David

Very nice!

I would tackle this with a header blade in a swivel knife

If you want numbers that size I would carve them not stamp them.

I've done a few seats....like 500 or so. I wouldn't use anything less than 7-8 oz. if you want to tool it. Same weight for the back depending on if it is a solo springer (7-8 oz.) or a frame mounted seat (3-4 oz.) check out the pinned threads by Roger for a frame mounted seat for solo seats check out my pinned posts. Dave Theobald Don't rely too much on you tube videos. Most of those guys don't know squat.

Hey Joe, I'm in Ross, Ohio actually, very close to Hamilton. I worked in West Chester for many years at P&G.

What should I charge? How many times has each of us been asked that question by a new leather worker? My first reaction to that question is to ask, “Are you sure that your work is up to a standard that people will want to spend perfectly good money for it?” There are many facets to leatherwork, tooling, lacing, sewing, dying, antiquing and final finish. All of these must be of a professional quality. In other words don’t try to sell the first thing you make! I’ve been reluctant to tackle the “how much” question because it will mean admitting the many business mistakes I made over the seven years of making motorcycle seats. First and foremost I never charged enough. But then I had a “real” job and I wasn’t depending on my leatherwork to feed my family. If you have been to my website (theobaldleather.com) you will see that I charged $400 to $500 for my seats. Now here comes the first mistake. I always wanted to make the BEST POSSIBLE seats. That meant I used Wickett and Graig Leather trimmed double shoulders instead of the cheap stuff, I laced all my seats with kangaroo lace; it’s at least ten times stronger than calf skin lace. If I’d used cheaper materials, I could have made a LOT more money but I wouldn’t have liked the seats as much nor would I have had the satisfaction of making the best that I could do. Having admitted all that, here is my breakdown of expenses per seat. Seat pan………………….$65 Leather…………………...$100 Lace………………………$150 Finish products………….$10 Total………………………$320 Yes, the costs are high, I could have saved a lot of money with cheap leather and cheap lace. For this seat I charged $500…..sometimes. Ok, here is another mistake. I’m a softie for our military. If a customer said, “I was in Iraq”, the price was $400. If they said, “I’m a police officer or retired firefighter”…….$400. Remember, I wasn’t using this money to feed my family…… So here I was spending $320 to make a seat and charging $80 for 30 to 35 hours of work. That’s a bad business plan! But, believe me when I say that I don’t regret anything when it comes to our military and first responders. I was told many times, by various people that I should be charging more, a lot more. $600, $700 even $800 a seat. And they were correct in order to make it a thriving enterprise those would have been the correct prices. I kept thinking “yeah, but this is Ohio, maybe if I lived in California I could charge that much.” So the lesson to take from this is to set a dollars per hour fee, keep it reasonable and stick with it. If you decide to charge someone less, go ahead and do it, it’s your business after all. You can charge what you want. If you are going to give discounts to certain groups, advertise that on your site. Let everyone know about it so no one feels like they paid too much…… yeah, that’s another mistake. I never put my discounts for military on my site. But keep your dealings with other customers to yourself, it is no one else’s business what you charged Joe Smith. Instead of justifying your discount to a customer, just show them your price breakdown let them know they still got a good deal. Heck, I even made seats for free for some folks just because they were friends. And I mean really for free, I ate that $320 per seat and found it was not too tasty. So here’s the deal. Figure out your price breakdown. Know how much you need to make per hour. From there it is a simple time and materials invoice. Final advice, work hard and be your own worst critic. Good luck, Dave Theobald

I take my time on the outside lacing. I imagine it takes in excess of 10 hours for me to complete it. When finished it feels like there is steel rod inside the braid. Dave

Another method is to apply super sheen to the skull and then do the antiquing paste. The leather will darken except where the super sheen is. Avoid black, it is a detail killer. Dave

Of course it affect the sound, there is a reason why professional luthiers DON'T cover their guitars in leather. It even distorts the sound of solid body guitars....how many professional musicians have you seen with leather covered guitars?

You need to punch a small hole between each ball of the chain, the chain is then sewn to the leather. The thread starts on the bottom, comes up thru the hole, around the chain and back thru the same hole, then on to the next hole. A long chain will take a while but that's how it's done. Dave Theobald

Thumbs down on the fiberglass seat pan..... Steel doesn't crack! Dave

No comments on tooling faces, you did a wonderful job. Now go shoot the idiot who wanted that terrific piece of art dyed black. He doesn't deserve that seat! Dave

If that is the thickness of the padding you are using then by all means read Roger's tutorial in the pinned portion of this Motorcycles and Biker Gear. Dave Theobald

Roger has been retired from seat making for some years now. I've tried to lure him out of retirement but no luck so far.... but I think I'm making a little progress! But Roger did leave us a step by step.... you can check it out on the "pinned" portion of this thread. Dave Theobald

Thank you all for the kind comments Dave Theobald

Very nice Caroline, I like all of it.....but, I'll miss seeing your bike seats. Dave

A few things I've been working on recently.

Not sure what you are doing here. I rewet all the time. My seats have a bit of complicated tooling so it may take 2-3 days to complete. Storing in the fridge in a baggie turns the leather way too soft. I just let it dry and rewet. It works for me. Dave Theobald

Sorry for the delay here, I just saw the question today. My estimate for the amount of 1/4" lace is approximately 10-12 yards. Dave To the post about having a beer........... that is going to be some bar to include Finland, Italy and the U.S.

I use 7-8 oz. leather for my seats. Dave Theobald

Pics would certainly help. What tools are you using? Make of the beveler? What sort of mallet or maul?

panther, The two dots are registration marks just in case my artwork moves as I transferring it to leather.....can't find the slash you mentioned. St8LineGunsmith The lacing around the edge is indeed Mexican Round Braid or basket weave. The smaller row of lace is purely decorative and is called single loop. I hope that helps. Dave Theobald Thanks to all who checked out my seat. Let me know if you have questions. Dave

For Phil, My beveling tools are all from Barry King. His tools are second to none, I add a few at every show, and usually place an order or two between shows. Dave Theobald

Nashville is over, next year is Denver... that sure is a long way for a Buckeye! But we had a great time showing my latest seat....I intended to take two pieces but walked off and left the wall hanging at home. I hate it when that happens. But, we met lots of amazing people from the Buckeye Guild....Carol even found a "sister" quilter! We also renewed friendships from previous years. Good to see you Randahl Gustafson and it was great taking Chan Geer's class with John Larimore.... Both of these gentlemen are from the Lone Star Guild. Anyway if some of you haven't seen it...here's my latest seat. Dave Theobald