bustedlifter

Never used that stuff. I was going to but it seemed uncomfortable. Air is the way to go.

Reminds me of the "tattooed" leather bike seats I saw. The leather was very thin and no examples of what they look like after some time in the real world. No thanks! If it sounds to good to be true, then it usually is.

What are you wearing that would scratch the paint?

If I want a lighter look I use Fiebing's Snow Proof. After tooling I put the piece in an oven that is cooling to warm it up and the snow proof on a heater vent or in the sun to soften it up a bit. When I'm ready,I put some on a rag and work it into the leather. you won't have to work it much. It melts into the leather giving it some highlights. Repeat as necessary until you like the effect.

Paint looks good with wear marks, it shows the bike gets ridden not just used as a prop.

Hey, Tom, nice work!

Thanks everyone! Rickey, I do have a tendency to be redundant. I look at my junk and think I should've done this or that and instead of letting it lie, I do it. bkb, I don't put foam over the tube, I put a piece in front of it to kind of even it out. It's an old hot rodders trick. A little bit of air goes a long way for a comfy ride.

Better pic?

I take lousy pics;]

Glad to hear you have someone,Randy! I thought if it went any longer I might have to see if you would be interested in how I make my junk.

If you like that sort of thing. The coloring. Yes.Yes.Yes and yes if you actually ride the bike and not just push it up and down the ramp of a trailer.

Looks like paint. I want to see them after they get caught in some rain...

Thanks for the kind words!

I saw a drawing of this and thought it would look cool in leather.

I use either Fiebing's Aussie conditioner or Snow Proof. Both work really well but I don't know how they would perform with acrylics.

I really liked Iron Horse magazine when David Snow was the editor.

Cool! Great job!

Very impressive! I would like to see more views of the tubular case.

That's a crazy looking bag, man! I like it!

Yeah, whatever Picasso. I use a glass or can or piece of tubing, like in the link above, whatever is the size of what I'm making and a good hose clamp. Wet the leather down till it can't take any more, put it over your device, put the clamp on and tighten it down. Sometimes I have to adjust it after I put it on the first time but just screw around with it and you'll get the hang of it.I leave it on there until the piece is dry.

Another take on FTW. A few years ago I met Faye Butler at a friend's shop where he was giving a metalworking clinic. If you're not familiar with Faye, he taught Jesse James how to rivet metal together like they did in aircraft plants during WWII. Jesse was wanting to rivet pieces of copper together to form a gas tank and Faye being a very talented metalsmith, one of the best on the planet, Jesse sought him out to teach him how to do it. Anyway, he tells me that Jesse wanted to show his appreciation, to Faye, for teaching him how to set these rivets so he had his bud, Bill Wall, make a vest for him. Faye said Jesse gave it to him and it had FTW on it. He had no idea what it meant so he asked Jesse, who thought for a bit then told him it stood for Faye The Welder.

It's an old hot rodder's trick from 'back in the day'. I first read about it in an old Iron Horse magazine from the early nineties when a cat named David Snow was the editor. It's pretty comfy and doesn't compress like foam does.Really helps out on a rigid.

I had a pic of the tube on the pan laying around here someplace. I stick the nozzle through the pan so ,yes, you can change the pressure,but I usually run about 2-3 psi in it. Sometimes I put foam in front of it to fill in but not in this case. A lot of how it lays has to do with if the tube was made on Monday or Friday,I guess. Some are better than others. I measure the cover with the tube on the pan for alignment , punch the holes then tool away and a little luck never hurts.

Thanks! I appreciate it. I think my butt will thank me but I haven't had a chance to put some miles on it, yet.