wolvenstien

I have been working on learning how to recover my motorcycle seats now for maybe 7-8 months now. I have been too scared to do anything on the main because I felt it was too complicated with the contours and all so i started with the passenger seat first... couldn't get it with the way i was trying.... After posting back and forth with Beeza, when I wanted more info on making a pattern to make the cover for the main seat, he told me he doesn't make and use patterns when recovering thick cushioned seats. He wet molds them, and suggested I just jump in there and do it. So I did. It turned out nice. Not what I had in mind, but I intend on going back and adding the lace here in the future. The decision to go with tan (Feibings antique Tan is what I used) was made back when i first did the passenger back rest from input from this site. When I asked, it was suggested I use Super Sheen as my finish on the seats and no one chimed in telling me that it was a mistake.... So this is what I used. It worked fine on the passenger backrest but the backrest has had no one using it, it is more there for decoration as I don't have a passenger seat on the bike for anything to sit on...... I said screw it and pushed aside my fears and did like Beeze briefly instructed me to do on my main seat. Along with the main seat, I have an after market custom backrest for the main, from Utopia that I wanted to cover too. I did the main with the wet mold method, and did the utopia backrest with a sandwich method. I did both with tan antique (thanks Johanna for the method of application with the fur), and finished the backrest with super sheen, and through another thread (maybe the same where Johanna mentioned the method of applying antique) I was informed that Leather Sheen is the same as Super Sheen just in an aerosol form, so I finished the main seat in Leather Sheen. Below are pix of the finish of both the backrest and the main seat. Take a wild guess at just how pissed I am.... I don't know if the whole thing is screwed.... if it is going to salvageable? If I can "strip" the finish, leave the antique on the leather, and refinish it with something that inst going to come off like this crap has came off. Or if I have to reapply the antique, making the whole thing darker, so it doesn't match the passenger backrest (which I did several months back and is a bit darker already). Am I screwed? What can i do to save this? Look at the pix of the backrest, you can see where the antique that is in the tooling and cuts has fallen away and there is a clean spot where it should be a very dark spot from the antique...

What did you use to finish and seal the seats with?

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Comedian-actor George Carlin, known for his raunchy, but insightful humor, died Sunday in Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 71. Carlin performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. Jeff Abraham says Carlin went into St. John's Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PDT, the Associated Press reported. Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. Carlin was best known for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television," which appeared 1972's "Class Clown" album. When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace, the AP reported. The comedy sketch prompted a landmark indecency case after WBAI-FM radio aired it in 1973. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices ruled on a 5-to-4 vote that the sketch was "indecent but not obscene," giving the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency on the airwaves. "So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," Carlin said. "In the context of that era, it was daring." "It just sounds like a very self-serving kind of word. I don't want to go around describing myself as a 'groundbreaker' or a 'difference-maker' because I'm not and I wasn't," he said. "But I contributed to people who were saying things that weren't supposed to be said." Video Watch Carlin's 7 dirty words routine » Carlin, who was also an author, was slated to receive the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in November. "In his length career as a comedian, writer, and actor, George Carlin has not only made us laugh, but he makes us think," Stephen Schwarzman, Kennedy Center chairman, said in a statement. "His influence on the next generation of comics has been far-reaching." In a typical wry response, Carlin said: "Thank you Mr. Twain. Have your people call my people." advertisement Carlin hosted the first broadcast of "Saturday Night Live" in October 1975. He played the character of Mr. Conductor on the PBS series "Shining Time Station" and starred in more than a dozen HBO specials. Carlin was also a regular on The Tonight Show. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/06/23/carl...=rss_topstories Doubly sad day for me.... Carlin, you will be missed!

Has it been 2 years already? Happy B-Day LW!!!

Ok, I used the wool to apply the antique and it turned out much better than I expected it to.... Thank you JS. I got to thinking.... I have a can of Leather Sheen spray.... so i used it over the antique.... now I have a question about the spray.... The can doesnt say, so i am left to asking here, how long before it is dry? How long after applying the Sheen before I can use the leather I applied it to ? Thanks

LOL< thats wrong.....

I have tried cleaning up with a wet sponge, but the outcome was kind of worse than the dried swirls. It made everything very dark, matching the darkness in the tooled areas.... and did not lighten up.

Hey bro, dont knock yourself.... it looks good, and I am sure you Daddy will love it.... Especially since you made it. The macaroni pictures as a kid are one thing.... this is a craftmanship that anyone would be proud to wear. What kind of leather did you use to make it with?

LOL, well, I guess thats usage 102 for Yoga Mats..... Looks good.... and since your butt will be the one sitting on it, I hope it feels good....

A rose by any other name...... I made one or two... but neither turned out as nice as yours..... What do you use for the center piece to pull the leather down onto the wire through the holes? I used beads, but the colors stick out and attract away from the rose....

