HarleyChef Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Here's a look at a seat I did for a Euro/Chop/Rat bike street party in Milwaukee las weekend. Was a lot of fun to do! Cheers! Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAROC Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Very nice work Gary. What colour Brown did you use? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyChef Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Very nice work Gary.What colour Brown did you use? Thanks! The background is chocolate brown faded into medium brown, then saddle tan. I finished with a medium brown antique paste and two coats of Pecards leather dressing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MADMAX22 Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Great seat love that color. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonFuct Report post Posted August 12, 2009 That's great! Now my question is, how do you layout the hole pattern for the lacing and get it to line up correctly having two different shaped pieces, top and bottom? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azrider Report post Posted August 12, 2009 That's nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyChef Report post Posted August 12, 2009 That's great! Now my question is, how do you layout the hole pattern for the lacing and get it to line up correctly having two different shaped pieces, top and bottom? Once I glue the foam to the pan, I make a pattern for the top piece, including hole spacing. If I'm going to use 1/4" lace, then I space the holes 1/4" apart and about the same from the edge. I then cut out a pattern for the bottom of the seat, tack the two patterns together while still on the seat. Mark your holes for the bottom piece from the holes for the top piece...it takes time but this works best for me. Hope that helps! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonFuct Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Okay, that does help a bit. Do you wet form your tops and bottoms since you have more foam in there than a lot of other seat builders seem to use? I'm making my seat very similar to yours, using some foam between the pan and the leather but it's making it difficult to get things to line up. It also might me more difficult because I have the top piece already tooled and stained but with no hole pattern or holes yet. Horse, get back behind the cart! Anyway, you got a great looking seat there... wait, that didn't sound "funny" did it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LAROC Report post Posted August 12, 2009 Thanks for the colour info. I'm ordering my dyes for my seat next week and I can't believe how much the colours tend to darken up once applied. I'm going to airbrush the dyes on and will start by using a reducer initially to build up the colours so they fade into each other well. I'll definitely do test samples first as none of the browns appear as you'd think from what I've seen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bustedlifter Report post Posted August 13, 2009 (edited) How was the party? I saw the thread on the JJ. Are you going to the WI. State Fair? Oh yeah, nice work! Edited August 13, 2009 by bustedlifter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyChef Report post Posted August 13, 2009 How was the party? I saw the thread on the JJ. Are you going to the WI. State Fair?Oh yeah, nice work! The party was a blast, the vendors were great, and the bikes were even better than last year! Yup, I'll be at the fair, not as a vendor though...I can't afford the vendor fees, but you can bet I'm going to try the chocolate covered bacon! Thanks for the compliment! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bustedlifter Report post Posted August 13, 2009 MMmmm, chocolate covered bacon sounds yummy! I grew up in Milwaukee and have an aunt and uncle that live a few blocks from the fairgrounds. Lots o' cool stuff there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KenE Report post Posted August 14, 2009 Hello, Nice looking seat. I like how it is dark, but has complex color shades in it. Regarding the question about the holes from another post'er, I also had this problem and solved it a slightly different way (but close...) on my seat. I made a paper pattern on the bottom which was larger than the seat pan (so as to wrap up the sides a small amount so that I could lace it). I then layed down paper on the top (some people use butcher paper but I don't have any yet) and then carefully trimmed it such that the two patterns touched. Make sure you have a centerline drawn on the seat and the patterns, and line everything up. You probably want to throw some tape on there to keep it all from moving. Now make tick marks every 1.5" - 2" on both patterns while it is on the seat. Try to make your tick marks an even number of hole spacings. Now you can fill in the space between the marks with evenly spaced holes when you lay it out on the leather. This prevents you from having error stack-up like you would have if you just used a divider to measure hole to hole. I've found that just using dividers you can be off by a hole or two by the time you get to the end of a long piece. Take it for what its worth, I've only done one in my life! ~Ken Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonFuct Report post Posted August 17, 2009 Hello,Nice looking seat. I like how it is dark, but has complex color shades in it. Regarding the question about the holes from another post'er, I also had this problem and solved it a slightly different way (but close...) on my seat. I made a paper pattern on the bottom which was larger than the seat pan (so as to wrap up the sides a small amount so that I could lace it). I then layed down paper on the top (some people use butcher paper but I don't have any yet) and then carefully trimmed it such that the two patterns touched. Make sure you have a centerline drawn on the seat and the patterns, and line everything up. You probably want to throw some tape on there to keep it all from moving. Now make tick marks every 1.5" - 2" on both patterns while it is on the seat. Try to make your tick marks an even number of hole spacings. Now you can fill in the space between the marks with evenly spaced holes when you lay it out on the leather. This prevents you from having error stack-up like you would have if you just used a divider to measure hole to hole. I've found that just using dividers you can be off by a hole or two by the time you get to the end of a long piece. Take it for what its worth, I've only done one in my life! ~Ken Great advise Ken, thanks a lot! I'm gonna try that hole spacing trick on my seat! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ivarian Report post Posted May 11, 2012 Great job Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
