# Homemade leather grip for longbow



## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

I bought a Bear Montana longbow without a grip. I found that the riser was a little too small for my hand so I decided to make a leather grip to replace the missing original hoping that the riser would be a better fit for my hand. I first started by wrapping the riser with painter's tape to get the pattern for the riser.
Next I cut a piece of heavy weight veg tan leather from the tape pattern.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

I then wet the leather to soften it after which I then wrapped the leather around the riser. Leather is amazing in that when wet it is very pliable and takes shape to an object very readily.

While still wet I marked the holes for the threading with a compass and a 4mm leather punch. The compass gave me a nice even line with the edge of the leather grip.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

For the leather to retain its shape I fitted the grip around the riser and wrapped it with a tensor bandage for an hour. I didn't want to leave the wet leather on the riser for too long. I thought the water might hurt bow. I actually don't know if water would hurt a laminated bow. 

After unwrapping the tensor form the riser, I dyed the grip with leather dye. It takes a few hours for the dye to dry. After drying I sealed the leather with leather finish to prevent the dye from running if it ever became wet. If you want a darker finish, you can apply another coat of dye after the first application is dry. I applied two coats of leather finish.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

I left the conditioner to dry for a whole day. I wanted the leather to be thoroughly dry before fastening the grip to the riser. 

Next came threading the grip. From the top of the grip I laced it as you would lace a shoe. Make sure the thread is adequately long. I measured out about 3 feet of thread. You need to make sure that the grip is threaded very loosely so that it can slide over the riser.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

Next is to tighten the thread. You can tie the threads with a square not. To hide the thread, I threaded nylon fishing line underneath the riser threading so that the middle of the fishing line forms a "u" which will catch the ends of the thread. Both ends of the fishing line should come out from the top of the grip. Make sure that all of the line is underneath the threading. I used about 1 foot of fishing line. 

When you have tied the know tight cut off any excess thread leaving about 1.5" of thread at the ends. Use a match or lighter to burn the ends of the threads. I forgot to mention that I used wax thread for the threading. Wax thread is incredibly strong. Burning the ends of the threads will prevent them from fraying. 

The final step is to pull the fishing line from the top of the grip which in turn will pull the thread ends underneath the grip threading. This will make your grip look more refined and also protect the thread ends. *Make sure the thread ends is looped through the fishing line loop or it won't catch the threads. * I suggest you practice this last step with loose thread and fishing line to make sure your grip threads will catch.

I am happy with my grip but there was one small flaw. When the leather was drying it shrunk a tad. You can see that the seam has a wider gap than I wanted. When I originally cut shaped the leather it fit perfectly. Still I'm happy for a first time attempt. The grip gives me a much better feel for the riser.

I hope you like it.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

Note: the picture of just the leather grip is flipped with the top facing the left and the bottom of the grip facing to the right. 

NOTE: if you notice my threading, I start with thread on the inside coming up through a hole and then to the opposite side to the inside of the grip. On the final hole I threaded from the inside to outside then to the opposite side hole from the top. This will allow the threads to be tied so that the know will be hidden underneath the lacing and leather. I have a special technique to pull the threads to conceal the thread ends. It makes the lacing look refined.


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## chiefjason (Mar 22, 2016)

Looks good! Just got finished hand stitching 2 holsters.


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## j.conner (Nov 12, 2009)

Looks great! Thank you for sharing.


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## fish'n (Sep 11, 2015)

I tried out the bow with the new grip. It made a huge difference in reducing hand shock.


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