Glad you are alright. My brother in law rode a tornado back in 1992 or so..... Him and his dog were in their trailer and he was coming out of the bathroom, and saw the back door buckle in towards him, and the next thing he saw was the ceiling coming right at him (whether it was coming at him or him at it he doesnt know) and then waking up about 200 yards away from where he was standing inside the trailer with a floor model tool box loaded with tools sitting on top of him. His dog, Dipstick, came walking out of the woods about 500 yards from where the trailer was a while later.... My BIL has walked around with a steel rod in his leg since.... Thats it.... And to kick it.... He moved here from Tornado Ally..... Never got hit there, but the year he moved here....

I am having issues with applying antique. I have always used it on smaller pieces and have not had any trouble with it. But I just did two pieces that both were larger than a foot square, one smooth, one tooled, and the tooled one i had to apply allot and moved it around to get it into all the tooling marks and what not but it worked well. The smooth piece on the other hand was a mess. The antique dried in swirls all over it, and I had to apply just a bit to my cotton rag and buff out the swirls but it left the leather looking splotchy.... So what is your method for applying antique to large tooled and smooth pieces? Second.... what is your method in applying Super Sheen from the bottle? I apply per directions (slightly damp sponge and apply in a single direction, allowing one coat, dry 10 minutes before applying an additional coat) but it turns out streaky. I did try to put it on in a circular motion, and it lifted the antique and made bad swirl marks with the antique that I cannot remove. So how do you go about applying Super Sheen over antique?

Cool. Then thats what i will do.... I have it stretched over the seat... I couldnt get the back part to stretch since I stretched everything in that direction I guess, so i cut it and put in a seem.... worked out because I had to put in a hole for the back rest. Now to just figure out what i want to tool into the seat.... I see from the pix you added, you cut out the area of the seat, and put the other in over the hole over lapping. Do you think there would be a problem if I did not cut out the area, but left it and then put the tooled piece over it?

No one? Anyone?

You can do Black SS stripes down the center.... LOL Looks good bro.

Ok, Beeza, You tooled the seat and attached it to the sides.... is the part under the seat cut away or is there two layers of leather there? Did stretching the seat after it was tooled hurt it any? Can I cut a whole piece, wet it, allow it to dry a bit, and stretch it over the whole thing, tacking it down underneath, then remove it and tool it and add an additional piece over the seat area? Or should all this be done before stretching?

Couple questions for you.... How did you get the leather to "stick" to the helmet? You tuck it under the inside allow it to dry and put the trim back on? Glue? Like Spider, this is something I have been thinking about too... I bought me a halh helmet last summer that is covered in leather by the manufacturer, but because I bought it from a place that was going out of business, I was limited to a smaller size than I like on my head and I dont really like wearing it. So I want to see about covering my normally used one once my personal projects catch up....

Beeze, Isnt that two pieces on that seat with a seam going around the seat? If it is just one piece, when did you do the lacing? before or after you stretched it? The parts I am having the most issue with are the sides.... around the contours.

now I am confused.... Are you talking about using one single piece to cover the seat? Because the way i want to do it is with several sections, one on the seat area, two to make the sides, and one across the back, all laced together. I cant get the leather cut right so it fits right, and cant get my head wrapped around wetting and stretching the leather if I cant get it cut right to begin with. The way I am looking at doing this is to pattern the leather pieces, finish them, lace them together, and put over the seat and roll under and fasten to the plastic pan. I dont understand about the wet stretching of the leather if it is already finished, and laced. I dont see you being able to wet stretch it once it is finished and laced together. the lines in the pics below ate where I want the lace seams to be.

thats my main issue when "just going for it".... I get puckers and wrinkles.... I am wasting too much leather on this project.

Ok, I know this is probably a stretch and asking allot, but I would like to see how you puffy seat guys (beeze) make your patterns for your seats. I have a seat that looks like this with the factory cover: And here is what it looks like uncovered: What my problem is, is the contours of the foam seat. I took the original vinyl cover, cut it up on the seams, and it is too stretched to give me a good pattern, and i have tried the covering it with plastic then covering it with duct tape to make a cover, draw out my seams and cut it up method.... it is too contoured to make a pattern from. I cant get my head around the contour part of it. This is pretty much what i need explained and shown to me. Thanks

Welcome to the site....

Works well, and looks good too....

Ok, you want me to scrub it using a brush, and white vinegar. Just wet it down in the area where the mold is and scrub it and leave it? Scrub the whole hide? Once scrubbed, just leave it to dry? or rince it off.... or what? I want to do this without messing up the leather, because it is a nice hide....

LOL, ok...... white vinegar it is.... When you say "wash" what do you mean, rub it down with a cloth? or scrub the heck out of it with a good scrub brush?