Padded inlaid seat

[AndyKnight]

well I have done hundreds of inlays . the way i do themsure works for me.

1: cut the desired shape hole in the seatt.

2: edge , burnish and stitdh groove.

3: skive back side to allow for inlay leather.

4: I pre glue both sides of rough cut EV 50 foam . or Rubitex?? ( the reason is the glue causes the foam to stretch.)

allow to dry.

5 Place the foam under the seat and scribe the shape. cut. if the foam is thicker than the seat leather I will use my scratcher to " skive" it down around the edges.

6: Glue top side of foam and the inlay leather.

7: place the foam in the inlay hole on the saddle {It is usually slightly bigger than the hole but I force it in there and hold it flat}( in the seat) and holding it there attach the inlay leather to it. This ensures that the foam is filling the inlay exactly and the inlay leather now ensures the foam is held to the exact shape of the seat.

8: take it out , glue the sides of the foam and when ready to stick just fold the leather over the edge. Use a tickler to crease the fold where it will go under the seat.

9: skive the portion where it will go under the seat. Glue that and the seat , Place the inlay on the saddle then lay the seat on ensureing placement is correct. When you have it right. take it off and sew, it.

Glue the whole works down. I now glue the whole seat down front to back in one shot. I use wax paper under neath while I ensure placement is correct.

I havn't used a light piece under the foam . I just figure if I have to pull the seat I will sacrifice the inlay. I would think that a 2 oz piece under the foam would quite likely tear whan trying to pull it up. heck I have torn ground saet leather trying to pull seats!!.

Sounds like a process but I do it in half an hour or so.

Edited March 22, 2008 by AndyKnight

[raftert]

I fix alot of padded seats and use a neoprene pad. You can buy it in 1/4" increments( thickness ). This is a closed cell foam that does not absorbe water and does not have memory. It is a little expensive. but I have exellent responce from my customers. I also use a 1/2" neoprene foam in some linings.

Tim

[Todd]

Might as well brew another pot and add another related topic to Ryan's saddle. How does everybody do a padded inlaid seat? I have done one, and was having a heck of time finding the right foam. Most was too soft for what I was looking for, or my previous experience was that some broke down. Eventually that would leave a crater. I backed up and made a buildup of 3 layers of scrap chap leather, glued each layer and then edge sewed the pad. I used elephant for the seat, figuring two things. One was that it was durable, the other was that it came pre-wrinkled. I had watched a guy put in a padded seat who had done several. Demonstrations are doomed to failure, and his roo wrinkled. Mine came out pretty decent.

Since then talking to several guys, no two are alike. Some guys use a thin backer and sandwich the padding, others stitch the seat cover in and cement the seat and pad down to the ground seat. Some guys use foam, others use a chap buildup. All techniques, tips, tricks, and trivia are welcome here.

HEY BRUCE

I was having a problem with memory foam losing its memory`and peeling away from the tree after a few rides (I do glue to the groundseat). I wound up going to an upolsterer who specialized in boat seats. She sold me a role of a very high density foam material which is moisture resistent. They use it to get the tuck and rolll effect in boat seats. Its about the thickness of 15 oz skirting so segues beautifully on a saddle. I have only used it on 2 saddles so far but the first one has gone through a full season of roping without flattening out or peeling away from the seat.