Nixon66

You guys who are showing off your bobber solo seats do beautiful work. As a newbie enterested in doing seats (mostly for my own edification) I can see the complex simplicity of the work. In other words the seatpans themselves are relatively straight forward. Have any of you done re-covers or customs of the two-up seats that come on touring bikes. I have an 08 Street Glide that I want to do a custom recover for and not exactly sure where to start. I don't know if I want to just take the old one off and use it for a pattern or try my hand at my own interpretation. I guess the biggest problem is fitting all the curves, side and angles correctly, but I would like to hear you guys' input. Any advice and/or pictures of similar work would be greatly appreciated.

Johnny, nice looking seat. I guess we could always hope that Jack Daniels will commission Orange County Choppers to make a "theme" bike and you could get the bid for the seat. Or maybe you could just send it to Lynchburg and they could put it up on their "I love me wall." Regardless, that is a fine job.

Because "Red gun" has 3 letter words I could not successfully search this topic. Forgive me if it is a duplicate. For you guys and gals that do a lot of different holsters, has anyone thought of using the red or blue training weapons sold through police equipment companies as molds for their holsters. The are exact replicas of the guns they are meant to represent, there are many models currently in production, and they cost between 40 and 60 bucks. For a guy or gal who is not doing full production work but has the occasion to make holsters for the same models of guns on a regular basis, I think it would work great. You can also get red or blue dummy magazines for making mag holsters/carriers/pouches and the like. Just an idea I had. Probably not the first but I thought I would offer it up just in case.

I just came across this thread so I thought I might refresh it and add my two cents. There is a free shareware vector graphics program that I found and came highly recommended called INKSCAPE. You can Google it and find several locations to download it. I have had great success doing line drawing for all kinds of things, but the latest being patterns for leatherwork. I would show examples but I'm having trouble showing the .svg files in anything except the originating program.

I think it looks very good. I know what you mean about the elbow rest problem. I think if you would extend the leather out far enough to cut your belt slots out wide on the wings that you will get the close ride you are looking for. It will also be stiffer and not tend to sag. I have not made one but own a factory holster that is how I just described and it works well for me carrying a Para LDA 12-45 which is a double stacked 1911 clone. holster.bmp holster.bmp

DC Knives is spot on on the advice. A knife really shouldn't be stored in its sheath when put away for a period of time. I prefer S30V steel and it does not seem to rust as bad as carbon steel but it is such a high end knife steel that I wouldn't want to take the chance anyway. I store my knives in nylon cases when they are not on me.

Pip, Steve B is right. At the very least, with sag it will glaze the clear coat on the fender. Could even rub all the way through the paint over time. Denting is the worst case scenario but I have seen that happen too. Steve, that is such a great idea for a tool bag. I think I might do a similar one for my electraglide.

Thanks Art. I was beginning to wonder if anyone had heard of the 6/6. I looked up the A 3000 you spoke of and it is set up just like I wanted. The price is right and with your recommendation, I certainly feel better about the purchase. I had seen them before but just wasn't sure. I did not realize or consider that everthing was being made in China now anyway. As far as the Pearson. Well I have to admit that as little as I know about leather machines, the one thing I am aware of is that the Pearson #6 and #9 are the gold standard as it were. Thanks for taking the time to answer. That is one of the things I love about Forums. You can get some top notch professionals to answer your newby questions and not make you feel ridiculous for asking.

Thanks for the nice welcome and the encouragement. I live in Burnet, Texas 50 or so miles NW of Austin. I have been to the Tandy class already and have been working on my technique. I think I am ready to start some actual projects.

Well, again, I hope I am doing this right. I checked the search feature and didn't find anything so here is my question...please do not shoot me if it has been asked 1000 times. What thickness or ounce of leather works best for the tops of the custom seats and what do you guys use for the sides? Obviously if it is exotic there will be some exceptions but even then I suppose one glues them up over a heaver full grain leather. Any help is greatly appreciated. Nixon

I was discussing a similar project with one of my biker bros this last weekend. He has a version that is rather nice except now that it is old and comfortably broke in his tools fall out. In talking looking at it we both realized it was because the ovals (in his case circles) at the end of the bag did not have "ears" that folded in over the tools and the result was a hole that the tools could fall out of. I don't have a pattern, but I would absolutely not build one without the ears or flaps that could fold in over the tools.

I have looked through the posts and can't seem to find any previous info on this machine. I have heard good things about the Ferdco 6/6 but not sure if I need it or something else. I am a beginner in leather work but know that where I am going with it I will need a machine. My main thing is going to be knife sheaths but I will be doing other leather knick knacks too. The occasional belt, holster, cell phone holder and I really want to make some motorcycle seats as well. Could I please get some professional opinions on the Ferdco 6/6 and also some direction in chosing the right machine for my needs. Price is an object. Somewhere in the 2500 or less range. The more affordable the better but I don't want cheap Chinese knockoff either. Thanks

Hello all, I have been browsing the site and I am so glad I found this place. I am sure it will be of great help to me. I have always wanted to do leather work and finally took a Tandy class about 6 weeks ago. I need to get good relatively quickly because I want to be able to do high end knife sheaths for a friend's custom knife company. I also have an interest in motorcycle seat making and generally any leather project that I see and think "I can do that." Any who...glad to be here. I will be writing often.