whinewine

Maybe just give your local tandy store a call & ask someone knowledgeable & express your concerns to that person/manager. (S)he should be able to give you the correct & truthful answers. (I don't particularly like ceramic blades as I find that they have way too much drag, but many people absolutely love them.)

Contact Cathy Schlim at CSchlim@yahoo.com. She just turned in an order for Henley knives for a bunch of us & possibly may be able to get in an order for an extra beader blade for you at a reduced cost. She has a good rapport with the Henley people. Tandy also does carry the ceramic beader blades. The local store people may not know it as a beader blade, but that's what it is. Just ask for the ceramic double line blade.

I'm was going to try to use both these tutorials as references to finish the seat I'm working on. It's not the standard seat- it's a contoured banana-type seat off a Harley (maybe sportster or softtail). I've got the top piece (6-7 oz) tooled & cut (although I made the top piece oversize for trimming) & the sides I'm planning to make in 1 piece from 3-4 oz with an undersized cutout to be glued/ laced underneath the top piece. Afterward, it'll be wet/stretched/stapled & I'm hoping it'll all come together. Does this sound do-able? Would 2-3 oz be better than 3-4 for the side gusset, or should I stick with 3-4? How much overlap do you guys allow for gluing the two pieces together and lacing them- 1/2"? 3/8"? (I don't want to butt the pieces together- I want the top piece to overlap the side gusset for strength). I was hoping to look at & refer to the tutorials, but any help/assistance/ encouragement you can supply is greatly appreciated, believe me. Thank you. russ

Marlon, you're right about the dremel. This is why, if you're going to use one, it needs to be in a dremel drill press or in some sort of jig that keeps the the drill bit (&, of course, the holes, by extension,) straight & aligned. russ

Before the crash, I had bookmarked two cycle seat tutorial posts: one was by Beezachoppa called "motorcycle seat the beeza way" and the other was "seat from start to finish"... (I don't know who posted this one) they are both gone & I was wondering if they can be found & restored??? I'm finishing up the seat I am working on & I'd like to refer to the posts before I go any further. Many thanks. russ

I did that years ago when I used to make Revolutionary War replica items for a concern in Valley Forge, except I used a dremel in a dremel drill press, rather than a real drill press. I haven't gone back to production work since I returned to leatherworking, but now I have a real drill press if I need it. BTW, Rayban, that is a very nice sheath!

elephant

roo, sorry to pop in, but it looks like a fordham (a flexible shaft dremel tool on steroids)

Or at about the 7:40 position. there is a diagonal mark, lighter in color than the rest, possibly a lap joint, as Marlon speculated

Tandy, I believe, still stocks Osborne handles. Anywhere that stocks Osborne stuff- Springfield, Siegels, etc, should be able should be able to hook you up. Not quite as pretty, but certainly functional, and way, way, way cheaper than $65.

I am not saying that one type is better than others, but what is the original copyright of Al's book? In all probability, Al only had 2 serious choices at that time: linen or cotton. Cotton has major flaws for handsewing, I believe, & linen was, therefore, the obvious choice at the time. Now there are many different choices: linen, poly, nylon & kevlar (& possibly others I haven't thought of). Who knows, if Al were to have written the book today, he might have recommended kevlar... ???

Happy Birthday. Enjoy

You could take a small piece of marble or granite with you. Glue poundo board to one side= no scratches, no damage to tables. Put back in your car when you leave for work. I do it when we do shows & need to do stuff/fix stuff in the hotel room at night.

many paint stores stock, or can get for you, aniline dyes, which are mixed with (I believe), wood (methyl) alcohol. The amount = the strength/depth of color.

Sorry for bitching, Outcast. I just couldn't get the pics to show or open. While I am primarily a 'show me & I'll learn easier...' type of person, I know I can do this with your excellent directions (it's just a good reinforcement for me to see the photos, too). Believe me, I am greatly appreciative of your help. Thank you. Sincerely, russ

Outcast: I don't know what I did (or didn't do???), but I can't get the pictures to show for some reason... dammit! I'm sorry. russ

There is a gynocologist (sp?) in our town named Dr. Grab (really!). In Kane, PA, back in the '80s, there used to be a veterinarian named Dr. Lammie. What do you call a Jamacian proctologist?... a pokemon

:horse: When I was on the road back in the '80s, I came up behind a truck hauling horses in a trailer. The sign on the trailer read... "Don't be what you're looking at!" :w00t:

Dave: I don't know if Pecards will stop crocking. I use neatlac almost exclusively with spirit & also the eco dyes (& my wife complains constantly about the smell wafting through the house when it's too cold or rainy or snowy to use it outside). My original post was meant to give my opinion as to the waterproofing qualities of pecards vs neatlac in the outside real world of a heavy rainstorm. I have never made a cycle seat, although I'm currently working on one & the man wants brown, not black. What if you use pecards OVER the neatlac? Would this work? Or would this not absorb well?

Outcast: I have a stupid question... How do you figure out how many lacing holes you need to punch to make them come out even when you come back to the starting point? (In other words, how do you determine the distances between the holes so that they are all the same distance apart?) Thank you. russ

Or you could filter the flash through a sheet or a handkerchief (perhaps several layers of hankies) or translucent something-or-other material... what you're trying to do is diffuse the flash so it doesn't blow out or wash out the picture. Play & experiment, especially if you're using digital (easy to delete). Even if using film, you need to play & experiment. I used to tell my students that film is the cheapest part of their equipment- use & waste lots of it. If you get 1 great shot out of 36, it's worth it. If you get 36 boring, lousy shots, you've just wasted a whole roll.

Just a comment: I have both the Aussie Conditioner and the Pecards... while the Pecards has no smell, the Aussie has a very definite 'petroleum' smell to it. I would give the edge to the Pecards, because I was taught that petroleum-based products can shorten (ie, rot over time) the life of sewn threads. I have used Pecards on my boots to waterproof them & it definitely does that. I'm going to use Pecards on a motorcycle seat that I'm working on. Neatlac is somewhat water proof, but I don't think it'll stand up to a full rain storm over time like Pecards would, IMHO.

Yes, Ed. You have access to all editions. The only difference is that if you buy the cd, everything is on cd. Otherwise you'll need to download every single item to your hard drive or keep referring to the website to access the info. (I, in retrospect, should have bought the cd- that way I'd always have it handy.) russ

Probably the closest to you is PSLAC in Issaquah, Washington State. Google PSLAC. They have regular memberships & internet memberships, too. Very, very comprehensive how-to indexes (indices?) on line. $10 for internet membership, which gives you access to the members only how-to area. Worth every penny! Their president is also a member here.

Beautiful, Marlon! russ