What I am trying to do is see if the Item Rate shipping module can handle the shipping per item "without the handling fee", and if the handling fee is based on per qty of an item, and you were to put that handling fee in the products_weight field and that the handling fee is based on quantity then would that work?

Example: Item Rate set to 8.00

Qty 1 8.00
Qty 2 16.00
Qty 3 24.00
etc. etc.

If Pad 1 had a handling fee of 3.00, and this was in the products_weight field, would the shipping be:

Qty 1 8.00 + 3.00 = $11.00
Qty 2 8.00 x 2 + 3.00 x 2 = $22.00
Qty 3 8.00 x 3 + 3.00 x 3 = 33.00

If Pad 2 had a handling fee of 7.00, and this was in the products_weight field, would the shipping be:

Qty 1 8.00 + 7.00 = $15.00
Qty 2 8.00 x 2 + 7.00 x 2 = $30.00
Qty 3 8.00 x 3 + 7.00 x 3 = $45.00

And qty 1 of Pad 1 and qty 2 of Pad 2 would be:

Qty 1 8.00 + 3.00 = $11.00
Qty 2 8.00 x 2 + 7.00 x 2 = $30.00

for a total shipping of $41.00 ...