Yona

I did these real flames with sharpies....the dragon is metallic silver sharpie....

Posted link so you would know which one.....didn't think someone would go and look....Sorry! I just lost 10 years of work and a computer to one of those.........I won't look around any more, that's for sure...............

If you get the H/F ones , use Eastwood's little plateing kit the coat them so they won't stain the wet leather black...iron + acidic leather= Vinagroon

Was looking for western fonts in Computer Help-Western Fonts and picked up a malware...AV7 and shut her down...restarted and COMODO got her........Was looking at linkWas almost at the last ones when it hit.......Beware.....can some one check this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have read a lot in here on lacing and agree and disagree on a lot of things....I do motorcycle seats mostly.....I like to mold my leather to the shape of the seat and usually do it in two pieces...top and bottom! I don't like rivets and felt, cause it shows no craftmanship and less willingness to do a job right.....I know people that get a $1000 or more for a seat......I only wish....They sew the seat and punch big holes, install brass eyelets, and use skinny lace in a X pattern that in no way would hold a seat together. Then they pop-rivet the thing on and cover that mess with thick black felt .....to "protect the paint", as in cover up the mess!! I agree with Marlon mostly as to the choice style, how to punch holes and the type of needle to use .....I like the 2-prong flat needle for price, ease of use and the fact that after you have done it enough, once you have started, and have the shiney side up, you can slide trhe lace thru your fingers and lace with out even looking at it...the flat keeps the lace going thru the hole in the proper orientation......I too hold the spool and pull the lace above my head , without fully extending my arm, .......I dry splice by leaving about 3/4" inch to tug on and start the new length with the same and weave the ends in and out inside the weave. I butt the edges of leather together, and use the slit, straight or angled Punch, customer choice. I use 2 and 3 loop, applique, and round braid. If I can't mold the leather to fit tight on sharp corners I will cut and fold, useing applique style and a thin backer strip. Mostly this is needed on P-pads for bike with solo's. I never use round holes as like Marlon says....looks like a kit!! I like to use the foam in Camping pads, sold at Wal-Mart...Good supply and it can be shaped with a sanding disc on a air grinder...I cover that with a 1/4 close- cell foam, used on Landau roof on cars....easy to get at your local auto upholstery shop. I spend a week of nights usually lacing and placeing each stitch on a seat....On a 2-loop, you go thru the front , out the back, over thr e top , back 2 stitches, under 2 in the front and 1 in the back....don't sit there and tug till the laces are pull out of place ...snug it and then fold , hold with L hand and thread lace thru the next front hold and pull the needle thru, gripping the neddle at the 2prongs and pull till snug, pushing leather together and flattening lace with the left thumb and repeat. Been doing this since the late 60's and I can do this in the dark....take pride in what you do and how happy your customer is going to be, not on how much you get to stick in your pocket...... Picture below is of a LePera, modified by customer so end of tank would come point and tuck in to the seat....doing a 2-loop in that V was a b---h...I had to roll the end of the needle to get it thru the tight slits.....can't do that with a round needle... ; P As my hands get old and stiff , my carving skills aren't the best any more but I take pride in knowing that one of my molded and laced seat, is more of a saddle, than just a buttbucket, to be replaced every 2 years...Plus there is a reason a show saddle is carved and a working saddle is not....... Used to make saddle bags in the old days that buckled to the saddle and one could be removed and used to get water for the horses. you could dip it in a stream and it would stop dripping (leaking) before you got back to the horses....Good tight laces... I have a rawhide Tandy mallet that I bought at a craft shop in Germany in 1974........the handle is oak and it is polished so smooth, that I take the rawhide end and use the handle to tap along each finished section, and then bone to a smooth finish...I use the stylus end of my spoon/stylus to open holes, tug strands in place and give the lace a uniform look. I punch all of my hole, 7 to an inch, on the bottom, spacing around sharp curves and indentations......if you double up on a curve, I think every other one make a nicer uniform look. you have to plan them and it takes more time ...BUT after all , that why we like to be called leathercraftsmen...or ladies.... ; ))))) Thanks for listening....Yo-Na of the Cherokee

This onw is for 1st Sgt Wagenbrenner.....his brother Karl, built the bike on ChopperWeb.net, with parts , donated by his friends on the site...

Why not trace the pattern on clear acetate....from the buckle blank and add enough for stitching or laceing......been doing it that way since 1971! Then add your pattern....put it over a floral or whatever design align it and trace!

