2nd seat

[leatheroo]

i had an order for a plain seat, so off i went..but when i dyed the top it turned out too dark. At this stage i already had the bottom and foam attached. I cut another top and dyed it, then i had to try to get the holes marked to match the bottom. I cut the top a bit smaller this time as the original was a bit too big...now i had to try to fit all those holes on a smaller top. I must of counted and marked the holes about ten times. All seemed good until i finished the first round of lacing..different number of holes on the top to the bottom!!!! dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The holes on the top were a bit too close together as well. Any way have a look and see what you think...i didnt do the last weave of the lacing as it was getting to chunky...but i quite like the design of the lacing as it turned out.

Question....when doing a weave type lacing to most of you complete the weave as you go or do you go around the project 4 times, with the last time around weaving to complete the pattern?? does that make sense!!!??? Do the different ways have a different look??

[MADMAX22]

Looks pretty good, I like the color.

The lacing looks interesting as well.

As far as myself Ive only done one round braid lace type and did the whole thing as I went along. I didnt think of going around several times. I just followed the instructions in "Encyclopedia of rawhide and leather braiding", great book if you dont allready have it, its well worth the money.

[leatheroo]

here is the method i have always used...i now have the book you mentioned, but i find it soooo much slower to do...i need to do both and compare how they look...i think the bruce grant method will look better but most times the customer will never appreciate the extra effort or time you may put in.

You will have to excuse my ignorance if this is a completely different lacing technique.

Edited October 18, 2009 by leatheroo

[Storm]

Love the simplicity of this one. Very clean work and the lacing is nice!

Storm

[dscott]

nice seat love the color

David

[TroyS]

Hey Roo! Very nice seat. Sometimes, simple is better. I love the color! Given your skills with a swivel knife, some pinstripes would be awesome on your next one!

I just finished a seat and also did the Round Braid/Mexican Basketweave on it. I've never used the technique your diagram shows. I always start on the left side of the nose (under your left leg if you were sitting on the seat) and work my way around. I use sections of lace about 3 feet long at a time so the lace doesn't get all stressed out and stretched. I do the entire weave in one pass. I can usually Mexican basket weave a seat like that in an afternoon. I get into a rhythm and tune the world out. Each 3ft section of lace will weave about 5 inches. I also punch all of my holes in the bottom panel first, then punch my first hole in the top and tie it off with a string or pipe cleaner. Then I pinch the edges together and mark about 5 top piece holes, then tie the 5th one with a string or pipe cleaner. I do this all the way around the seat. It takes me longer than other people, but I NEVER end up with an odd hole.

Also, the last thing I do is tap the lace with a rubber mallet. It helps to "Settle" the lace and make it all uniform!

[LAROC]

I like the seat you've made and the colour looks good.

Troy, what size holes do you make for your lacing, and what width of lace?

Thxs

Phil

[scottishshoemaker]

Really nice seat and the colour is great, thanks for posting the pics also of the round braid, always wondered how this was done, I have been asked to do an old Lycette motorbike seat, think they came from post war british bikes, I'll be using this technique to lace seat.

What colour of dye and what kind did you use on seat?

[David]

Hey Roo! Very nice seat. Sometimes, simple is better. I love the color! Given your skills with a swivel knife, some pinstripes would be awesome on your next one!

I just finished a seat and also did the Round Braid/Mexican Basketweave on it. I've never used the technique your diagram shows. I always start on the left side of the nose (under your left leg if you were sitting on the seat) and work my way around. I use sections of lace about 3 feet long at a time so the lace doesn't get all stressed out and stretched. I do the entire weave in one pass. I can usually Mexican basket weave a seat like that in an afternoon. I get into a rhythm and tune the world out. Each 3ft section of lace will weave about 5 inches. I also punch all of my holes in the bottom panel first, then punch my first hole in the top and tie it off with a string or pipe cleaner. Then I pinch the edges together and mark about 5 top piece holes, then tie the 5th one with a string or pipe cleaner. I do this all the way around the seat. It takes me longer than other people, but I NEVER end up with an odd hole.

Also, the last thing I do is tap the lace with a rubber mallet. It helps to "Settle" the lace and make it all uniform!

Exactly the way I do it too. Get the booklet from Tandy....... HOW TO LACE.... It's about $5. The diagrams are easy to follow.

Dave Theobald

[leatheroo]

thanks for the tips everyone...the color was called antique mahogany and i then airbrushed the edges with black. I have the bruce grant book, thats when i realised there was another way to do the lacing..i think daves and troys does look better....as for getting a book from tandy...$5 book and a $1000 flight...no tandy in Australia

cheers

[KenE]

I read from someone else in this forum to make the top and bottom patterns the same. That is to say, if you use 3/4" foam on the seat to add half of that (i.e. 3/8" ) to the seat pan pattern. I then make a "half pattern" out of thick poster board that represents one half of the leather cutout. Then use the wing divider trick to mark equally spaced holes around the "half pattern". I then transfer the holes by using a finely sharpened scribe tool to go through the poster board into the leather. To do the other side of the leather simply flip the half-pattern around your centerline and continue on. IT makes a really repeatable result and is safer than marking your leather up with a wing divider and risk scratching it.

BTW, I love the airbrush look, it makes the seat look like my fender Guitar, beautiful. I think I'm going to buy one. I keep telling my wife that I'm going to make money off of leatherwork, but I keep buying more tools and materials and not selling anything! This too will come to pass. I think you just need to reach a certain level of skill and get some notoriety before things start selling. Thats what I keep telling myself anyway! )

~Ken

[TroyS]

I like the seat you've made and the colour looks good.

Troy, what size holes do you make for your lacing, and what width of lace?

Thxs

Phil

I use a #4 (5/32") hole and 3/16" lace... then I use my stylus to stretch the hole as I'm weaving... once the leather relaxes, the holes close back up leaving virtually no hole...

[swinewerx]

I understand why "some" leather smiths actually go with very smooth wrk instead. I will never do that 99% f my personal seats are heavily extremel tooled and a one piece of extremely molded seat with no seams,wrinkles, I'f there were I ould ork them into there mold until it actually does mold intensely. I wish I had my new cmputerto load up photos here , it is a drag waiting , I will also havw to reshoot what I have of my own that I haven't given to cancer/ terminally I'll fOlks. One thing is for sure though, every patient I have done this for has pulled back to good health, no write offs either, or shipping any thng they get it for free and it is absolutey positive all the way

[David]

thanks for the tips everyone...the color was called antique mahogany and i then airbrushed the edges with black. I have the bruce grant book, thats when i realised there was another way to do the lacing..i think daves and troys does look better....as for getting a book from tandy...$5 book and a $1000 flight...no tandy in Australia

cheers

Leatheroo

Tandy has a web site, they will ship anywhere.

Dave