azrider

So I made a seat for a sport bike. I used the same type of method as I used for a cruiser seat. Tooled cover, centered, riveted around the edges while wet forming. With a cruiser, this works fine because the weight of the rider pushes the leather down and back when the seat is being used. With this sport bike however, the pegs are behind the seating surface, so the rider is actually leaning forward, and squeezing with his thighs when riding. Because the leather was only fastened to the pan along the outside, the leather stretched and when combined with sweat made a ridge right up the middle of the seat. I fixed this once without really thinking about what caused it. A few months later it happened again. I want to fix it permanently this time. My thought is to strip the leather cover, and carve a new one. This time, glue it directly to the foam with 3m spray. Once the glue dries, wet the leather and shape it over the edges and rivet in place. I think the glue on the foam will keep the leather in place when the rider is leaning forward and squeezing the seat with his legs. Is there anything else I can do to keep this cover in place? I am concerned that the seat will deform for a third time. Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful.

Welcome to Leatherworker.net. The search function is at the top right of the screen, if you chose advanced you can get more options. As far as choosing a good hide, its a learning process. One of the things I have learned is that there is typically a reason the hides are on sale. I like to have scars and brands on some of my stuff, so don't mind those hides. I look for a consistent thickness in the hide, especially looking for really rough and uneven parts on the flesh side. That can make part of a hide unusable, even if it looks good. The other thing I like to do is flex the hide, and make sure there are not any hard spots. I learned this when I got a hide that was about 1/3rd partially tanned rawhide. I couldn't even cut it. Other than that, talk to the people in the store. Most of the Tandy employees will help with picking a hide if you are there in person.

I was kind of hoping the work was done by someone on this board. I would love to see some more pictures of it. I think the fact that Buddy Holly did his own leatherwork, and that it came out that nice is awesome. Seeing stuff like that is inspiring to me.

A friend of mine sent me this, and I thought is was pretty cool. Not a lot of info on leatherworking, other than the fact that Buddy Holly did the cover himself with the help of his local Tandy Store. Some cool pictures of how a guitar is made. http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=26146

Thanks all! That's exactly what I needed.

I have a customer asking for a piece of braided leather, rather than a wallet chain. He sent me the picture below. Can anyone identify what type of braid it is, so I can start googling for an online tutorial? (I am about 1.5 hours from any store that would have books on braids, and I work around 50 hours a week, so its hard to get there.) Thank you for your help.

Just curious, has any one been asked for this documentation on handmade goods?

Have you checked to see if the duck tape is going to leave a residue on your leather? I typically won't use tape on the grain side because of that. You don't have to push the awl all the way through, just enough to open the whole for your needle. What type of thread are you using, and how hard are you pulling it? Is it causing the tears? Depending on the construction, you might want to glue a piece of thin leather behind the two pieces, and do two rows of standard stitching to hold the ends together. Have any pictures?

I don't know about IL, but I have had one in both Kansas and Arizona for two different businesses. Both were granted through the state department of revenue. They have requirements about how often I have to file, and report my sales so they get their chunk of it. I would probably start by googling "Sole Proprietor" and "IL sales tax license." There might also be other requirements in your state for licensing.

Read an older thread that talked about removing the chrome, or using sand paper and files to fix tools. Does anyone have any pictures of the results?

I purchased it from American Leatherworks in Leavenworth, KS. Thier website is http://www.americanleatherworks.com/. I didn't know what exactly I was buying, I just thought it was a nice looking hide. They are pretty good about responding to emails.

I bought a side of glazed latigo last week. It has a shine already in the leather. I have made several belts out of it already, and used a light coat of Bee Natural leather conditioner to even out the finish. It seems to be holding up well, and looks more finished than other latigo I have used.

When you use an overstitch wheel, dampen the leather first. It makes it a lot easier to see the marks. I do all my stitching in a channel I gouge first, and just run my sponge along the channel before the overstitch wheel. If I dampen it right, I can actually feel the marks with the end of the awl, and don't have to look quite as closely.

So how did this work out?

I've used the blue loctite to keep screw conchos in place on motorcycle saddle bags. they held up fine over a lot of miles, but I was still able to remove them when I sold the bike.

Quite a few threads have mentioned modifying craftools to get them to work better. I know with all of my smooth faced bevellers and pear shaders, I have polished them quite a bit to smooth them out. With the bevellers, I have also rounded the sides to make a rounded face that is easier to walk. Just curious if there are some “common” modifications that people make to craftools? What do they accomplish?

I have had good luck rubbing denatured alcohol over a project to make it look aged. It will strip most of the shine off water and wax based finishes, and you can rub it with a cloth to create wear spots in the project.

I have noticed that many people think that thinner leathers are higher quailty. Coach wallets cost a fortune, and are made from very thin leather. Most of my wallets have 6-7 oz backs, and interiors made with 2-3 oz. My standard bi-fold wallet is 5/8ths of an inch, empty. I don't make them that thick because I think its a selling point, I make them that thick because I don't want the interior to wear out quickly. I made one for a sandblaster who had been going through 4-5 wallets per year, and he has been using it for a year and a half now, and its still solid. That said, using an acordian style construction on my biker wallet allowed me to make the total wallet only 9/16ths of an inch. Thinner wallets seem to be the ones the potential customers pick up first. I don't think you are shooting yourself in the foot by making a quality thinner wallet. Do you have any pictures?

I have ordered thread from Maine thread, and have been pretty happy with it. They have quite a few options on size and colors. http://www.mainethread.com/ All of the needles I use are standard sized saddler's needles. Most craft/ fabric shops don't carry them, but they have a rounded point instead of an extremely sharp point.

Thats not where I left it. Its been a few years since I escaped the Valley.

You might check out the Tandy Leather at 28th Avenue and Bell Road. They are hidden in the very back of the shopping center. The staff there was really helpfull when I was getting back into leatherworking. They had classes and were willing to show you all kinds of stuff.

I would glue the ends of the lacing down. Then, when you glue your liner in, you will be securing most of the lacing. It should hold up pretty will if you are using contact cement.

One other thing to keep in mind, is that most mallets and mauls do get some flakes. I have rawhide mallets, poly mallets, and custom made poly mauls. They all flake a bit. The rawhide flakes more than the poly though. I would imagine that you will get some flakes, even with the plastics.

The ones I use are 1 inch or 1.5 inches thick. As long as your surface under the stone is solid, you should be fine witha two inch thick one. I added a bunch of reinforcement under my desk I tool on, and was amazed by what a difference it made.