I use Grafix brand "Computer Grafix" Acid free.....Clear- Ink Jet .....6 shts to a pack....print and put the clean side to the leather and trace with a ball-point pen that is used up....If I am not saving it I wipe it off with a wet paper towel....but do that as soon as possible...the longer the ink dries, harder to get off!!

The one on the brass riser is a basic celtic knot Hers...............is just this one with a circle in it.................And I just "designed" this , kinda like the one on her site... ; )

I'm new, but I have traveled the world in the army, and I just looked at her site and the first thing I saw was a triangle with a celtic note that I have seen a lot of places and they were carving over a couple of hundred years old ....sooooooooo unless she is a vampire or immortal...she copied them. She might have copy writed (?) but that does not mean that she did not copy them from old drawings or carvings......people copywrite things all the time that no one else did.....I see it in the chopper builders world all the time. Tell her to prove it....look up old celtic carvings and drawings and use them....if she says they are hers, counter with plagerism....

LOL....Sorry , just saw post date...............

I don't under stand ..the first 3 pics are of an embossed Cajun Straps guitar strap....are you adding embossing or claiming this as your own... As to the Designs............................. Cut with a swivelknife and bevel, then use a background tool or two...mat the inside edges of the bevel and then use any tool to finish the field, a foliage stamp, say a F993....would add a nice background. Dye the design in the depression, or not, and then wrap a piece of old bedsheet over a wood block and apply dye with applicator to cloth and burnish, (by rubbing the pad back and forth, over the length of the belt) and burnish around the edges of the belt, to get a darker color, to make the border pop....bone the edges to get them smooth and I use a product, used to re-do the edges of shoe soles, when they have been re-soled or to make then look new....that gives a shiny hard edge, after boning!......or use a big black Magicmarker, and seal with neetsheen or similiar product...

One is a re-do of a Pro job and the other are ones I did for members of a chopper building site I belong to.....I don't do rivets , black felt, and I hate cross-hatch lace thru big brass eyelets along sewn seams and then call it laceing.... First three~Dragon seat- Cutdown Harley Police airbag seat next 2~ Cut down Mustang Regal K & Q And the next 7 are of the re-do.....I think it ended up softer and has a better shape, replaced 2 layers of hard rubber with 1" of closed cell foam, Shaped with 80 grit sandpaper This went on a WCC chop with a CFL frame I & 2 - As I recieved it 3&4 - When I finished 5 - Back of seat with molded edges...and my logo.... ; )) 6 - This is a shot of the nose, dark mark in upper left, scar on backside,very thin and badly trimmed edge on right of nose , causing bulge on "laceing"...see 1st pic Dyed after laceing, and not sealed, when I wiped it off , the color started to come off !!!!!! 7 - This is the back side of the nose, you can see the scar and the very off, marked centerline. By wrapping the edges of my bottom cover up and over the sides, I was able to trim the top cover and re-punch some of the holes and added a hole in between each of the other ones, to tighten up the lacing, done with Tandy's black

Hello, I am a Micha Lower Creek/Cherokee, living in Jacksonville, Florida....was building custom cars and motorcycles and then ..the economy.....I fell back on my leather work and started doing custom seats for home-built chops and bobbers...it's starting to pick up. I do leather on both sides and the lace it on ....do some edge to edge, but prefer to mold the botom and form turned up edges and mold the top to meet in a butt splice and used a 2 to 4 loop weave or mexican round weave. Hope I can pick up some new ideas for an old head. Thanks for having me in your lodge!

Richard, I don't see a problem.....think about it....black will cover red . I do the red and then use a black sharpie to highlight the bevel and a large black magicmarker for about 1/4" around the design. You have to let it dry to see the degree of saturation....I really lay it on ..3 or more applications the first time. I don't keep the sharpie up against the bevel, if it is not moving. I make 2 light passes and then use the large one, giving the egde of the bevel time to dry.The sharpie dye seems to act as a sealer of sorts. (Don't know for sure) I coat the design with a coat of neetsheen, and paint the edges with a brush...then you can do all of the black..As black can be splotchy, I let it dry for about an hour and then go over it again...just make sure the design is the color you want before you seal. I have used MagicMarkers since the 70's as when I was deployed overseas in the army, supplies were whatever you can find,even chemicals and vegtables are a good source of color..beets make the most beautiful red......This is just a self-taught method and you need to experiment to get it right...hope it helped!!!! A Harley seat all colors except black field, done with Sharpie's and MagicMarkers.......