David

Thank you all for the well wishes. The birthday went very well, thank you, except for the obvious addition of another year to the total..... I've finally reached that milestone that the Beatles sang about... "Will you still love me when I'm 64?" Some of you DO remember the Beatles right? Now I'm rapidly approaching my "Best if Used Before" date. Thanks again, David Theobald aka "older than dirt"

Very nice work Marlon. David Theobald

Dirkin, I don't even know if the stamps you want exist or not. But in any case you will be better off if you cut and tool the letters by hand. The stamps you want are large and apt to bounce when struck and getting them aligned is nearly impossible. I've never seen stamped lettering that doesn't SCREAM I'm stamped not hand made. David Theobald

Customer picked up his seat this evening and he loved it. I promised I would let you all know. I must say, I'm releaved as always. Thanks for all the comments, David Theobald

Like I said, I've done three of these now and have learned a couple things.... don't use light colored suede for a seat being sent to a bike shop....it is only a matter of time before the guy who just oiled the chain will install the seat! Other than that they work fine. Look at a horse saddle, most custom builders use a suede seat insert. Thanks for taking a look-see Dave

As always Roger, amazing work I love the bags very nice looking. That seat construction must have taken some time. It looks very unusual and very very nice. Good clean work all around. David Theobald

Thanks for taking a look everyone. My customer still hasn't seen the seat so I have no word on his reaction as yet. Dave

Hey Mike, Customer hasn't seen it yet. But I'll let you know. Dave

This seat was a challenge because of very little guidance from the customer. My instructions were No Tooling Brown seat Wants dark red contrasting stitching. That is pretty vague to say the least. I tried every shade of brown with the red stitching and it looked really bad. The red would just disappear on brown leather. It looked great on black however. So I made a seat that I had only done twice before. I used a suede insert and lots of lacing then added the red stitching to the black suede. The result is a pretty classy looking seat, in my opinion. Let me know what you think. This customer found me on my website and as it turned out, he lives less than three miles from me. David Theobald

Excellent post and great information here. I'll add my admiration for Barry King tools here too. I really like them. As far as deforming Pro tools from HideCrafters... What are you hitting them with? I use their pebblers ALL the time.... I like them. They sure haven't deformed nor has the pattern lost it's crispness David Theobald

Beautiful Tina As always David Theobald

Thanks everyone for all the great comments on Papa Clutch's seat. I was pleased with the way it came out it was a slow one that is for sure. Shirl, Hug all you want girl, I promise I won't call security. Crystal, Loved that gun belt. Very classy looking. If there's a "boo boo" on that, I sure can't find it. Great work Dave

Chuck, That has to be one of the most amazing posts I've seen on this site. Beautiful workmanship. Can you please recommend a book to learn the beading that you do? I'm really considering building myself another flintlock, and would love to be able to decorate a shot bag for myself. Thanks again, David Theobald

Shirley, It is beautiful, I always love your script lettering David Theobald

Hey Eric, All my swivel knife work is done done with the same blade. I use only the 3/16" angle blades by Tandy. You will find that they are currently rather hard to find. I think it is because of a mistake in their catalog, which they will correct at some time. David Theobald

Great as always Roger. The color is terrific. Is that a shoe polish finish on it? I saw the Kiwi can in the background. Hope you are staying busy. David Theobald

Amazing work as always Bob. David Theobald

Eric, Trust your instincts, your first logo is the one! I got the sword hilt and handle right off. Phallic? maybe, but what could be more phallic than a sword. If they don't get it, you have your name underneath to explain it to the dullards.... David

Kliff, My real concern would be the lacing undulations.... What weight leathers here? I use 6-8 oz front and back on mine. 8 oz leather would be approximately 1/8" thickness. Not to sound like a smart a$$ but you may want to consider buying a pair of black jeans..... David

Hey Kliff, My next seat is for a customer that wants a LOT of braiding and stitching but no tooling. That will be a bit different for me. Then there is the matter of making something for the IFoLG in Indy this year in Sept. Take care, I really like your work. Dave I just realized that I forgot to respond to your question about lace. I use the round braid or Mexican basket weave to go around the edge and hold everything together. For decorative lace I use single loop and try to beat it flat enough that it won't bother the rider. The lace I use is 1/4" kangaroo for the basket weave and lace through 1/8" holes...I have 100 holes on my seats. The decorative lace is much smaller 3/32" calf skin.

Kliff, It sounds like we work pretty much the same way. I use a CAD program in place of illustrator. How do you handle printing something the size of your seat patterns.... you must have a sizable printer. Dave

Kliff, It looks great. I've only done one of these seat pans. I did mine a bit differently; I didn't cover all those ribs on the bottom. My bottom consisted of a narrow band around the edge. I really like the looks of yours. What weight of leather did you use on the seat? Same weight on the front and back? Your art work is outstanding! I love the Asian tattoo art. You did a very good job on it. The lacing really sets it off nicely. Great job Dave

Everyone, Thanks for taking a look. I'm glad you liked the seat. It should get shipped out Monday. Thanks again, Dave Theobald note to Johanna, the back just has the standard two silver dollar conchos with some lacing around them.

Finished tonight. Here it is finally. This one took a lot of time. Hope you like it. Dave

Looks real good. I like the color also. Well done. Dave Theobald