Panther Seat

[KliffsKustomHouse]

Hey everyone!

Finished up a new solo seat and wanted to share. The first time I used a Biltwell seat pan so it took me a while to work out. It fought me a little because I rushed the pattern a bit but I know where I need to adjust for next time. Biltwell supply a great quality pressed pan with nice memory foam. I wet moulded the bottom to the ribs that were in the pan which was something new for me too. I drew up this tattoo style panther and added some Japanese style clouds and cherry blossoms in there too. Let me know what you guys think. I'm working a West Eagle pan next so we'll see how that goes. I just gotta get the patterns down for a few pans that I like so I cut out a bunch of tops and bottoms and speed up my process.

Thanks for checking it out.

Cheers,

Kliff

[MADMAX22]

Way cool man, love the style.

[flyingcuda]

very nicely done! i need to stop looking in here, i am going to be trying my hand at bike seats. seeing all the awesome work in here is intimidating..i should maybe stop looking until after i have tried? great work!!

[outcast]

Very nice. Color is great.

[hidepounder]

Kliff,

I think that looks spectacular! I'm not a seat builder, but I appreciate fine work of any style. You appear to have good artistic skills drawing patterns and good command of your tools, as well. Nice job!

Bob

[David]

Kliff,

It looks great. I've only done one of these seat pans. I did mine a bit differently; I didn't cover all those ribs on the bottom. My bottom consisted of a narrow band around the edge. I really like the looks of yours. What weight of leather did you use on the seat? Same weight on the front and back?

Your art work is outstanding! I love the Asian tattoo art. You did a very good job on it. The lacing really sets it off nicely.

Great job

Dave

[KliffsKustomHouse]

Thanks David.

I used 3.5mm leather top and bottom. I'm not sure what that works out to be your measurements (ounces???). I'll use slightly thinner next time I think... especially on the bottom which I wet moulded with my thumbs around all those ribs. I also need to adjust the pattern I made for the bottom as my lacing holes were a little too close the pan. Caused me a heap of problems getting the lacing needle through on the top curves. I've worked out a bit of an interesting way of making patterns too. I've been making a rough outline using cardboard straight off the pan then scanning it into the computer. Once I have it all in the computer I use Adobe Illustrator to create a clean line version and then add in all my lacing holes. I offset the outline of the pan however far I want my lacing holes away from the edge and use 100 periods/fullstops as type on a path! Bingo, 100 holes..... everything perfectly symmentrical. I attached the one for the top of this seat. Hey while I got your attention.... would you mind answering a couple questions.

How do you work out your patterns? I'm a Graphic Designer by day so I just went to the tools I'm used to.

What sort of lacing do you use? I used 4.7mm kangaroo. I want to try for a lace that is even bigger and rounder. What would you suggest (lace & lacing style)?

Also.... I'll have to verify but I think that Biltwell has a seat builders pack where they give you a bunch of raw seats with foam for a special price. I just sent this one over to them as they say they like to see what people are doing with their parts. I'll get back with info if anyone's interested.

Thanks again for checking out my seat. Trying to make the next one better than the last.

Cheers,

Kliff

[David]

Kliff,

It sounds like we work pretty much the same way. I use a CAD program in place of illustrator. How do you handle printing something the size of your seat patterns.... you must have a sizable printer.

Dave

Thanks David.

I used 3.5mm leather top and bottom. I'm not sure what that works out to be your measurements (ounces???). I'll use slightly thinner next time I think... especially on the bottom which I wet moulded with my thumbs around all those ribs. I also need to adjust the pattern I made for the bottom as my lacing holes were a little too close the pan. Caused me a heap of problems getting the lacing needle through on the top curves. I've worked out a bit of an interesting way of making patterns too. I've been making a rough outline using cardboard straight off the pan then scanning it into the computer. Once I have it all in the computer I use Adobe Illustrator to create a clean line version and then add in all my lacing holes. I offset the outline of the pan however far I want my lacing holes away from the edge and use 100 periods/fullstops as type on a path! Bingo, 100 holes..... everything perfectly symmentrical. I attached the one for the top of this seat. Hey while I got your attention.... would you mind answering a couple questions.

How do you work out your patterns? I'm a Graphic Designer by day so I just went to the tools I'm used to.

What sort of lacing do you use? I used 4.7mm kangaroo. I want to try for a lace that is even bigger and rounder. What would you suggest (lace & lacing style)?

Also.... I'll have to verify but I think that Biltwell has a seat builders pack where they give you a bunch of raw seats with foam for a special price. I just sent this one over to them as they say they like to see what people are doing with their parts. I'll get back with info if anyone's interested.

Thanks again for checking out my seat. Trying to make the next one better than the last.

Cheers,

Kliff

[KliffsKustomHouse]

Hey David,

I work at a printer so have access to large format printers. I can usually fit the patterns onto an A3 sheet though. I have printed onto 2 x A4's and taped together before when i was at home.

Have you got any exciting new projects on the boil? Always love to see your new work. I'm going to try my hand at a few belts and a new wallet for myself. Saddlebag for a buddy too if I can work it out.

Kliff

[David]

Hey Kliff,

My next seat is for a customer that wants a LOT of braiding and stitching but no tooling.

That will be a bit different for me.

Then there is the matter of making something for the IFoLG in Indy this year in Sept.

Take care,

I really like your work.

Dave

I just realized that I forgot to respond to your question about lace. I use the round braid or Mexican basket weave to go around the edge and hold everything together. For decorative lace I use single loop and try to beat it flat enough that it won't bother the rider. The lace I use is 1/4" kangaroo for the basket weave and lace through 1/8" holes...I have 100 holes on my seats. The decorative lace is much smaller 3/32" calf skin.

Edited June 11, 2009 by David

[TomSwede]

This seat is gorgeous!!

From shape of seat pan to top finish, everything looks just beautiful. What catches me most is that you haven't gone into silly much detailing on the panther wich makes it stand out from the beautiful asian style background.

Nice job!!!

[KliffsKustomHouse]

Thanks for the details on your lacing David. I'll try the Mexican basketweave lace next time.

Thanks for checking out the seat guys. Here's another angle I forgot to upload first time round.

Kliffo

[Kustomizer]

Very nice seat! I almost got a tattoo very similar to that panther, anyways the seat looks great!