David

Hey Troy, I was waiting on the pan because the customer was sending it to me. The pans I use are the "West Eagle #632148 Slim Line S seat pan narrow". In this instance the customer supplied that exact pan to me. I think they retail for about $60 - $70 dollars. I know they advertise in The Horse. Dave

Here is the final installment on this one. Dave

Getting close to being finished now. The seat pan gets preped with washers and padding, then the padding trimmed to final shape. The seat back is riveted on and the seat front tied in place. Then the lacing starts. David Theobald

When I say I'm not a skull guy, I mean that I think skulls have been WAY over done by bikers. I would rather do something a bit more off the beaten path. With the wide variety seen in the world of tattoo art, I find much more inspiration there rather than trying to do something unusual with a skull. Dave

This decorative stitch is a simple single loop stitch, it's taught in all of Tandy's basic lacing books.Dave The edge lacing is all that holds the leather to the pan. I don't use any glue to on my seats at all.Dave Theobald

If you look at the photos of my front and back leathers, you will see that they are NOT the same by any means. I arrive at my patterns by covering the front (including padding) and rear with tape. When removed and flattened out it becomes the shape of my patterns. I use 1/4" lace pulled through 1/8" holes. They are about 1/8" from the edge and about 3/8" apart. All my lace is kangaroo. Since the front and rear leathers are not the same it requires a very careful layout of the holes. Lay your holes out around a centerline on the front and back pattern. Measure twice, punch once! My seat construction will allow padding up to 3/4" thick. If he is wanting a real thick padded seat, contact Roger Harris (Roger here on the LW site) for techniques. or look at the tutorial by Paul Cox. http://www.bikernet.com/garage/coxseat.asp Hope this helps, Dave Theobald Dave

12 oz.....!!! The guy will never need another belt! That should last him forever. It is very, very nice. I like it a lot. David Theobald

Give them a try, I've always been pleased. David Theobald

Thanks for all the kind words folks, I do really appreciate you taking time to make comment on my work. David Theobald

Matthew, The leather is 6-7 oz (closer to 7 oz.) both top and bottom. I purchase from Wickett and Craig. David Theobald

Thanks for all the kind words folks, it is much appreciated. David Theobald

Day 4, the only thing remaining to do before the pan arrived was to add the decorative lacing to the rear leather. Don't hesitate to ask questions.... This may be as close as I get to a tutorial again. Dave

The seat was requested to be for a "show bike" so to me that means decorative lacing. So a lot more holes were punched in the front and rear leathers. The name was added to the rear leather. And the decorative lace was added to the front on day 3.

Day two, was a Saturday, so I had all day to work on it and I cut the entire design and finished the tooling. It was a long day.

A customer sent me a photo of a shirt purchased at Sturgis. She liked the cross but wanted to add some.........skulls (what else? With wings no less!) Now I'm not a skull kind of guy but hey, she is the customer after all. I did a sketch for her which she liked. The drape on the cross changed from an American flag to just a cloth drape..... so here we go with the latest seat. The first day I cut my patters and I traced the design onto the leather. That was about all I finished that first day.

I had a bit of trouble finishing this on, The antiquing left a blotch on the leather. Not too sure what may have caused it. I stripped the seat with deglazer and shot some Saddletan on the front and back, then I re-antiqued it with sheridan paste. Dave

Wally, Thank you for the information. That will certainly influence what I charge this fellow. Dave

Ok, I haven't a clue why he wanted this on the seat. It means "Of their own accord", it is a legal term. David Theobald

Thanks to everyone for the nice words. As for a video, I have a problem remembering to stop and take pictures of a seat in progress....So unless someone who knows that video productin stuff happens to move in next door, I wouldn't hold my breath for a video. abn It isn't really the "Asian stuff" that I like so much as the tattoo art. There just happens to be much more Asian tattoo art to look at for inspiration as opposed to American Indian tattoo art which is very limited by comparison. But I'll keep looking.... Dave

I use CA for the glue and the finish. Dave

Ok for the ladies, here is Marcelo Dario and his beautiful and very expectant wife. Dave Theobald

You are absolutely correct, that is the entire purpose of the gels....they are very smooooooth. Dave

Hey Allen, The gel pens are out there, but I've never seen a slim line gel. The gel refills are rather fat, hence no slimlines. Dave

Hey Johanna, Thanks for the encouraging words. Everyone is missing Richard terribly. He was like the brother I never had. Actually for the last 40 years, I called him Brother Dick. The pens are fun to do. Here are a few pics Dave

Thanks all, The inside of the leather was grooved to be folded before the tooling was done, I didn't actually fold it until I was nearly done.... I had to wet it a bit to make sure it would close all the way. The inside of the note book is a kip lining about 1oz or so. It is a 6 ring binder .... so it is like the kits that Tandy makes. Yeah, I made the pen too. I've been pen turning for a couple years. I love the look of different woods combined to make the pens. This one is paduk (dark orange), malee (birdseye grain), and dyed blue curly maple. Dave