Any help would be appreciated.

warm water helps, a lot ! we have many a crafts men here with leather, me not so good

I soak them in water for a 15-20 minutes. Then I grab 3 of those jumbo folding paper clips. Try to tamp most of the water out, then wrap it around your bow grip and use the clips to hold it in place where the stitching will go. After it dries it will conform and you can remove the clips and make the final trimmings so the seam flushes up snug. Punch holes and sew it on.

Wrap the handle with Saran Wrap.Then use tape(masking,duct,athletic)laying it in different directions/lengths,trying to avoid wrinkles. Carefully cut down front of handle,avoiding scratching finish. Use that for a pattern.Transfer it to dry leather,punch holes,wet as Pearl Drums says.Squeeze out excess,lace over handle and let dry.It will shrink to fit. Wax handle very well before installing Use a little double sided tape to prevent rolling also. Experiment first with cheaper leather,innertube,etc. Sack

Or you can avoid the water, plastic wrap, duct tape, hole punches and such and just use deer leather and a couple big needles. Deer leather is stretchy but strong.

I was going to suggest the same thing as Jeff

DDave

Deer leather will stretch a mile, no doubt. Elk leather, that I've used, stretches a bit less. Cow leather barely budges when dry.

I always had good results with pearl drums method. Just be sure to wrap the area with Saran wrap first so the moisture doesn't hurt the finish in your bow handle.

Yeah, elk has a little less stretch, and is thicker and makes a grip feel cushiony or more padded than deer does. Elk is a good choice if the grip feels small and you'd like it to feel bigger, or softer to help reduce felt recoil.

Check the leather for direction.... the stretchy ones stretch more one way than the other, deer especially, and then orient it on the handle to best suit your needs.

Here's how I do it. http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/leatherhandle.html Jawge

3 rivers has a video showing the steps.

FWIW My Scorpion Lb came with rounded goat skin lace wrapped around the handle.It's about 1/8" wide-nice'n thin.With this or something like it there's no need to soak or anything.I think it looks better than a single one piece wrap to.

Also....real thin cowhide with edges skived and overlapped.Like the Bear grips 1959&1960

After saran wrapping the grip, wetting the leather, stretching, clamping, and letting it dry over night, I mark it and trim to fit, punch the holes, get everything ready to sow, then apply barge cement to both bow grip and leather. Then I sew the grip on asap, before the cement dries and will give and allow a little movement. Then I wrap the grip area with an ace bandage and let it dry until the next day. I don't put barge cement all the way up the my sewing holes. I tape off about 3/4" from either side, apply the cement, then pull the tape off. I don't put cement on the bow for about that distance either. Got the ace bandage part from Big Jim. It works great.

Pearl Drums and Jeff, I want to thank you guys for your help. Just finished a grip - it's about my sixth so far, on different bows - this one is easily looks the best, with the least struggle. Your suggestions are a huge help.

I start with masking tape with the sticky side out. Wrap your handle. Cut down the belly or back, whichever side you want to lace. Transfer the masking tape pattern to the leather and stick it down, trace it out and cut it out. After that, I do pretty much like the other guys suggested above.

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