LuckyRabbitsFootLeather

Thank you!

Very cool. Nice presentation too. Hope my first coming up goes as smooth as you made it look. Do you mold it over the foam and pan?

Some of my products came from Leather World Technologies. Their prices were easier for me to handle compared to leathertoucchupdye. Plus they have a large selection of products that I could mix and match. Everything worked the way it was suppose to so I'm a satisfied customer. For sealing I used the pitch blend balm this time and I'll try Pecard's on the next, so I can get a feel for all the products. Thank you again for your help...and my customer thanks you too! (I'll send you the 30% commission soon.)

final results

Thank you for your help.

Ok, color is done. I had to apply more coats than I'd like to admit and also removed the filler in the large indentations. They weren't taking the color as well. I'll seal when it's ready and post pics. These pics are at different stages of the dyeing process, but the full shot is the "final" color. Final in quotes because I am not sure how much it will darken once sealed. I am not completely satisfied but this is all going to take some practice.

I am using a professional grade leather filler that can either be used under or mixed into the dye. I bought the dye from the same company so they "should" be compatible. I made sure to research the type of leather I was working with so I could buy the appropriate products. I am flying by the seat of my pants though so I have no idea what the final product will look like or if it will hold up. I asked for customer approval before I started anything. The company said to use a 600 grit sand paper, so I lightly sanded it down today and put another layer on to build up an even surface. I'll start the color process on Tuesday; suppose to slowly build up the dye as well. I'll keep everyone posted.

After letting the seat dry for 24hrs I realized it was tacky, so I used water then moved on to denatured alcohol to get as much soap out as possible. I didn't know how else to solve that problem. I should have asked. After letting it dry over night I started the filling process. Quite nervous about this stage. I'll let it dry over night again. Tomorrow I'll sand it and refill as needed. I am concerned about the dent that I filled in will not survive the wear and tear of someone sitting on it. The surface there was not ripped and I am concerned the filler wont have anything to grab on to. Any ideas on the grit of sandpaper to use? I was thinking 2000.

Sorry for the wait. My products finally came in. I started with a soft cleaner but quickly realized that it wasn't going to cut it. I moved on to the super cleaner and with five hours of elbow grease got the seat to the point you see below. Since the rust was very stubborn I used a razor blade to lift it off the seat once it had softened from the cleaner. The magnified images show the rust right before I scraped it off.

Very cool.

Youre on to me! Thank you. I'll post pics soon.

Thank you Art. Should a deglazer be used before the soap? Also once Ive cleaned it up Id like to fill in some spots, dye and seal it. I am not sure at what point to condition it.

Hi everyone. I have finished the conchos. The customer did not want them to look brand new so I shined them up as best I could. The seat is going on a 1958 panhead and his focus is more on function than form, so no replating this time. The spear heads shined up well but still have fine scratches and I only had moderate success with the rectangles (keep in mind they are roughly 50 years old). Not much of their nickel plating was left but I removed the tarnish with a small amount of Brasso and buffed them out with cigarette ash. I tried a red and also a white rouge on a buffing wheel to get the fine scratches out but it did no better then my dry cloth and some ash which I found to be safer because you can burn through too many layers very easily with the wheel.

Great advice, thank you.

Hi everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this. Would appreciate any advise. I work at a custom motorcycle shop and I am on the path to custom seat building. To get my feet wet, a customer has dropped off what I believe to be an older police solo seat that has seen better days. He wants to keep as much of the original seat as possible. A metal object rested on it for many years and rusted onto the leather. Any advise for restoring the leather and is it possible to restore the original conchos as well? I know there are new seats out there this exact style but the customer is very partial to this particular seat and I would love to just bring a little life back into it.