Big Steve

Sweeeeet, like it , i am also interested in this etching jobbywotzit that you did ,,, more info needed please ( jobbywotzit ! its a Nottinghamshire word, like a dodaa, a thingymajig, you know, well maybe you dont), nice seat mate, Regards, Steve.

Nice one Dude, i get asked to do a lot of stuff with skulls and feathers, Dreamcatchers and things, what did you use for the colour, and what pan did you build the seat on ? Regars, Steve.

Hiya Nogg, i agree with Dirtcold and Kustomizer, very nice seat, the tooling, the colour all of it, nice job. Regards, Steve.

Hey Joker, piston toolbags seem to be growing in popularity over there, see if i cant do one for the dude with the shovel chop that i did the engine seat for one would look good on his bike, nice work as always, Regards, Steve.

Dennis, yea i was talking about the dye/stain thanks for the info, Regards, Steve.

Hey Joker, nice one mate, like the colours, what did you use for the texture in the black, the guy with the FLH should be pleased. Regards, Steve.

Nice mugs mate, i have been waiting for these any following the progress, the hammer finish looks good, like the colours too, what did you use, i tried again to get the reptile effect but no luck even with the wax at 200 deg.C in the deep fat frier, your work NICE. and again thanks to angster for his help to me when i made my first mugs. Regards, Steve,.

Nice work mate, nuff said, well almost!! i do like Dragons and Celtic so for me its a winner, 2 things how do you finish the top and bottom leathers stitch em that is and are you going for the world's thinnest seat, hey realy nice work, Regards, Steve.

Bobby, the best way for you to do this pan is the same way as Dave Theobald does his seats, thats the method i use, go to his tutorial at the top of this page and spend some time reading it, then go back through the pages of this forum and have a look at the other seats he has made you will learn a lot , as i did , his method works. the leather i would use is 6-7 oz. for the top and the bottom. Regards, Steve.

Nice one Joker, do you mind if i use the idea in the UK looks good with the seat , is that the last piece for the bike or is there more to follow, keep us posted. Regards, Steve.

Thanks Guys for your comments, had i have known about your seat Joker i would have PM you to ask about the fins, how you did them, nice seat mate, Bobby here is a picture of the tool i made it was an old lacing punch with the prongs cut off, filled flat and a radius on one corner to act as beveller a sharp corner other end to get into the pushrod tubes, this is how i did them, first i bevelled around the outside of the cylindersas you would on a normal job but DON'T cut the line , as you need a softer edge for the tool to run when you have done the tooling af the gaps between the fins, then i cut the fin lines with swivelknife and a straight edge, these lines are the gap between the fins, then i used a modeling tool to open up the cuts to just smaller than the thickness of the tool, then place the tool into the cut keeping it square and central and tap it with the maul to form the gap , work along the line till you get to the puhsrod tube, use the sharp end to make a clean finish the rounded end is then used to run into the bevell on the outside of the cylinders leaving no tool marks, use the modeller in the fin gaps to blend any marks, i have thin background tool that i used to put bit of texture in to hold the antique finish, i hope that makes sense, if not let me know and i will try to explaine it in another way, and again thanks for your help with the fin cutting ideas, the link from Chris on David Maine is worth lookin at, Hope this picture helps, Regards, Steve.

A customer wanted the picture of the engine in his hard tail 79 Shovel Chop tooling onto his seat, he gave me a photo of the engine to copy this is it done, hope you like it, and thanks for the suggestions to tool the fins on the motor i made a tool to do it in the end, let me know what you think, any better way to do fins let me know. Regards, Steve.

Hey Sparks, this looks good for a first project would look good strapped to a harley nice job dude. Regards, Steve.

Hi Bobby, thanks for you comments, i have been tooling leather about 10 years, i am self taught from books and have made a lot of mistakes, but i think a mistake is only a mistake if you dont learn from it, most of my stuff is biker related, like you i also think this site is awsome, i have only been a member for a short time but what ihave learned from others on this site is fantastic, like you say trhere is so much talent on it and its all there for sharing, i personaly cant thank the people on this site enough for what i have learned, and for there encouragement, all ican say mate is practice and ask questionsthe answer is here somewhere, i have had my Harley for 8 years now and is a rolling advert for my work as a painter and leatherwork, youcan find more of my work at www.bigsteves.co.uk if ican help you with anything just ask its no problem, contact details are on my web site. oh and the stitching and lacing is easy i love it the best part of the job i find it relaxing and i normally do it while watching TV. Regards, Steve.

Hey Thumper, i make bike gear all the time, you wont go far wrong with what spinner has said about the wieghts, only differance is i use 10-11 oz on all the parts of the saddlebags that i make it makes for a stiffer bag, not saying i'm right but it works for me, hope this helps, good look, and ride safe. Regards, Steve.

Chris, thanks a lot mate that was most helpfull, this seat is the one i spoke of yesterday, man i just got cold feet and panic set in, as i have a lot of hours in this seat, last night i made a tool best discribed as a long thin back grounder and a beveller all in one, i cut the fin lines opened them up with a wide stylus placed it into the cut and worked it with the maul seems to be ok, this morning i'm goin for it !!! will post on m/c section when done. Regars, Steve.

thanks for the quick response, i have try this already it works, but need more detail they just look like thick lines, have tried backgrounding between them looks ok. but its not quite right, maybe im wanting too much. many thanks more ideas the better Regards, Steve.

Hey dude's iam doing a seat with a Harley v twin motor on it the last thing to do is the fins i have an idea how to do it but ANY help or advice would be appreciated. Regards, Steve.

Cheers Chris,thanks for the comments, im working on a seat at the moment its going onto a 1979 hard tail shovel head chop, the customer gave me a picture of his engine with lots of trick bits on it ( the guys a CNC. machinist ) and asked if i can tool the picture of his engine onto the seat , its almost done, should start to lace it up today when its done i will post it and see what you think. Regards, Steve.

713ms, thank you for the compliments, if i can help you in any way then i will, of course the key is to practice, if you want to send a PM that would be ok i will give you a contact number, you may want to check out our web site www.bigsteves.co.uk

Chris, England aIn't that big mate, Hertfordshire its not far from Nottinghamshire if i find them i will let you know, Regards, Steve.

Hey Spinner, nice work dude, i'll keep a look out for these at rallies, the" how to " part was also interesting what part of England are they going to ? Regards, Steve.

Troy, nice job mate, i do like doing skulls (and Dragons LOL) i had same sort of problem with a LTD. Edition Soft Tail i had to glue the to seat foams to form one, and that was a right bitch to get the leather to conform to shape, but it played the game after a while, think i will try the lacing pattern out on a seat next time, it will make a change to basket weave and a lot faster, again nicework mate, Regards, Steve

hey mate, they look good for a first project, i'm glad your not up and comming in the UK. that would be even more competion, good work mate keep doin it. Regards, Steve.