earthling33

I would try saddle soap. Here's why. I use saddle soap on my cowboy boots (on the lowers) to remove black marks and scuff marks. The boots are brown and they pick up black marks from the shifter on my motorcycle.I have noticed that if I rub in the soap too aggressively it removes the wax and some of the finish. So, I would think that judicious and targeted scrubbing with saddle soap might give the effect you are looking for. It will dull the finish somewhat, depending on how aggressively you scrub. And FWIW, I have used saddle soap on my black leather riding jacket, and it cleans it up nicely. Then a coat of leather cream might bring it back to life. Warning: Your mileage may vary. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks guys for the advise and info. I bought a zipper foot in Ebay and the walking foot made deep impression in the leather. I thought the foot was defective, but now I think I just needed to make some adjustments. John

A couple years ago I purchased a new Juki DNU-1541s. I haven't used it much, but now I'm in a position to ramp up my usage and my learning curve. I have many questions, but one right now in particular. What is the purpose of the knurled knob on top of the machine above the walking foot. As you can see from the pictures, the knob appears to adjust the spring tension going to the walking foot. The spiral around the post coming down from the knob is the spring that I'm talking about. I'm not sure if this spring adjusts the downward pressure of the walking foot or the tension of the foot lift lever. I have turned the knob clockwise and counterclockwise, counting turns as I go so that I can bring it back to the original setting. I can't really tell that anything changes. Does anyone know, or want to venture an informed guess? Thanks in advance.

Have you considered garment leather or upholstery leather? What color are you going for? You mentioned casing the leather but it doesn't sound like you are doing any tooling. Here's some leather that I have been considering. Waterhouse Leather I'm a green beginner so I can't pass on any sage advice. I'm must throwing out ideas. Let us know what you come up with.

Rich Corinthian Leather? Of course, why not the best. ~ Ricardo Montalban

Nice work. I like it. I have some questions, if you don't mind sharing your "trade secrets". What are you using to shape your foam? I have tried an electric carving knife which works fairly well, and also a 4-/12 inch grinder which I find hard to control. 2nd, I really like your round braid. Looks very tasteful and proportional. What size lace? Did you make the holes with a 4-prong punch? Once again, nicely done.

Yes, it says denim and fringe (??? I see neither.) and it implies that the pic is something other than spats. I assumed some kind of mistake or mix-up by the poster. But you did pick up on the intent of my question. If these spats were to be constructed from leather, what kind of leather would I use? Obviously not veg tanned. Or, maybe veg tanned would work. I'm getting ideas here. Maybe oiled leather, like Tandy Kodiak oil tanned. Upholstery or garment leather would probably work, but it would need to be treated with some heavy duty water proofing. I'll check out Repel. Thanks for the info.

Me want leather. No canvas.

When I am riding my motorcycle through light rain showers, often the only thing that gets uncomfortably wet are my legs from my knees to my ankles. My shins catch the spray off the front wheel and the rain coming under my wind screen. I've been thinking about making a pair of spats. I like the old school look, and they aren't as hot and uncomfortable as chaps. I found this on Pinterest (from DeviantArt) and I like the style. So, the two questions. What type of leather is this? Upholstery? What would I look for when buying? How would I make the spats as waterproof as possible? Thanks

I like the way you "cuffed" each lacing hole. Nice quality work. Detailed, but not too busy. The word that comes to mind is elegant.

I tried black shoe polish to touch up some worn places on my Corbin seat. It made it slick. I almost slid off the dang thing.

Hey Ambitious1 If you are happy with the shape and want to keep the original foam intact, you will be way ahead. I have found that reshaping the foam is the most difficult part. I bought some vinyl on eBay to practice sewing the cover instead of experimenting with expensive leather.

Hi Hanna, I am very happy that my meager knowledge could help you out. Good luck with your Juki. I hope you post some of your work. John Read the manual??!! No way. Seriously, I'm glad you got it worked out. John

Go online and see if you can find common parts for it like bobbins, bobbin holders and needles. Look around locally to find anyone who works on it. That might give you a hint about the aggravation factor of owning such a machine. Personally, if I were buying a used machine, I would try to find a known, reputable brand. Just my 2 cents. John

