Snidely70431
Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2018
- Messages
- 420
Tool for cutting out leather over powder wads - likely would work for felt also.
When I was working out low velocity loads for patched round balls (PRB) for short twist inline muzzle loaders I sometimes used leather over powder wads to protect the cloth patches. I made them using commercial leather punches but found them more trouble than they were worth. Today I got around to making a tool for cutting out a lot of leather wads and I thought I would share it with the group.
The major body of the tool is two pieces of flat steel, both 1" x 3/16", one 7 1/2" long, the other 8 1/2" long. They are fastened together at the left end (in the pictures) with a piece of 1/2" round rod peened at both ends. They are separated with two pieces of steel banding to provide space for the leather. The tool is positioned for punching out the leather wads with a piece of 9/16 steel round rod reduced to 1/2" at the right end. The actual punching is done with a punch made of 5/8" round rod reduced to 1/2" to fit in the holes in the middle.
When I was working out low velocity loads for patched round balls (PRB) for short twist inline muzzle loaders I sometimes used leather over powder wads to protect the cloth patches. I made them using commercial leather punches but found them more trouble than they were worth. Today I got around to making a tool for cutting out a lot of leather wads and I thought I would share it with the group.
![upload_2019-4-11_18-36-37.jpeg upload_2019-4-11_18-36-37.jpeg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/778/778077-3f80181cfa87029d0d66ad552f99920f.jpg)
![upload_2019-4-11_18-37-51.jpeg upload_2019-4-11_18-37-51.jpeg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/778/778078-f219e40c570b878aacf6e1de5fbab385.jpg)
The major body of the tool is two pieces of flat steel, both 1" x 3/16", one 7 1/2" long, the other 8 1/2" long. They are fastened together at the left end (in the pictures) with a piece of 1/2" round rod peened at both ends. They are separated with two pieces of steel banding to provide space for the leather. The tool is positioned for punching out the leather wads with a piece of 9/16 steel round rod reduced to 1/2" at the right end. The actual punching is done with a punch made of 5/8" round rod reduced to 1/2" to fit in the holes in the middle.