blue and red pillow tacking?

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Depends where you get it I guess. The blue I have measures .018 while the red I have measures .020, slightly thicker. Its a good habit to try to measure thickness when buying a bolt of if you can.
 
Yep, thats why I said you should measure, I've had red before that was thinner too a few years back but got have a bunch here now that is thicker than the blue I have. :idunno:
 
I've had some blue measure .015 on me before thinking it would be .018 and wasn't happy about that. If I remember right I got this .020 red from my friend Short Arm, member here who hooked me up with it.
 
I found the difference depends on what's going on at your local range...., for if you are working on a load in a new barrel, and you use blue striped ticking, and so do the other three or four folks around you who are shooting their muzzleloading guns..., then it gets tough to tell which are your patches on the ground when you go to inspect if you are cutting or blowing patches...., now when you use red striped ticking while others are all using blue..., no worries finding yours eh? OH and I have seen green striped ticking too.

LD
 
Stumpkiller, it was a joke.......

But yes, I have found that the 30 inch wide ticking is thicker than the 45 inch wide stuff......
 
Well you can see that all these guys just prove what I have been saying all along. :grin:
The thickness varies so much as to be almost not measurable. I stopped looking like a bigger idiot than I normally portray and stopped taking my digital calipers to a stores sewing department.
Buy it, try it. If it works go get a lot of it. :thumbsup:

Don't worry about how thick it is. :hmm:
 
i'm with ebiggs on this one. i've used the blue the red ,green and brown and it all seemed to go down the barrel about the same both in and out. never measured any of it so i have no idea how thick it was. just use what you have available,it will work.
 
Ticking comes in several different colors and the color does not determine the thickness of the ticking. You just have to take your micrometer with you when you go to buy your patch material. There are several different kinds of ticking, pillow ticking, mattress ticking and ticking for making other projects. Some ticking is coated with a polymeric material on the back side to keep feathers, down, etc, from coming through. I avoid this stuff and stick to 100% cotton fabric of the thickness that I want. Actually, my preference is 100% cotton pocket drill fabric that I buy from Jo-Ann Fabrics but it is also available from other fabric stores. Wash your material to remove the sizing from it before using it to make patches.
 
ebiggs said:
Well you can see that all these guys just prove what I have been saying all along. :grin:
The thickness varies so much as to be almost not measurable. I stopped looking like a bigger idiot than I normally portray and stopped taking my digital calipers to a stores sewing department.
Buy it, try it. If it works go get a lot of it. :thumbsup:

Don't worry about how thick it is. :hmm:

:haha: That might just have a little bit to do with your self proclaimed "worlds worst shot" :wink:

Ticking, or any other 100% dense weave cotton fabric varies alot. It's all determined by the raw product the fabric mill receives and how well they can set-up the machines for the run to meet customer requirements, those standards are going to be +/- a certain amount of thickness.

I always use the caliper when selecting fabric, I can handle a +/-.001-2 but I want it close.

(My mother was a Seamstress and Fabric shop Mgmt, kinda got to know fabric an sewing whether I wanted to or not)
 
This may seem like a dumb question but how much does the measurement change from what it measured on the bolt at the fabric store to what it measures after being washed, dried and ironed before cutting into strips?

Dan
 
Probably not much if you iron it.
I just wash an dry mine, useing HOT with both and the stuff does get "fluffier", but the crushed measurement stays the same.
That means when it's squished between the barrel an ball the thickness is the same whether it's washed or not.

I have found it wise to wash new cotton fabric to remove the "sizing" chemical they put on it, "sizing" can affect how the fabric absorbs the lube ya use.
 

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