artycpt

Thanks for the heads up and compliments. I will definitely be watching that.

Thanks All. The pattern matches my seat re-upholstery. This was initially going to be a plain prototype but I can't leave anything plain for some reason. It attached under the front of the seat via a hole that allows the front seat post to go through it. In the front it attaches by a strap that feeds through the tank bib and goes around the frame, in front of the gas tank. I will try to get some pictures to show what I mean. A lot of people use Velcro to attach it to the tank but I didn't want to stick Velcro on my tank and wanted to see if I could some up with a different way.

Made up a tank bib to fit the new Indian Scout. Now that I have the pattern down I am going to try to make up a few different styles.

Somewhere on the site there was a tutorial posted on this topic. I don't remember the link but have some of the general information. As far as weather proofing the process goes something like this: 1. Dye 2. Neatsfeet oil 3. Resolene (cut 50/50) 4. Pecard Motorcycle leather conditioner 5. Pecard Motorcycle leather Dressing. The original tutorial used felt as a backing for the tank bib. I have used felt as well as thin craft foam.

I have used it and can tell you that it rubs off very easily and smells GOD AWFUL

I have a feeling there is another side to this.....as in, the back where there is a second piece of leather sewn to what you see. The top is open for a bill pocket (hence the bills in the picture) and something sewn in. Without seeing the opposite side we don't know if there is any more stitching or what may be going on internally.

Yet another Tacoma member.. I am thinking the idea of using already weathered leather might be the trick. Either that or start with brown and layer diluted washed of black over it. Haven't tried that but worth a shot on some scrap. I know that back in the day (when the army used to have black boots) just a couple days in the field, in the snow would weather the leather pretty rapidly.

Know exactly what you mean. I ended up starting a board that is titled "projects I would do if I had more time" and constantly fill it with all the great ideas that look really cool and maybe someday I will get to.

Yup. That is right. I case and tool it, oil it, then dye it. Allowing for sufficient time between each step.

different materials will give different impressions of the stamps. I agree that in order to see what it will look like in leather you need to tool it in leather. Depedning on what and who is around you, scrap leather pieces can usually be found pretty cheap.

Just a quick note from looking at your pictures and it appears that you aren't getting the antique down into the tooled areas. The dark areas are all on the raised portions. I know from my experience that getting it down into the tooling is not always easy and that the antique will tend to want to stay on the top. I normally use a wool dauber for getting the antique down into the recessed areas. Make a small circle motion, making sure it gets down in there then keeping a paper towel or cloth as flat as possible, wipe off the excess. I will use a damp towel and a dry towel to wipe off the excess and if too much it removed from the tooled area I will repeat. I am not a huge fan of the super sheen. I had an old bottle (pre eco-flo) that worked a lot better. With the newer super sheen it seems to take a couple pretty heavy coats to have an evenly resisted area. I was working on a larger project and used the newer super sheen as a resist, applyed evenly over the entire piece and when I antiqued it, there were areas that seemed to have no resist at all. Ended up with a big dark blob in the middle of the piece. For the monogram in the coaster I wouldn't rely solely on antique to fill the letter. I will take a small brush and either apply the antique to the background stamped area or use a brown leather dye to that area first. This also works for areas in a floral pattern that are backgrounded. OK. going on longer than I planned....hope this helps a little.

Here's a couple ideas: http://www.peggysuealso.com/servlet/StoreFront http://www.theleatherguy.org/ http://barbarossaleather.com/

Thank you. It is the first time I did any baroque style tooling. There are some things I would do a little different to get a little more detail but it is definitely a fun style to work in.

I have learned more by making mistakes than by any of the projects I have had go right from the start. Every time I mess something up I make it into an experimental piece that I come up with a new technique to cover up the mistake. This leads to a lot of half finished things around that need some kind of fix or other but makes it so I always have a new skill to learn and keeps me from giving up.

From the picture is does look like a single layer that has just maybe had the rough side burnished like crazy...

Totally agree with JLS. Although I don't fold my edges over around the flaps, I use a seperate piece for the inside flaps. I will use 4/5oz on almost any cover that is going over a hard cover book. If I am adding a lot of detail to the front I may go up to 6/7oz. For a binder or cover that will not cover a hard covered book I will use heavier or will add a stiffiner between the outer leather and lining. I do use a gouge for the folds at the binding or spine.

Thank you. On this one I used 4/5 oz. I will use between 3 and 5 oz for covers depending on the amount of detail and design.

Very cool. I really like the rivets in the hat construction and the intricacies of the pieces woven together in the bracelet are awesome!

I do pretty much the same thing as cyberthrasher but add one additional step. Once the middle is dyed and I have dry brushed/sponged the edges dark, I go back with a small soft paintbrush and drybrush (with very little dye on the brush) the lighter color where it blends into the darker until I get a gradual fade that I like. Definitely takes time.

I second electrothon. My first thoughts are that your tooling wasn't deep enough and when you wiped off the antique it wiped out of the crevaces too. (I have had this exact problem). I use a paper towel to wipe off the excess and do it in pretty quick motions trying to keep the paper towel flat and paralell with the surface of the leather so it doesn't pick up any of the antique in the tooling. Sometimes it takes a couple coats of antique to make sure it gets into the depressed areas and you may have to saturate the heck out of them a little to get it in there.

I have used the closed cell foam too (which I think is also neoprene). The kind used in yoga mats that you can find at the sporting goods stores. I am pretty sure the foam you were looking at in Joann's was open cell. The stuff you want to look at is the small foam boards or pieces in the art section or where the kids art stuff is, craft foam I think it is called. You may have to use a couple layers to build up the cushion or get thicker foam.

Here is the latest completed order for a Bible cover. Monogrammed and added baroque style designs to the front. I am really liking this type of design and will have to do more. On the back they wanted a crow and inifinity symbol and their wedding date. Decided to go with Roman Numerals.

Looks awesome! can't wait to see it all done.

Thanks Shaun, and I agree with you. The pictures don't show it very well but I did antique the orange and red ones. The yellow was harder as I wanted to keep the overall yellow and not change it with too much of a brown antiqued tone. I am going to try a light wash over it to see if that will help. There are some variances in the yellow as I did a base dye then resisted some areas then another dye but the pictures don't show it.

If it is what I am thinking it is; a round elastic cord, then you can get it at sewing supply stores or fabric stores. Some hobby stores may have it also in their sewing section.