Making patches

[uno676]

Been wanting to make my own precut patches for a while and was trying to figure out a feasible way to do it.
I came up with this and it works pretty good. I bought a cheap leather punch set off Amazon $9. Tried just using a dead blow hammer and that didn’t work great. So I borrowed my coworkers arbor press and that worked fantastic.

View attachment IMG_2193.jpegView attachment IMG_2194.jpeg

 

[The Crisco Kid]

A ground off hole drill in a drill press works great too. Lots of post on the forum about it. I can see how an arbor press works better than a hammer if you don't have a drill press. Good idea.

 

[TDM]

Good job @uno676

If you do have access to a drill press you can knock them out faster like @The Crisco Kid said.

 

[oldwood]

My hunting/shooting buddy of fifty + yrs. had an on going good natured argument for 10 yrs. , about weither patches had to be cut round or square. After yrs. of good natured bantering , I had to agree w/him , didn't matter , round or square. If I find some good .015 cloth , I am lazy and cut them square with scissors. Some turn out hexagon , doesn't matter. thickness matters.

 

[Jaeger]

Like the guy from Tyrone, high atop the Alleghenies, says: Cut long strips of material the width you want, then cut squares down the strips. I thought about making round cutters, etc, then decided that the shape of the patch doesn't matter. Use yours or your wife's "cloth only" scissors to make the cutting easy. If you get sloppy and some of them are parallograms....doesn't matter.

 

[wiscoaster]

Great idea!! PIA to make from scratch using scissors.

 

[uno676]

Good job @uno676

If you do have access to a drill press you can knock them out faster like @The Crisco Kid said.

Don’t have a drill press that’s why I went this route. I’m punching through like 6 layers so it goes pretty quick. And the set of punches cost a lot less than the drill bit so I can punch different sizes for different caliber’s if I want. The setup I was using was my first attempt so I can streamline it.

 

[TDM]

Glad it’s working for you. Many ways to skin cats.

 

[uno676]

My hunting/shooting buddy of fifty + yrs. had an on going good natured argument for 10 yrs. , about weither patches had to be cut round or square. After yrs. of good natured bantering , I had to agree w/him , didn't matter , round or square. If I find some good .015 cloth , I am lazy and cut them square with scissors. Some turn out hexagon , doesn't matter. thickness matters.

I was cutting at the barrel and I agree shape doesn’t matter. I just like the round ones

 

[oldwood]

Over the years , I ran out of time to do m/l shooting prep work. I occasionally still buy pre cut patches from suppliers. Just know to compression mike what you buy , 'cuse the packages are marked inaccurately. For instance , patches marked .015 on the package , can be .012.. My .50 cal. longrifle , likes a .490 RB , w/ a .012 lightly greased patch. I know , decoding this BS can be frustrating , but necessary for consistency.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I use a rotary cutter. Just lay out the material on my cutting mat and cut into long strips, then turn them the other way and cut across the whole thing making dozens of squares. I do like your leather punch idea. Might try that too just to have another way.

 

[snakebit]

+1 @Hermit Tim. I use a Fiskars fabric cutter. As long as I keep steady, I can cut out quite a few in no time at all.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Old school here. Scissors, old cotton shirts and patience.

 

[Shawrco]

Black Powder Maniac Shooter has a great video on cutting patches if you’re not hung up on the round ones:
..

 

[oldramrod]

If you recover patches that are "cut at the muzzle" you will find that they are basicly square with rounded corners. I cut mine into strips the desired with a pair of good sissors along the stripes , then cut the strips to size with an old fashioned paper cutter. I can cut about three hundred in less than half an hour. the square patches have basicly no waste, round cut patches leave a lot of waste cloth.

 

[SDSmlf]

I can cut about three hundred in less than half an hour. the square patches have basicly no waste, round cut patches leave a lot of waste cloth.

So if I take a piece of 12” square patch material and cut out 36 round 2” patches, and you take a similar piece of 12” square patch material and cut out 36 square 2”x2” patches, you are not wasting cloth, though I am. We both got 36 patches. Interesting math.

 

[tenngun]

I buy round patches, and have cut at the muzzle. I don’t have a cutter but have shot a ton of square. And they shoot great

 

[Mad L]

Buy my material by the yard, fold it so I cut four strips a a time, fold the strips so I cut six patches at a time; I can can knock out hundreds before a single episode of Daniel Boone is over.
Other times I just ake the strips and cut at the muzzel.
I have not gotten a single complaint from a round ball yet.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yer choice to make cut round shooting patches. But, after a half century of shooting ml I am devoted to cutting at the muzzle. I pre lube my material then tear strips off for use. I cut those at the muzzle. Works fer me. For cleaning patches I use washed baby blanket cotton flannel and cut into aprox. 2" squares and store in a plastic baggie just like the original mountain men did.

 

[snakebit]

Yer choice to make cut round shooting patches. But, after a half century of shooting ml I am devoted to cutting at the muzzle. I pre lube my material then tear strips off for use. I cut those at the muzzle. Works fer me. For cleaning patches I use washed baby blanket cotton flannel and cut into aprox. 2" squares and store in a plastic baggie just like the original mountain men did.

Yep! I go even more original sometimes. Storing in a vintage plastic dip can. Gotta love authentic I was shooting my Crockett rifle at the range once, I keep my .310's in a weasel skin. A younger fella was more interested in it than the gun. I told him your grandpa probably used one similar to it to carry his pocket change in. I do believe he thought I was pulling his leg.