TinyL

That turned out wonderfully Tina. The natural color of the leather is a perfect foil for the bright colors of the feather.

I find contact paper to be very effective and you can cover a large area very quickly.

harleysue i think the seat looks fantastic. your lacing is tight and impeccable. the wet molding job looks great also. those types of seats are a bear to do, but well worth the effort once you get over the hand cramping. the design is, well it is what it is. we've all had our share of skulls to do , and even if it isn't our most favorite thing, it is always good to have one in your repetoire because it comes up time and again in this market. one comment though, and that is i would try to work in some shading with your acrylics to give the piece more depth. if you had some lights and darks in the dragon's scales it would definitely give it more dimension. i think that would be something to look to do on your next piece if you work with acrylics again. a job well done though! Chris

I haven't done any but if you search on youtube, I think there are vids of how to do it. I believe you need to do it as an inset, cutting the foam out so the gel pad rests in the inset and is level with the rest of the foam. There also might be pix tutorials on the web if you do a search on gel seats for bikes. Good luck. Chris

Hey Jimbob, your wetmolding is spot on and i like the different lacing. it's cool. Your designs are pretty neat for the good ol' skulls and flames. One critique I have is that I think you can carve deeper into the leather. Then when you bevel the difference between the raised leather and the beveled parts will be more prominent and more "3D". Other than that, great job! Chris

It's hard to see in the picture Shaky, but the foam looks very deteriorated. That aside, it depends how you want to cover it and with what. What kind of leather do you want to cover it with? Do you want to reupholster it or cover with veg tan? Chris

I love your lacing. It's so much different than just a regular "x". Your wet molding is impeccable also. I think these type of seats are the most challenging to do vs. regular pan seats. It's very clean and neat. What ounce leather did you use and how did you go about making the pattern for the sides? I always find that the most difficult to do. I hate to waste leather but I always leave alot to cut off because it's safer to trim than to be short. It's a lovely piece of construction. Chris

check this link My link this lacing book tells you everything. Chris

Those bags are beautiful. The design is so clean and sleek. Great job! Chris

Hi Go to the motorcycles and biker gear sub forum and you'll find a wealth of info there. Chris

I like the sheath and tank bib. Extremely sharp looking! Chris

That is absolutely ingenious! Thank you so much for sharing such a fantastic concept and allowing us to try it ourselves. Chris

Keep us posted! I'm trying to decide between the two and I would really like to see what you think as far as use and such. Thank you in advance. Chris

Hi I think your lacing is tight and neat which is great, because inconsistent lacing can really impact the looks of a project. In my opinion, it looks like you need to carve deeper into the leather. It doesn't look like your beveler is set deep enough into the cut, hence the beveling seems on the shallow side. I think if the beveler sits deeper at the proper angle and you hit harder, you'll get that visible difference in your outline. Once that's done, you can use a modeling spoon to smooth the bevel out so it's less choppy. I sometimes run the beveler over what I have just beveled to help smooth the leather as well. On the sheath, it's hard to tell with the lighting, but from the really nice sheaths that I've seen, I think you need to put in a stitching groove. It makes it look so much neater. Plus I think it will cut out the puckering in the leather when stitches are pulled tight. As I said, this is my opinion. I did a sheath without the groove and it was really sloppy looking. The next sheath I did with the groove looked so much better. I think it's great you've come back to leather again and hope you enjoy rediscovering it. Chris

That's a really cool looking seat. How did you do the dye job on top? It's neato. Chris

I found contact paper, (shelf liner) to be excellent. A roll can cover large projects and it goes on in one piece and comes off the same way. Same price for painters tape but more product. Doesn't leave any residue either. Chris

Hi, Can you post your feedback on the cub after using it? I'm interested in a "manual" machine and would like to hear input from someone that has used one. Thanks so much! Chris

Thanks for the reply Paul. I appreciate it very much. Would I need to do anything special to waterproof as well, or would the conditioner do the job? I have a customer that wants an ostrich seat with a tooled center inlay so I just want to be able to tell him how to care for the seat Thanks again!Chris

How would you take care of ostrich skin if it was on a motorcycle seat? Thanks in advance.

That scrollwork is beautiful! Chris

Thanks Shirley for the compliment. Coming from a seasoned pro like yourself, means alot.

Thank you for the compliments guys. It means alot!

It's been awhile since I posted, and even though I've been doing alot of leatherwork, I'm particularly proud of this seat that I did for my husband. I would like to thank Peter Main for his encouraging words and promptness in sending his books about his coloring technique, without which I would not have been able to accomplish this project. His graciousness and expertise were kindly given to me via email and I'll treasure that interaction always. Along that note, I'd also like to thank the community at leatherworker.net. Even though I don't post alot, I've come to rely on you daily, just like my first cup of coffee and I don't know what I'd do without you all and the vast knowledge you are always ready to impart. Thanks for looking, Chris

That looks great working man! What kind of lace did you use? It's pretty chunky, but I dig it! Chris

Your braiding is really sharp. I love the color and the design on the p pad is really cool. Chris