Drill and Twill Differences?

[Josh Smith]

Hi Gents,

A while back when I was at the fabric store, a sample of some fabric I purchased at Walmart was identified by the fabric expert lady as not muslin, as it was advertised, but as twill.

Meant nothing to me at the time. Fabric is fabric to me, or was. The only thing I remember her pointing out was a diagonal weave. :idunno:

At least one person here has recommended that I try drill fabric for patches.

When I looked it up on the internet, I read that drill is not a fabric , that drill and twill are the same thing, and that twill is a family of fabrics which contain drill.

A straight answer would be nice. Help please?

Thank you,

Josh

 

[ebiggs1]

The only bulk fabric I bought was from Wall-Mart. I took my digital calipers and measured two different bolts of fabric. One was red and yellow and the other was blue and yellow pillow ticking. They both measured all over the place. Plus I got several looks that suggested I may have lost what is left of my feeble brain! That said I decided to measure TC's per-cut .018 patches. They aren't consistent either.
I like the bulk fabric and cutting the patch at the barrel. If nothing else, it is very cheap to do, So far it works at least as good as the per-cut more expensive TC patches. I am also using the much cheaper olive oil instead of Bore Butter.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Drill is stout durable cotton fabric with a strong bias (diagonal) in the weave. The most common use of drill in uniforms and casual wear is in the form of khaki. Although duck (canvas) was more commonly used for these purposes, drill has also been used to make tarpaulins, tents, awnings and canopies, but the use of both fabrics has been supplanted in modern times with synthetic fabrics. Like duck, drill is used as a covering for furniture and cushions.

Twill is a type of textile weave with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs (in contrast with a satin and plain weave). Twill fabrics technically have a front and a back side, unlike plain weave, where the two sides are the same. The front side of the twill is the technical face and the back is called technical back. The technical face side of a twill weave fabric is the side with the most pronounced wale. It is usually more durable, more attractive, and most often used as the fashion side of the fabric.

I don't think any of the above comes into play when using either for patches. Use what works in your particular gun.

 

[tg]

Yeah, as long as it is a tight weave cotton material it does not matter what one calls it.
Around here it will be called drill cloth or pocket drill.

 

[BrownBear]

It's an issue if you live in remote areas and have to order sight unseeen by a product name. You're kind of at the mercy of the vocabulary used by the folks you're buying from. I have to buy from Anchorage for example, and it makes a difference whether I'm talking to Walmart or JoAnnes.

Best solution is to buy in person like I just did, but more often I have to use the phone.

 

[Zonie]

I think your cloth "twill" work fine once you master the loading "drill".

Of course it doesn't hurt to "canvas" the other members to get their opinion. Hopefully they won't "duck" the question.

:rotf:

 

[chapmans]

Josh,
I have used twill, it worked as well as drill for me, it had the appearance of being brushed or sanded and absorbed the lube better, accuracy was the same and patches looked reusable!
Regards, Steve

 

[Claude Mathis]

It's an issue if you live in remote areas and have to order sight unseeen by a product name.

That would be a problem. I "mic" everything I use, so I cannot buy mail order.

 

[BrownBear]

I hear ya. That's why I've got an assortment around here.

About all you can do is tell the gal to send you a couple of yards of each, then sort it out when you open the box. Three of my hunting pards prefer the thinner ticking, so it's not like I'm stuck with it.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I've had that problem in buying cloth on-line. I like linen patching and since no one around here carries linen fabric I have to go online to find it. Most of the online dealers don't even give you a weight in ounces nor even a general idea of the fabric thickness such as light, medium, or heavy. They'll gush about the color of the pattern, which you can see for yourself, but give no idea as to the weight. Denver fabric does carry a "heavy linen canvas" which I've found to be about .020" thickness so that is what I now get. Linen doesn't compress nearly as much as cotton so you'll generally want linen thinner than cotton, .014" linen loads with about the same feel as .018" cotton but doesn't cut or blow out nearly so easily as cotton..

 

[BrownBear]

That's really useful information CoyoteJoe, and I thank you. I've got a 62 that wants really thick patches with .610 and seems kinda "hungry" to try something thicker, or at least less compressible than cotton. :hatsoff:

 

[Rod Lassey]

I'm coming into this a bit late, but just to clarify---

Drill is a type of fabric, a light canvas, can be made from cotton, linen, or hemp.

Twill is a type of weave---can be made of any type of fiber, for instance, wool is often twilled. Easy to distinguish, it's a diagonal weave, either woven all one way, or it can be woven in a herringbone pattern.

So...drill can be woven in a twill pattern, but twill is not a type of cloth, just refers to the pattern it's woven in.

Rod

 

[nkbj]

That's really useful information CoyoteJoe, and I thank you. I've got a 62 that wants really thick patches with .610 and seems kinda "hungry" to try something thicker, or at least less compressible than cotton. :hatsoff:

Hammer loaded canvas patches today in the .62 rifle. They worked quite well.

 

[BrownBear]

I'm hoping not to have to use a hammer. I haven't miked the bore on that particular rifle, but .610's with .018 ticking are just thumb tight. I've got some canvas that won't quite thumb, but still doesn't even need a short starter. One step up might be just right with the starter. My only choice is to buy and try, because I'm not likely to be in Anchorage again for 6 months or so.