twostepct

I am in the process of building myself a belt with matching holster and phone case for me to wear almost daily. The plan is to lightly oil the leather, antique and seal. I'm wanting to leave it a light color so the oiled appearence can darken as it ages, but I want to have the basketweave stand out. I've used alot of antique, but I've never used a resist with it to achieve this. If you apply a resist like neat-lac which is what I have then apply antique, what keeps the antique pigment from cracking or lifting? I guess what I'm trying to ask is what does it stick to or absorb into if the leather has been sealed? I also plan to finish with neat lac and then buff to a shine. Thank you so much!

When you laced your top and bottom pieces together, did you but them up together to form a 90* angle, or did you overlap them?

What kind of foam do you use? I've got to get this bike back in service and have no idea where to get it. Thanks

Ok Ian, thank you! I've got my foam trimmed down and smoothed out for the most part. The stock foam did go below the pan, but I'm taking that off. I plan on doing a tooled leather seat for this one. I made the foam as thin as I could, but I had to leave some on it because of the way the pan is made. The pan comes up the rear fender a little bit, unlike most chopper seats so I had to leave some foam on it too to make it look right. I think that when I make my pattern for my side pieces I should trace the seat laying on it's side right? To describe this I can only think of a boomerang because my seat kind of has that shape on the side. I couldn't just cut a trim piece that is straight but, rather, it would have to have a bend in it when it was cut to match the bend in the seat, right?? Thanks a bunch!

Hey seat crew, I need help/advice. Nearly 3 weeks ago, I laid my Softail over. I'm fine and the damage only consisted of needing a new derby cover, grips, clutch lever and a clutch lever housing. Anyway, me being supersticious, I decided to change the way it is equipped and I'm going with apes. So, while the bike is out of commission I've had time to tinker a little. I had two seats for the bike and cut one down to solo style last night. I still have to shape the stock foam or I may just go from scratch. The foam on the butt part (lack of better term) is pretty thick. If I leave this area thick, what is the best way to lace it up? I see alot of the seats on here are pretty thin and I don't think that will look right on a stock bike. I understand that the top piece is supposed to be the size of the top side of the seat. So, when you lace it together, do you just tuck the bottom under and rivit/staple it in place? I put a vinyl cover on the seat once before, but it had alot of wrinkles. Any help is appreciated and I hope I've explained things clear.

Thanks guys. I wasn't trying to say anything about the people who buy custom seats, if that's what was thought. I don't believe I have ever seen a hand tooled seat going down the road, and I see ALOT of bikes. But I do appreciate the help on what is used, and I learned something about neatlac as well. I have never had anything crack when I have used it over the Tandy (I think) antique either.. Thanks

To all that cover seats, what is the best thing to seal the seat with? I have an '05 Softail that I am about to cut my spare seat down to a solo seat and cut the foam very thin and cover with tooled leather. I see alot of custom seats, but I don't know how many of them go on bikes that actually get ridden. By that I mean getting caught in the occasional rainstorm etc. Anyone shine some light for me?

WOW.. It's been awhile since I've looked at this thread. I can't believe the difference between the two methods once they are put side by side. Now, what is lifting?

Ok, thank you for the tip. I am pretty new to carving in general, and have just been using the normal antique over the background. While it is darker, it is not like what I am trying to achieve. I wonder, though, if it would be easier to background "after" you dye the background? It seems it would be so you don't have to worry about being sure to get the dye in every little 'dot' left from the backgrounder. Opinions? Tyson

I'm not sure if this should be in carving or here, but we'll start here. I am wanting to carve an oakleaf pattern into a ranger belt I am planning. When you dye the background areas (in order to achieve a contrast) do ya'll first use the backgrounder tool after beveling your cuts, or do you just bevel it? Thanks! Tyson

Thanks for the reply! I applied two good coats of pure neatsfoot oil today and I like the way it looked before I left for work at 3:30pm this afternoon. I will look at it when I get home and see how much more it has lightened up. I looked at some stuff hanging in the local leather shop and the manager said that she finished it with pure neatsfoot oil. She also said that it will get darker with time and I'm sure this will as well, so I may just leave it alone. I will have to look into the Aussie dressing idea and try that. This is not going to be the last purse I make her so I will have others to experement with. I don't know how fresh the leather was when I bought it, but it is very pliable and in extremely good shape. The worst part of this project is going to be hand stitching it all together! Thanks, Tyson. BTW, I am in Abilene.

I am currently working on a purse for my fiance. It involves a large amount of basketweave with a small amount of carving. I am looking for the correct way to get the golden color on the leather (much like the color of the horse/wagon carving at the top left of the screen). I have found some information that tends to indicate that it is an oiled and sealed finish. That particular source of information says that they use olive oil and let the sun color it. I have tried it and got more of a carmel color than the above. I have also tried pure neatsfoot with a better result. I have also tried diluting antique finish but it seemed to take the 'life' out of the leather. I have also tried using fiebings bag-kote and some leather glow but it didn't look anywhere near like that, and it seemed to make it look dirty. The bag will be finished with either neat-lac or super sheen. There will also be a small amount of dark brown dye that will be applied within the design. I apologize for being so vague on the design, but my luck she would stumble upon this site and the secret would be out! Does anyone have any pointers? Thanks, Tyson

Hello from Texas! I have been doing leatherwork since I was about 13 ranging from building my own tack (spur straps, headstalls etc), to holsters (one of which I carry daily) and money clips, all the way to building my pair of chinks. I am just now getting more into carving small items, but have yet to do any floral designs. I am currently working on a purse for my fiance who is the love of my life. I look forward to learning more about this great hobby and hope that the forum explodes with information. Tyson