51 Ford Door Panel Mock Up

[chancey77]

I was thinking that if you rolled out a sheet of polymer clay the size of the panel you could do a realistic mock up which could be easily changed. No hammering, or casing, just push into the clay, so it should go quick.

Any thoughts on doing a little pyrography on it? With different tips on the woodburner you could do some cool stuff tattoo wise.

I have thought of doing some tooled pieces for my Dodge 1 ton, but the summers here are brutal. Besides drying the leather out, I don't need fried thighs when I jump in the truck. