DIY round ball patch material

[AZ-Robert]

Alright guys, the text over in the Ox-Yoke threads has me thinking about progressing from store-bought, pre-cut patches to cutting my own, either at the muzzle or between sessions. The advantage of store-bought patches, as far as this newbie is concerned, is that the package is labled with the (at least nominal) thickness of the patch. Without buying a micrometer, how do I sort out which Wally-World textile is going to meet my needs?

 

[riarcher]

That's a real problem. The store will tell you anything for a sale (and I doubt they'd know thickness anyways). Generally speeking, used to be that the blue ticking was .018 and the red was .015.
Red was the real "pillow" ticking of old, and the blue was for matress coverings. However, times have changed and manufacturing cuts all sorts of corners to increase profit magins.
For $10-15 you can get a good set of 1" mics. off E-bay and I think it'll be a good investment. I use mine for all sorts of things. :imo:

 

[cayugad]

I asked the lady at Wal Mart when I picked up two yards of blue stripe and two yards of red stripe about the cloth thickness. She told me they were the same thickness, just a different colored stripe. Whether she knew what she was talking about or just wants to get a large gruff looking man out of her fabric department I could not say. I also bought a yard of 100% muslin un bleached because this is what she said was drill cloth. Time will tell...

My friend mic'd my cloth for me a while back and said it was around .017 in that area (I think he said). He said he actually got a slight different reading depending on where he measured. I had no idea what he was doing but since he does this for a living I took his word on it...

 

[Rebel]

You should also go to JoAnns fabrics and ask them for some #40 Drill cloth. It works as well, or better than the Wal-Mart ticking.

 

[Beerd2]

Is that number 40 drill cloth or 40 pound drill cloth?

 

[Rebel]

I buy it as #40 drill cloth at JoAnns. It has #40 on the end of the bolt. I think it what they use to make the pockets in jeans.

 

[Bob Riegl]

I use a small portable dial micrometer which is quite accurate---and I haven't found anything in any of the four Wal-Marts and JoAnn's fabrics on Long Island that even come close to .015---most of these drill cloth and pillow tickings I have looked at are from 0.017-0.201. However, I have used the 0.017" light green striped ticking as patch materials and it seems to work well. Still looking for the magic number. Man do you get looks when you take down a bolt and use that small dial mike on it. :results:

 

[rmonday2]

The red from our local Walmart measures .015 on the shelf and off. I havent washed it as many on here talk about doing before using it. Im sure it would grow some, but compress back when loaded.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Be mindful that some tick pattern are printed on the fabric (instead of woven in with different yarns) and are not based on 100% cotton. If you get a printed fabric chances are it's a less-expensive cotton blend. The synthetic blends melt and make lousy patches.

 

[Plainsman1540552678]

I've found that there is a variation in thickness between just the blue alone (from .10 to .17) so I always take my calipers in with me to the fabric store... just make sure it's 100% cotton, and wash it good to get the sizing out :front:

 

[cfjohnson]

Try just about anything thats natural! If it does not smolder after you light it with flame but melts DON'T use it, as it will foul your barrel. Just try diferent material in contoled groups, to find out what your weapon likes.

 

[CrackStock]

Actually, the guy who was really into measuring the patch thickness was Dutch Schoultz.

http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

He sells a really good shooting system.

As to the patch thickness, I have used a micrometer a few times. (I like it more for the cast balls) Just snug it but do not overstress the wheel. Try it side by side with one of your prefered patches. I have also just carried a patch in and felt the cloth side by side with what they had that was all cotton. Once a very cooperative lady collected several strips for the price of one yard so I could try them out.

WalMart all cotton ticking is pretty common. It comes in two colors -- pink stripe called red is rarer and blue stripe is very common. They are the same aside from the color. However, I did once get some at one WalMart that was a tad thin. It also had a different stripe pattern. I plan to use some of it as a shooting bag and a bit of it works in one rifle that is a tad snug with the regular ticking.

Good luck with taking the plunge.

CS