wintermte

More testing updates. I beat up on the Flex-Seal pretty well, and it seems to be holding up. I ground some wet side walk salt into and let sit for a while like that, walked on it (a lot) with it sitting in my gravel driveway, and while the thin piece of leather I'm using isn't fairing so well (there are lots of dents from being wet on the gravel and drying that way), the Flex-Seal is still intact. It has lost some of the glossiness to the finish however. I also have now tried the Rustoleum Leak Seal clear spray on rubber and Plasti-Dip clear spray as well, but haven't torture tested them yet. The Rustoleum is already not great as it has a white-ish buildup in a couple of spots - so I likely won't continue to test it. The Plasti-Dip is fantastic thus far because it is easily removable from died leather. I even was able to peal a small part off and respray that spot alone. I'll be roughing it up hopefully tonight.

I hadn't thought about salt and whatnot. I'll try that out as well. I have a bucket of salt from the winter left over still (I'm in Wisconsin so use this as well).

I did some more experimenting last night with the piece I covered with Flex-Seal clear. The piece has 2 coats of the Flex-Seal. The spray is pretty heavy right out of the can. So far: I sprayed a lot of water on it. rolled the leather up and flattened it over and over. Drug it around the drive way. walked on it. Stood on it while working on another project It has endured without any cracks or flaking. The water just rolled right off. I had it sitting on the ground under the bike while I washed the bike with S100 degreaser/wash spray, and it didn't do anything to the coating. I'll keep abusing it, but since I'm probably going to end up remaking the inserts again, I'm likely to apply and ride with it for a while. I will be using a small amount of angelus paint on some lettering for the insert, so it will be great if this fully protects that from rubbing/wearing off.

I'll be interested in how this works for you. Leather stuff on a motorcycle is really abused especially when it is in places like the floor boards so I keep looking for ways to increase the longevity of the leather and the finish.

Has anyone tried sealing their project with either Plasti Dip clear or Flex Seal clear? I'm making a set of floor board inserts for my motorcycle and thinking of sealing them with this stuff as they will get a lot of contact and rubbing, etc from my feet. I sprayed a couple of coats of the Flex Seal on a leftover piece of leather that was using to test die colors, and it looks okay, but I'm wondering how well it will hold up.

Hi, I've found an ad for a Singer 29-4 for pretty cheap ($350), and I've been looking for a sewing machine to use. I know almost nothing about sewing machines, so I need some advice. Is this a decent machine to use? Can it sew threw 6-8 oz tooling leather or multiple layers of lighter weight leather? Are there any how to use guides that anyone is aware of for using one of these? Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer. Dan

Thanks you for filling me in. I'm going to give this a try. Dan

This is fabulous. I love the writing. I have to ask, how did you do the writing? Is is just cut with a filigree knife and not beveled at all? Do you know of a book that talks about doing this kind of thing? I'm thinking of making something like this for my son for Christmas, but have never tried doing writing like that before. Thanks, Dan

I'm not sure but some things I would try are maybe some saddle soap, deglazer, or oxalic acid. I've never used the oxalic acid but it works to bleach wood, maybe it will help with this discoloration as well. Dan

Thanks for the suggestions. It is possible that I'm not letting the dye dry enough before applying the the top coat, I do however always buff it before applying a top coat. The rub-off that I am most concerned about is that which occurs over several months of constant use. Maybe that is the just way it is. It was mentioned in the motorcycle section on a couple of occasions that black is a huge offender for this. It seems that people used to use neet lac or saddle lac to combat this, but you can't buy neet lac any longer and saddle lac only seems to come in the spray can which I've had very poor success with thus far. I just did some grips for my cycle today, and I top coated with the Leather balm you mentioned. They look really nice with the top coat, but I guess only time will tell how well they resist being affected by rub off. Dan

How durable is the angelus finisher? The say it won't rub off, is that generally true even with something that gets a lot of rubbing like a seat? Thanks, Dan

I'm generally confused by finishes/top coats and am not really sure how to proceed. With bags, wallets, etc I've been using the Fiebings Super Sheen but I'm getting some rub off from it sometimes. I made a black motorcycle seat (with Fiebings spirit dye) and used spray on Saddle Lac to seal it in to prevent rub off, and this seems to be working well. I also made a rear motorcycle seat and it is dyed orange and black (Fiebings as well) and covered it with Saddle Lac, but now I'm seeing some yellowing on the seat. I'm not sure why I'm getting the yellowing? So I've been reading and found an article on the Springfield leather site about how to choose a top finish and they recommend using the Pro Clear or Angelus clear. Angelus's web site indicates that their 600 and 605 top finishes will not rub off. Is this correct? I would rather not use a spray on lacquer finish as I don't seem to have much control of how it goes on and it seams to be pretty temperamental about how it is applied. Can anyone offer some advice which top finishes to use? I'm at a loss. Thanks, Dan

Nice. I really like the anagram for sinner/saint seat. Dan

When using 1/8" lace, I use 1/8" holes spaced 1/8" apart and about (you guessed it) 1/8" from the edge. The lace will pass through each hole twice so it fills them pretty well. I just did a windshield bag and a pillion seat using a 1/8" chisel for the lacing holes instead of a hole punch, and I really like how it turned out. Every thing laced very tightly. I don't use round lace for these, so I'm not sure how round lace would look, but I would think it would add a lot of bulk to the braid. Dan

I just widened out the pillion pad on my bike and used foam in a can to fill it in. Granted it has only been a couple of weeks on the bike, but it worked pretty well. It dries pretty firm, but isn't rigid. Dan