Zonker1972

i looked last night and i'm sorry but i do not have this craftaid.

i may have that one. let me look when i get home.

pretty sure this is what you want https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09N17M81S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 i bought some to make a "doctor's bag" for my wife. good luck

when i re-did my seat in veg tan, it was recommended to use 4-5oz for the top and 2-3 for the side. i found 2-3 got really brittle after dying but looking at your seat that won't be an issue. also, i found that the dyed veg tan will fade quite quickly in the sun. i am currently working on a way to keep dyed color but vinegaroon or iron oxide black appears stable good luck

i have recently tried to use a couple of different top coats with UV blockers. the experiment is on going but the results looks promising.

was this veg tan that you dyed? I have had very bad luck keeping the dye color, green and black, in my motorcycle seats. i've tried several different top coats with no luck. what did you use as a top coat?

there is also this type: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09N17M81S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 they stay open when you release and close when you give them a bit of pressure. great for dog treat pouches or purses

That's a good point. I initially poured some shene into a cup. So. I guess i could have had separated.

I was finishing off a new motorcycle seat yesterday. I assembled the seat before my final top coat. I finished the top of the seat with 10 coats of Eco-flow gloss super shene. When I went to add the super shene to the sides of the seat, i thought it would be easier to use my airbrush. I did 10 coats with the airbrush, undiluted super shene, at ~25psi. the top coat went on fine but it has a matt finish even through i used the same gloss super shene. Does anyone know why this happened? thanks.

looks really good!! A+. what are you using for a top coat for the veg tan leather? resolene? Tan Kote?

just a quick pic of my latest work. i attached it to the outside of my left saddlebag.

i use a pencil

send a sacrificial piece of thread about a foot long on a needle through the holes and then throw it away. now stitch up and hopefully have cleaner thread holding the project together.

I am sharpening a new 37mm Japanese skiving knife and I was wondering if I should put a camber on the edges of the blade. For those of you who do not know, a camber is a slight rounding at both ends, right and left, of the blade's cutting surface so that the blade's edges do not "dig in". The majority of the blade remains square to the cut but there is a gentle curve on both of the ends. My thought is that this may make easing into a skive easier. Does anyone have an opinion on this one way or another? thanks.

i just installed a belt clip like you are describing on a dog treat pouch. i riveted it in place but found that the end of the clip kept getting in the way when i wanted to attach the pouch to my belt. i make a quick sheath to go over teh mounted side of the clip, attached to the pouch, and now the clip slides right onto my belt. i am not familiar with the plastic spacer you are describing. perhaps a picture or two would help people understand.

fredk thanks for the idea. i'll try it out.

I built a catch-all for a friend over the last few weeks and when i applied fiebing's tan kote the piece got quite stiff. my order of operations: i tooled, the dyed with fiebing's pro dye 3x with about 2-3 hours in between coats, wait 24 hours, buff to remove excess dye, then oiled with some olive oil al la Don Gonzalez, let dry overnight and then finally coated with tan kote 2x with about 4 hours of dry time in between coats. this isn't a real big deal but my friend would like to be able to roll up the catch all and take it different places. i'm afraid that the tan kote will crack or craze. has anyone else run into this? i thought tan kote was supposed to dry to a more supple finish than resolene. is it possible i laid the tan kote on too thick? i'd like to understand why this happened as i am considering coating the motorcycle seat that i tooled with tan kote, the leather balm with atom wax did not create a good seal. thanks in advance for the help.

pasterbob that's a good idea. i went to my local tandy and asked about this issue. the salesman said that the outcome was due to using leather balm with atom wax. i'm not rally sure how this could be but perhaps if i re-dye the green section and then seal with some tan kote it may fix the problem.

sbrownn thanks for the input. it's a real shame. this took me quite a bit of time. i would hate to think that i'd have to re-dye the seat every year to keep the green sections.

hope someone has an idea why this is happening. The 2nd pic show the seat after stain and covering with leather balm with atom wax while the 1st pic shows that the green Fiebing's pro dye is wearing off the seat. i had some luggage strapped to the seat for my trip to and from Sturgis this year. but this seat has only been used for this season. i would like to know if anyone has an idea as to why it looks like the green dye is all rubbing off. any help is greatly appreciated.

very nice work. i'm thinking out making a tank bib for my bike. just wondering, did you add any magnets to help hold the bib to the tank or is this secured by straps under the tank from the front to the back? zonker

use flexible cutting boards

Rocky mountain leather is fairly inexpensive and has a pretty good selection

I've searched through the forum and done some google searching but i'm just getting a consistent answer on top coating motorcycle seats that will be used in the weather. I used oil based dyes, allowed them to dry for 72 hours and then oiled with olive oil, al la Don Gonzalas. But now I am stuck on the best finish to use to protect my leather as well as allow me to condition my leather. I have discounted resolene even though it would be a barrier to the elements because I do not feel that an acrylic top coat will flex with use and it would be a permanent barrier allowing no leather conditioning over time.. Don Gonzales has suggested on his youtube vids that tan kote allows the leather to absorb oils but is "water resistant". I initially liked this idea and was going to finish with tan kote. however, the more work I put into these seats, the more scared I am that some weather will destroy all my work. I have also seen some post on using leather balm with atom wax and/or pecard motorcycle leather dressing. The ideas I took away from these posts is that the wax creates a barrier to keep out water but not a permanent barrier, a barrier that requires some maintenance. I am starting to lean towards the leather balm with atom wax or the pecard. Can I get some opinions from others who have made tooled motorcycle seats? thank you, Zonker

the glue is not going to make a durable bond. you can use wood glue and then stitch the two pieces together. that will give you the working time and hold the pieces while you mechanically adhere them with the thread.