Cutting Patches for Round Balls

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  • Last Post 20 September 2013
onondaga posted this 29 August 2013

I have only been doing this the same way since 1957, tracing circles on cloth with a pencil and something the right size to trace around. My patches for .50 Cal. round balls are 1.125” in diameter and I use a small piece of steel tubing to trace around that I have kept for many years. <url=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/rhymeswithwhat/media/P8290006_zps62d03ce9.jpg.html> A really nice hardened steel punch for cutting patches is something that has eluded me. Especially, one that I could afford. I've tried punching with several home made punches that wouldn't stay sharp very long or the edge would roll on me. Then, with punching there is the question of what kind of a surface to punch over.  Well, wood doesn't last very long and patches get ragged edges from punching over wood. Poly cutting boards are the culprit that rolls the edges on punches for me. So I just go back to the way I did it when I was 7 years old and that still makes nice patches. It does take good sharp scissors, but that is not a problem. I once highly coveted a rotating blade patch cutter that an old friend got from Dixie Gun Works ages ago even though he had to meticulously sharpen the blades. I'd still like one, but they are collectors items now if they can be found at all. What inventive methods are you round ball shooters using other than a knife at the muzzle? Gary

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RDUPRAZ posted this 29 August 2013

I use hole saws of various sizes to cut patches. I chucked them up in an electric drill and ground the teeth off. Then sharpened the remaining edge against a grinding wheel. Used a Dremel cut off wheel to cut a small window in the side of the saw to eject the patches.

Chucked in a drill press with a piece of plexiglass as backing, several thicknesses of patching can be cut at one time. And pile of patches can be made is short order.

Works for cutting cleaning patches as well. I buy both kinds of cloth by the yd. at Walmart.

When ever the saw edge needs a touch up, just do it on an oil or diamond stone.

RD

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CB posted this 29 August 2013

I just cut my material into strips with a razor knife. Then cut into square patches. Man, square 's where it's at, shooting or cleaning :cool: Round 's just too un-cool.....Dan

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RDUPRAZ posted this 29 August 2013

Could use a little COOL around here. It's been a 100+ the last few of days.

RD

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pat i. posted this 30 August 2013

I just cut them at the muzzle.

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CB posted this 30 August 2013

pat i. wrote: I just cut them at the muzzle.

That's cool, especially when cutting with a 17” Bowie patch knife. ( Crocodile Dundee thing )...

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gnoahhh posted this 30 August 2013

I use an Osborne arch punch, fold the pillow ticking over six times, and get six patches with one blow using a chunk of firewood end grain as an anvil. Osborne punches aren't cheap. A 1 1/4” one will set you back around $60 these days, but it will last a lifetime. Mine is 20+ years old and still has the sharp factory edge.

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Pigslayer posted this 30 August 2013

At work I go through a few bi-metal holes saws especially when punching holes in stainless steel. I just grind the teeth off flat & then sharpen on a grinder & touch up the edge on a buffing wheel. Razor sharp & hard as h**l! 1 1/4” for my .50 cal. & 1 1/8” for my .45 cal.. They have a nice thick bottom for striking with a hammer OR use the threaded hole along with some sort of mandrel in an arbor press.

Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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onondaga posted this 30 August 2013

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=7735>RDUPRAZ and others that use a de-toothed and sharpened hole saw in a drill press to cut patches:

I have a drill press and can get a hole saw sharpened right. What do you use as a cutting platform? Would a piece of plywood clamped to the drill press platform work?

How do you keep the stack of folded cloth from spinning when cutting?

Gary

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RDUPRAZ posted this 31 August 2013

"Cutting platform-- piece of 1/4” plexiglass or hardwood on top of the drill press table. Whatever is handy at the time.

If the cutting edge is sharp enough, the drill press doesn't need to be turned on. And the cloth spinning is not an issue.

RD

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linoww posted this 31 August 2013

I chew them off of a bolt of fabric.My saliva is not wasted and used as patch lube(it takes three to five minutes to get a chunk free so the fabric is pretty wet).I have been chewing rags since i was 6 months old in this fashion.

seriously i cut at the muzzle like Pat.Or i use a rotary cutter and fabric mat and cut them square.The is no proof a round patch works better than square one.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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51 Colt posted this 17 September 2013

I use a small plastic cutting board you can buy them cheep at Wally World. If you make over powder wads out of old wool hats or bulk wool felt Harbor Fright sells wad cutter sets cheap that fit in a drill press.

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curator posted this 20 September 2013

I gave up on cutting round patches after screwing it up so many times with various cutters. Now I wash my pillow ticking then tear into strips of the proper width. I dry-lube them ala Dutch Shoultz and cut them at the muzzle with a thin knife sharpened on only one side. This way, patches are always centered and exactly the right size. Of course you need to have a proper “ball-set” that seats the ball flush with the muzzle and does not deform it at the same time. Too deep and there is a lot of surplus patching material to catch on your short starter or ramrod. Too shallow and your patch knife skins the ball.

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onondaga posted this 20 September 2013

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=377>curator and all that knife cut patches:

I have the same patch cutter knife that I made in 1958 as a boy and it still works fine. Knife cutting patches is not what I am looking for information about, I know how to do that just fine. I'm looking for other methods of cutting round patches.

http://s30.photobucket.com/user/rhymeswithwhat/media/patchknife_zps475a852a.jpg.html>

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