ChaChi

WOW!!!! Absolutely stunning. Someday I hope to be able to do something like that. Amazingly crisp lines and perfect tooling. Great job.

I use the craftool e-294 series on these helmet fronts. They come in 3 different sizes so get them all. The bigger ones save time and the tiny one gets you into all those impossible spots.

That's pretty much right on for most projects. On some you may want to wait to dye the leather until after it's assembled if there's gonna be alot of stretching and pulling on it like a motorcycle seat or if you want your thread to be the same color as the leather.

You know you may be right. It does seem a little taller than others I've seen and after going back out there and looking over it again, it has different nails on all the legs than the rest of it. The legs do seem to be in a little better shape than the seat and clamp as far as knicks and scratches too. I wonder if anybody makes that plate so I wouldn't have to start grinding one out in the car port in this weather. I appreciate all the help guys Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm probably better with wood than leather actually so I don't think it's going to be a problem. Just need the hardware and I can probably make that too

I was using the cova color gold from tandy in the begining but now I use a brand from the Wal Mart craft section called FOLKART pure gold. It's like a $1.50 for the small bottle and 3 bucks for the bigger one. Goes on great and covers really good. Haven't had any problems with it yet. I just painted it on the leather after texturing it with a backgrounder.

Hey Luke, I appreciate the help. I went back over all those threads again but they all still seem to have this metal plate on one of the front legs to lock the tension bar onto and mine doesn't have that. It's never had it. It's been used alot as is evident by the wear on the seat and clamp. But I can't find one single hole where there's a screw or nail missing that may have held that metal locking piece piece on. I'm sure that's the way I'll end up setting it up but I just wanted to see if there was another way before I go fabricating a plate and screwing it on there.

Here's a belt I made last year for a high school friend who is now the best Santa I've ever seen. I finally found the pics on an old email. Now I know how hard it is to get good photos of belts

I finally found a stitching horse on ebay that was in great shape, close enough to pick up and cheap enough to actually buy but I'm confused a little on what I need to complete the strap to tighten the clamp. I've seen that most have a wooden leg attached to one side down low that connects to the tension strap and there's a locking plate on the other side to lock the leg into. Mine doesn't have that and never has, There doesn't seem to be any hardware missing or empty screw holes in the wood where such a plate may have been. I'm wondering if there was just a loop at the end of the strap for your foot to rest in to keep tension on there. Take a look and see if you can help me out. Let me know if you need close up shots of anything else. I have it with me today at the fire house. Thanks, Cha-Chi

Thanks Mike. So far they've all been painted but I'm working on a commemorative plaque right now with a shield on there that will have a western floral background and I'm NOT painting that one (well, maybe the letters).

There's no buckle yet. He has it in Florida with him. The end of the belt is just passed through the belt loop for the pics. Thanks for comments and I know what you mean about the eyes. I'm gonna have to get one of those magnifying lights for my desk if this keeps up.

I did his helmet shield 3 years ago and it's held up well until a big fire a couple weeks ago. It finally gave it up in a upper level house fire with temperatures estimated around 1000 degrees. I just had to make him another with new and improved design.

Fire and Iron is a motorcycle club for firefighters

With a beard like that, you'd never have to reach for another piece of sheep's wool again. Just use the beard for wiping off antiques, buffing out finishes, and applying a little edge dye. 7 more years til retirement and I'm getting started on my beard.

I'm in that battle myself right now with a customer. He wanted it black or darker if they make something darker than black until he got on my site and saw some of the things that can be done. Seat's been held up for 6 days now while he thinks about it. He's going to let me know today what he's decided. Great looking seat BTW as always. A true master in the art!

That's great idea and great timing. I'm actually gettting ready to "upend" it here today to get started on the bottom of the table. I've been gathering a list of all our past and present union members to begin painting their names under the table starting with the charter members. I will also include their dates of membership and any ranks or executive positions they held during their tenure here. History is important. And we can add new names to it when new members join as part of their swearing-in ceremony. This will probably take a month or so and I just dare somebody to stick their gum under there when it's finished. A$$ whoopin time for sure.

Well thanks Tex! I appreciate that. I really wanted the letters to be as big as the original ones but I ran into a little problem when I stripped off the old paint and varnish. The sun had weathered and darkened all of the surface except where the letters were painted so even when I got it all off, you could still read the old sign. I sanded for 2 straight days to even it up to no avail. So, reluctantly, I had to come up with the banners to cover all the light spots where the letters used to be and reduce my letter size to fit in there. And actually I think I like it better after seeing it this way. I really appreciate all the comments. Now I've just got to find somebody who can cut a glass top for it in the shape of a football!

Thanks everyone for all the compliments. While I've done quite a bit of woodworking before, I've never painted a sign and this took FOREVER getting the letters to look somewhat similar. I drew them out on graph paper first and the transfered that to the board, then started painting. I still see lots of flaws but, like most everyone here, I'm a pefectionist and my own worst critic. I did finally find the "before" shots:

I like that alot. Where are you getting the sting ray hide?

Yeah I'll definately test it first but the stuff is 80 bucks a gallon and I'm not really unhappy with how it is now. It would just be more usable as a table if it was all flat across there.

That is absolutely unbelievable. I love it.

I knew I wanted leather in the center but I just didn't know what image to do. When I decided to make it a table for our union meetings, it was easy. I'm thinking about covering the entire top in the self-leveling high gloss clear epoxy to fill in the dish part and making the whole thing flat across the top and "burying" the leather under an inch of that stuff. I'm just afraid it will cloud up being that thick in there and hide the leather piece. Thanks for the compliments.

It's actually from wal-mart in the craft section. The brand is FOLKART, outdoor metallics, color #1654, Pure Gold. I've got about 20 different colors so far from there and they are holding up great, and cheap too!

I found one of my firefighter buddies cleaning a bunch of debris from his trailer from a demolition job he did. This was a sign form a downtown business here for over 30 years. I asked for it before he tossed it. I sanded it down, painted on some banners, hand drew some letters on there, and started painting. I carved the center piece from the toughest piece of 13-15oz saddle skirting I've ever had. I bought an old kitchen table at a used furniture store for the legs and it's finally done.But it turned out great and now it serves as our table for the executive board to sit at when we have our union meetings.

[quote name='GregGaub' date='Jan 17 2009, 12:00 PM' post='82876' I'm sure you know as well as anyone that when things are really hot and dry, fires can start spontaneously. It's part of the natural cycle of forests. A dry forest does not spontaneously combust. It takes a heat source to start the fire. The dry underbrush certainly adds fuel to the fire but it will not catch itself on fire. Ignition may come from a natural source like lightning but very few things will actually "spontaneously" combust. It's almost ALWAYS human influence that sparked the fire, either intentionally or by neglect.

Those look like they'd be alot more fun to make but I wouldn't want to see any of my brother firefighter wearing them.