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth, and that's probably all it's worth. I bought a Juki DNU 1541s last spring and I can tell you it's built like a tank (in a good way). I haven't used it as much as I would like because my real job has kept me overly-busy, plus I am a complete newbie at sewing. So far I have sewed up a new vinyl motorcycle seat cover and I put a new zipper in my leather motorcycle jacket. It handled those jobs like they were nothing. I have done some practice sewing on scrap leather, and I have no doubt that it will handle any upholstery or purse leather or two or more layers of veg tan tooling leather. Those are the jobs I have in mind to use it for. The safety feature is nice. I jambed a bobbin (my own fault because I didn't push it in far enough, doh.) and I thought I broke the machine. It made a bang and then the needle stopped moving even thought the motor was turning the wheel. I checked around to find someone who worked on industrial sewing machines and found a retired guy who came to my house. He only charged me $25, and also made some minor adjustments. Very reasonable. It turned out that the safety mechanisim kicked it out of gear. I learned that I had to depress a button and spin the wheel backwards and the drive engaged again. My little booboo might have cost me some big bucks if it hadn't been for the safety mechanism. That one incident justified my decision to go with the Juki. The 1541s only does straight stitch. I saw that one of the Singers does a zig-zag. So if zig zag isn't important to you, then I would vote for the Juki. I know that it will do everything that I want it to. Speaking of the bobbin, the Juki bobbin inserts underneath. Some bobbins insert by popping up a plate on the sewing deck and inserting from the top. I don't know if the other machines you listed have that feature, but it might be a little handier. Still, I'm happy with the Juki. <Edit> I thought of a few more things. I looked up the Consew 227 and tried to imagine sewing the zipper into my motorcycle jacket on a cylindar arm. I don't see how I could do it. You probably know more about sewing than I do, but if you plan to sew garments, then I would stick with a flat bed machine. The cylindar arm would certainly be handy in some situations, (bags and purses?) but I wouldn't want it for regular garment sewing. Accessories for the Juki are common and easy to find. I bought walking feet, bobbins and other stuff on Ebay and Amazon. I'm sure the other machines have easy to find parts, but I'm just saying that it's no problem with Juki. You might check to see which machines and brands you can get serviced in your area. Check with the local sewing shops that sell sewing machines and find out who works on industrial sewing machines. Tent and awning shops might give you advice about service. If you happen to decide on the Juki, keep in touch and we can compare notes.

Nice job on the seats. Be honest with the guy. Tell him you underestimated the time you put in on the seats. You got a learning experience, and he got a great deal, but now you would have to charge way more for the bags to make it worth your time.

If you buy your brackets, make sure they are the right width to line up with the windshield screws. Not all windshields are the same. You may have to call the vendor because it's not usually listed on the website.

This is my second attempt at this logo and about the 4th piece that I have tooled. It is tons better than my first try. Now I'm trying to decide how to embellish it further. I have no particular plans for this, except to come up with a design to eventually use in a seat. http://leatherworker.net/forum/uploads/gallery/album_2280/gallery_50836_2280_27006.jpg

David, You answered some questions that I was wondering about, primarily the cost you had into your seats. The other questions concerned the quality and character of your materials. Thanks for the info. John

Nice job. It gives me some ideas for what I'd like to do.

About three months ago I bought a new Juki DNU-1541s. I've always wanted to make motorcycle seats, and I figured it was time to get started. I bought the machine unassembled from Winchester Sewing Machines. When it arrived, I thought I might be in over my head, but three days later, I had it assembled and working. I am basically teaching myself to sew. Yesterday I decided to change bobbins, and when I pressed the bobbin holder into place it didn't quite lock. I made several passes on my project, and suddenly I heard a thud and then a different sound coming from the machine. I discovered that he bobbin had popped out of place, and on further examination I found that the circular hook was not spinning. Nooooooo!! I thought I had broken my expensive, new sewing machine. I made a couple of phone calls and found a local guy who works on industrial sewing machines. He came to my house after work and sat down to diagnose the problem, which he quickly found. There is a silver button on the base of the machine head. He showed me how to depress the button which locks into a cog under the base. While holding down the button, just spin the hand wheel backwards to re-engage the drive to the hook. He said that is a safety feature in the 1541. The hook disengages when the needle hangs or gets stuck. Whew. I didn't break it after all. He showed me a few tricks like how to hold on to the end of the thread that goes through through the needle while I make the first stitch to keep the thread from fouling and disengaging the hook. It cost me $25 to get a lesson on how not to be a dummy, but it was well worth it. I'm back in business.

Here's a link that I found helpful. Look down past the advertisements, and check out all the tabs. http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/modify.htm

Jimbob brings up a good point. Does JewelsInAZ want to carve designs into the bags. That would narrow down the choice somewhat. I haven't made any bags (yet) but I've had experience using them. IMHO softer leathers will sag over time and would need some kind of stiffeners built in.

I just did my very first leather tooling project. It was a Triumph motorcycle logo,..Triumph letters with the swash undernieath. It came out okay, but not as good as I would have liked. Most of the problem was my own inexperience, but part of it was that my work surface was not ideal, and my tool set isn't as complete as I would like. I was working on my sewing machine stand, which has some rebound when I tap down on the tool. The local granite and tile shop is cutting a granite slab for me and I'll pick that up this weekend. As for the tools, I ordered a 10 piece leather stamping set from Amazon, which turned out to come from Springfield Leather. I thought I would get a nice beveler and a basketweave tool among some others, but Springfield substituted some other tools which I found to be not very useful or hard (for me) to work with. The beveler had very square corners which gave me problems. I kept nicking into the design with the corners. Instead of a basketweave tool, I got a star, which doesn't really fit the style I have in mind. Maybe I'll find a use for it later. The Amazon page didn't say they substitute tools, but after looking at the Springfield catalog, I see that they do. I'm not upset, but a little disappointed. I just placed an order for the bevelers I want. I probably won't post a pic of my first try at tooling. It's a little rough. Maybe the second....

I ended up getting a Barry King 16 oz maul. Several factors influenced me. One was the bulk of the advice here was to get a maul. Second, the Barry King maul was less expensive than the the Stohlman and Bearman mauls, but I'm happy with the quality. Third, they are sold (made?) in Sheridan, Wyoming which I know very well, as I grew up just over the Big Horn mountains in Greybull. I always like to buy "local" even though I don't live there anymore.