing the tolerance of measurement and good enough for our purposes. In the store, the cloth is sized and a compression measure will not be the true compression measure.

Note: When loading, the 0.012" (compressed) has to fit into that 0.005" of windage most of us use between the ball and the lands of the barrel. The cloth compresses and the soft lead is engraved into the cloth.

Good alternatives to drill cloth are denim or some of the canvas fabrics.
 
I think JoAnne's has been going through bankruptcy procedures all year, the drill was unavailable to order for a long time.

I found that three different Walmarts had three different colors of striped ticking that is an honest .018" when firmly compressed with a c-clamp micrometer. Perfect for most rifles with a .005" under ball. Who knows when this will change, but that's the current state of inventory here. I shopped a dozen fabric stores and the ticking and utility drill ( which is twill, or three thread weave with one diagonal) was ALL .013-.0015". I was going nuts trying to find some for a competition. Finally found some small scraps at an upholstery shop that got me by until I checked Walmart (which I avoid like the plague).
 
To eliminate future problems , get a compression micrometer to take to the fabric store. There's many kinds of good cotton material for patching , but w/o a way to measure true thickness , you could be wasting your time. Precut patches in commercial plastic bags , are mostly mislabeled as to thickness. .018 mics out to .014 , .015 at .012 , etc.. Get a mic . to take to the fabric store.
 
Natural 100% Cotton Muslin Fabric, found on the well know internet auction site. Not sure of the rules to posting a direct link, but assuming if you do a search on the that site you'll find it.
This may be a worth a look if your not finding the drill cloth at JoAnn.
 
Natural 100% Cotton Muslin Fabric, found on the well know internet auction site. Not sure of the rules to posting a direct link, but assuming if you do a search on the that site you'll find it.
This may be a worth a look if your not finding the drill cloth at JoAnn.
Muslin tends to be too thin for my uses except to make a shirt. Better off to look at the canvas, duck, denim or ticking.
 
Thanks for the info, it's the canvas
Your referring to right?
Yes, it's unsized bulk canvas on a roll. Other Art suppliers may also have it. There may be a supplier near you where you can go in and inspect it. Michaels and Hobby lobby have it but there's is thin and not tightly woven.
 
Yes, it's unsized bulk canvas on a roll. Other Art suppliers may also have it. There may be a supplier near you where you can go in and inspect it. Michaels and Hobby lobby have it but there's is thin and not tightly woven.
Thanks, I've looked again on there web site, seen the different oz , canvas, plan to order the 7oz/.018
According to the info you gave me
So, you wash this material also,
Before shooting, like you would do
The pillow ticking?
 
I found this place on a web search <https://fabricwarehouse.com/fabrics/ticking-fabric/>. I have not purchased anything from them so I can't comment on their stuff. They say they have different thickness of ticking. I suggest if interested - call them and ask if they sell samples.
I have purchased cotton duck and pillow ticking online - some good some not so good. All ticking and cotton duck material have sizing in them and needs to be washed out before use. Also, the "thickness" will change after you wash it -i.e. the material will be softer and more compressible. This will also aid in lube absorption.
 
Thanks, I've looked again on there web site, seen the different oz , canvas, plan to order the 7oz/.018
According to the info you gave me
So, you wash this material also,
Before shooting, like you would do
The pillow ticking?
I wash it even though it seems to have no sizing. Wash hot and dry hot to shrink and tighten the weave.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top