New Seat Almost Done , A Few Questions Though

[billymac814]

Ok, Here's the completed seat. Critiques are certainly welcome. I dyed it with fiebings dye and used an airbrush to fade it from a mixture of medium brown to saddle tan. Finish is leather balm w/atom wax. Is that good? I read that it's not really a water resistant finish but have read others that use it. I rubbed it in pretty good while applying it and buffed it when dry.

I had trouble with getting pictures to look like the seat does and my battery died before I got the back. I'll try with a light tent when I get home.

[billymac814]

Here's some more with the back, these ones show the color more accurately than the others. There's a few mistakes in it that are quite obvious.

Edited May 3, 2010 by billymac814

[MADMAX22]

Looks great man, turned out very clean. Great choice of colors as well.

Leather finishes are all in your own preference. I like leather balm with atom wax for alot of my projects. I however usually go over that with some sno seal or lately with some neatsfoot oil/ bees wax/ parafin wax blend I made. It depends alot on where you are at also and what kind of abuse its gonna get. I live in NW Washington where my poor bike seat gets rained on probably 40 percent of the time I ride so I am usually giving it as much protection as I can.

I have scene some of Davids seats that were treated with atom wax and even though they were used and abused by there owners they still looked great.

Edited May 4, 2010 by MADMAX22

[billymac814]

I get rained on a bunch too, I'm guessing trial and error is the best method when it comes to finishes. I really like the finished look of the leather balm but got skeptical when I read it wasn't water proof. I used the sno seal on everything else I've made so far and I feel it does a really good job at protecting it. I've been thinking of trying some of that Aussie conditioner as well. I guess I could use that after the atom wax? I dunno if it'll do much as far as waterproofing though. Anyway I guess I'll figure out something that I like and works. I'm pretty happy with the color as well although it wasn't much a choice as it was a guess. The airbrush was great though, I'm glad I got it. It was the nicest one harbor freight had and it was still really really cheap, but it worked good for what I needed it to do.

I started another one and this one I think will be for my bike!

[MADMAX22]

One word of advice for your airbrush. I have heard as I have not had one in a while but the cheaper ones like harbor freight use rubber (or maybe its plastic) orings and such vs teflon I think it is and they will corrode after a while using dyes in them so if it starts sucking air or leaking try and find adequate replacement teflon washers and it should be like new again.

Edited May 4, 2010 by MADMAX22