LAROC

I intend to airbrush a dark brown to light tan fade on the motorcycle seat I'm making, and the seat will have black lacing. Is it ok to airbrush the stain once the seat is made-up and laced or do I need to airbrush prior to lacing the elements together? Thanks in advance for any adivice.

Hi Pete, I was in Graphics and Illustration for approx. 20 years, had a mid life crisis and became a cop. I'm currently recupperating having had a foot operation following a nasty work incident. Been on crutches almost three months with two 2"inch screws in my foot, so I spent time designing my project and literally have dived straight into it. I'm hooked. I am also handy with an airbrush and still draw, mainly motorcycles for pleasure. Feel free to check out my illustrations, they are done for fun nothing else, I love bikes. http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii203/b...0and%20Artwork/ So yes four weeks tooling with no previous experience is true! I know what I like. I wanted hand tooled stuff for my bike for ages but it is costly in the Uk to have it made, another factor for me doing the work myself.

Thxs AZRIDER. Having looked at the excelent post by Roger showing in pics 'how to do a seat' I've decided to go the whole way and have made the templates for punching the holes already. I'll make card templates to check fitment first. I don't know what the style of lacing is called but I'm going to try and do the 'X' style he shows in the tutorial. I just need to know if there is a prefered place to start and the best way to tie ends once laced. Presumably it's best to thread with a needle for precision. Feeling pretty excited that I've decided to take the leap of faith on this project. I appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks for the good advice Rhall. It's a confidence thing at present as this is all new to me. I will definitely try a small piece of lacing soon. I'm studying other peoples work to see how others do there projects and I've seen some stunning examples of work on this site.

Thanks for the welcome Tom. I've posted some pics of what I've been up to in the motorcycle section.

Hi I'm Phil and I'm new to this site as I've only been tooling in leather for the last four weeks. I always wanted a hand tooled leather seat for my harley plus some other stuff so I decided to have a go at doing as much as possible myself. The project consists of a solo seat base, removable pillion, dash panel, small rear fender bag and a larger roll bag to sit on my headlamps attached to risers/upper tree. Everything will be laced with black kangaroo lace. I have used 7/8 oz veg tanned tooling leather for everything. The bag sides which will be laced-on are 6/7oz. I intend to get a proffesional to do all the lacing as I have no idea about this area although would like to try this in the future once my project is done. I intend to airbrush a fading medium to tan stain on everything myself to finish. I have made all the straps myself and will use brass screw rivetts and buckles to finish. This project is far removed from what I do as a living, the large Roll bag gives you an idea and I'm really pleased with how it's all working out. I wish I could complete thing myself but I really want it to look professional once completed. Anyway see what you think yourselves here are some pics of the tooled work so far. [a ttachment=28161:001.jpg]

I'm Phil and I've only been tooling leather for four weeks mainly because I wanted some unique stuff for my motorcycle, plus I've been on crutches for three months following a foot operation (non motorcycle related), and needed a project to keep me busy. I've already learned a great deal really quickly and now hooked there's loads more I need to know which is why I've joined this site. Looking forward to picking up some tips from experienced crafters.

Looks like a great job.