outcast

Looks good Shirley. I look forward to see it as it progresses.

Awsome work Sawyer! Your seat turned out really cool.

Nice seat. I think I've seen your bike over on the CTFS bastard site.

Shirley, I think it looks great. I don't think I could do all that braid work in 6 days. Great work, and another great seat.

Whinewine, thats not a stupid question at all. In fact the layout can be very important to the overall look of the project. This is what I do. First I measure from the edge the distance I want my lace holes to be from top to bottom. I always go with 3/8". Scribe or mark a line as shown in the next pic. Then I measure the distance around the scribed line. I use mig welding wire & tape it down right on top of the line all the way around. I use the wire cuz it's easy to work with, and I have plenty of it in the fab shop all the time, and it won't stretch like lace or thread. See the next pic. You might not see the wire but it is there. After I untape the wire from the template or leather I measure it's length. This one measured 37.75" around the lace line. Next I decide how far I want the holes to be apart. IMO 3/8" looks good, but ends up being a lot more holes, & more time lacing. So, on the bigger seats I go with 1/2". I never go over 1/2". Next I take the lace line measurement (37.75"), and divide it by .5 (1/2"). I come up with 75.5 holes. Mr. Monk wouldn't like that, so I round up to an even number of 76. Then I divide the lace line measurement (37.75") by the number of holes (76), and come up with .496". That's pretty darn close to 1/2", so thats what I will set my dividers to. I always mark a center line on the flesh side of the leather, straddle the line on both ends, and make my reference marks. That makes it all symetrical. Then I just step it off, and make my marks as shown in the next pic. Works out pretty good for me, hope it helps you too.

Tom, I put Block Out on the teeth, then stained the artwork with X-1. Then oiled it with neetsfoot, applied liquid latex to the art work, dyed the rest black with Fiebings oil dye, peeled off the latex, and sealed it with Leather Balm w/ atom wax. Buffed it to a nice gloss, and applied Fiebings Aussie leather conditioner w/ beeswax. Pretty much in that order.

Very nice Johnny. I like it. Very well done with the molding, and the color is great.

Thanx Shirley! Ever since I first laid eyes on your work I've been a big fan. You're a master at what you do. Oh, and BTW congrats on the seat article published over at Bikernet. You really pulled it off even when yer ol man was sayin NO WAY!

Very nice Holly. The color looks great, and I bet it looks better in person. Cameras always muck up the colors.

Great work busted! I really like the scroll work you did on the gun barrels.

Hey, thanx for the comps guys! Freak, I got the artwork off from google. The molding is pretty much a trick I figured out on my own a couple of years ago. I use to mold it as shown in Beezas tute with the leather for the sides cut out in the middle to exact dimensions of the the top piece which leaves it all one flat piece after lacing. You really have to fight with it that way when you mount it. Now I drape it over the top of the seat so the sides are hanging downward instead of outward then cut out the top, and trim carefully to a line I've drawn on foam. It takes a little more attention to the set-up, and just a little bit more leather, but really is a big time saver (and pain saver on my hands) when I mount it. It also wet forms to curvatures easier. Steve

I just finished this up for a prison Ministry in Ohio. It's going on an HD softail. He said he wanted to sit on a demons face so I gave him one that is demonicly possessed himself.

I have some of Craftools, Barry King, and Robert Beard. I use the RB bevelers most of the time, however I do use BK's bevelers when I need a steeper beveler for tight work as in Sheridan style tooling. Steve

Awesome work Marlin, and a great idea from Peter. I'm one of those who like a little black in the background to give contrast. I think it makes the artwork pop out, but like most avid motorcycle enthusiests I've always liked black. Steve

Yes, Plastic Dip works well, and gives it a uniform "factory" look.

Thanx. It's actually "British Tan".

Here's a CD case I made for my son-in-law to put his Christian music in. Next time I make something like this I won't forget about the stitch line. I made it work, but I should stop, and think about the design of such things before I start hackin away on a piece of leather. Steve

Heh heh, I'd like you to meet my son. You might just think twice about that. It's not the succeeding generations fault if they are looked on to be softer. It's the fault of the parents who are too weak to raise them up in the right way. Steve USN Veteran 1968-1972

Very nice work Spider. I like the color as I see it in the pic, so it must look pretty good in person. outcast

Really nicely done! I didn't know Tom was that evil lookin.

Looks like a small stain on her dress, so I'm gonna take a wild guess ....Monica Lewinskey?

Nice work on the seat Busted. I really like that creamy tan color you come up with. Very nice. Steve

Excellent! Ya gotta love those roses. Your tooling is as good as it can get. That is gonna be a great looking seat. Lookin forward to seein more. Steve

This is where I've been getting all my supplies lately. They have anything you need for doin seats. http://www.alcoveleather.com/ Steve

The black background within the flowers was done with Craftool's A104. The texturing of the wallet back was done with Craftools E294 series. The inside is Kangaroo. Here's a pic. Steve