McJeep

I use it quite a bit for making my stencils, especially when I'm working on something fairly fragile like a painted bike tank like here: http://mcbearcat.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/leather_bits/ Not sure if it's actual brand name "frisket" but it's the same stuff. Not cheep tho :0/

Very cool - enjoy the rewards of your hard work

I think the colour combination works perfect with it being natural. Stitch her, finish coat her, and call her done. Nice work!

Very nasssssss ;0)

I love leather, and I live motorcycles - it seemed like a natural ;0) Wish I had time to do more than "dabble" in it but I don't see it paying the bills really well here so it will remain a "do stuff for family and friends" deal for the time being

Nice! Did you use a modeling tool to bevel the spider web? Just noticed that the carved line is very uniformly deeper than the beveling. Looks great

Nice!

Beauty

Nice job - VTX seats are hard due to the fat azzed tanks I think ;0) Still holding off on doing my own. I think I'll just do the old stock one first before tearing into the $$$ aftermarket one I have on it now. Well done

Nice work! Shoot the cat ;0)

So the low tack frisket and packing tape deal worked out decently - threw it up on my page for reading if ya like http://mcbearcat.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/leather_bits/ Cheers Rob

Now that's exactly the type of braiding that I'm thinking of Wonder if there are books / patterns that I can get a hold of. New to the whole leather thing so I can't just intuit how to run the actual lacing to make the braid :0/ Some of that would look dynamite on the tank bra and bib while allowing me to use the latigo for longer life of the piece Time to start scribbling line s on paper till I make sense of what goes where to build these type of braids ;0) I'm visualizing just flattening out a round braid to accomplish this?? I imagine getting the start and end of the braid is the tuff part.

Braiding ideas are what I'm really after I guess

So I've opted not to mold the tank bra for my bike and to just braid a seam where the compound angles meet. This will let me use nice thick latigo that will stand up better to the elements etc. It will of course get the full basket weave treatment around the edges as well. My question is how can I dress up the face of the latigo being as I can't tool it? Anybody got some suggestions as to dressy lacing designs etc beyond just doing some buckstich trim on it? Have searched and searched but not getting to the type of info that I'm hoping is here. Still in the thinking aloud phase here - can ya tell?

I'm "starting" to get pretty good with these. The two main things of note in my mind are that you are using the rivet suited to the thickness of leather so there is not too much exposed when you are setting it or it will bend real quick, and use the absolute smallest hole punch you can so there is less room for play or again things will bend. It's been a practice thing for me just trying different sized rivets in different thicknesses of leather. The are strong enough "shear" wise for the collars but I wouldn't depend on them to hold sayyyy a strap with the D ring on it (tuff to explain but if you just put the strap through a d ring and riveted that to the collar, the dog would yank the D ring piece off pretty quickly) If the D ring was around the entire collar and the piece of strap was just riveted on the inside to keep the D ring from migrating around the collar, it would be plenty strong. Will also be strong enough for things like name plates or for holding the tail end of the strap where the buckle attaches. I riveted and ripped apart a lot of riveted together scraps before I started trusting my ability to properly set them - good thing they're fairly cheep ;0) I'm looking at starting to do big dog stuff as well and plan to use bur rivets instead, but I'm a function before form kinda guy ;0) That and I think the "tuff" look will appeal to big dog owners ;0) My .02 Rob

And in keeping with the procrastination aspect of the thread? I'm "supposed" to be finishing up all the winter work on my motorcycle but was saturated with wrenching so used up some scraps to help out a buddy of mine.

An Akubra is an Australian outback style hat. Usually made of rabbit felt and pretty much 100% waterproof ... unfortunately, they don't come cheap :0/ Mine - just happened to have the camera handy as I read the question My daughters cringe if I mention the 12 dead bunny wabbits it took to make this ;0)

Soooooo I started out just going to a local leather wholesaler's place to chat about what he offered etc. Ended up chatting more about artisan machines and what he could get in for me etc etc etc. Nice guy, ancient Buick in the midst of restoration hanging from the rafters, lots of ancient machines in process of being rebuilt/restored. Real nice conversation - "may" just end up with a new machine ... if I can scrape the fundage together :0/. He asked why I might be looking for one - being just a newb hobbyist etc. Told him I figured that if the economy was gpnna keep me unemployed for much longer, I might as well be doing something to keep me outta the pool hall and busy making "some" $. Asked him if he knew of anyone who needed an apprentice or such. He mentioned Walt Ostin, who apparently lives about 1/2 an hour away and does period holsters and gear. Googled him to find out that he's quote th individual. I think I'll be giving him a call tomorrow to go pick his brain if he can spare the time Anyway, just sharing a relaxing leather'ish afternoon's events Someone's gonna ask "which machine." Artisan 3200. I know there was a bunch of bad stuff going on a year or so ago regarding Artisan dealings, but this guy is one of their dealers and lives 10 minutes away and is a wiz with machines - I think those items alone might be enough to sway any decision that needs to be made. Always try to take care of local businesses first - lest they go under and I always need to travel long distances to get anything done/fixed. Looking forward to meeting this guy tomorrow, or whenever I get to Rob

I sure wouldn't mind a copy of those - just starting to do this type of thing for friends/family :0) mcjeep@shaw.ca

Actually, what's brewing in my noggin is to get some low tack from a craft store so that it'll stay where I put it. Then I can draw all over it with felt tips. Then once I know what the outline will be I'm gonna laminate it with duct tape as you suggest. Once I pull it off the tank I'll cut the reliefs so I can flatten the pattern. I'll need to do some final trimming on the leather of course once I'm done wet molding but this *should* get me pretty close? I guess I won't be able to do any tooling (celtic) on the bra because I'll loose it when I soak the leather for molding? I can dress it up with braid and stitching tho ;0)

Too funny :0) The answer is out there ;0)

Ya know, I've got no idea why I didn't ask here FIRST instead of spending 3 hours trying to fart around and make the posterboard work <shakingmyhead> Will try these out tomorrow when i get some more shop time. Good thing I'm already waiting for my fender to come back and a special wrench to come in so I can do the valves or I'd be getting antsy about this - the weather is outstanding and I can't ride cuz the bike's up on a stand! Thanks peeps

Hmmmmm, two more good ideas - <thinkthinkthink> I'm hoping to wet form it John so fingers are crossed for not needing to have any seems - maybe just one at the very tail of the tank where there's a fairly sharp compound bend Only other real concern is whether the velcro on the holding tabs (wrapped under the tank) will put up with the heat of the engine - shouldn't be too too bad as it's water cooled so not as hot as some others

I'll give that a shot - gotta be better than what I tried today - I'll be able to feel the contours through it as well Thanks for the tip

I want to maker a tank bra for my bike that incorporates wraparounds right by the seat to alleviate the ever present scratching of the tank at it's corners. Have been trying to mock up a decent template all afternoon with light posterboard but of course all of the compound curves of the tank makes it almost impossible. What other material do you folks suggest? I'm thinking that maybe some kind of almost flexible but not too stretchy plastic/vinyl would work? If it was transparent that would be even better. Want the final piece to look similar to this (shapewise) but with it widening and wrapping the corners at the bottom Any and all ideas appreciated Rob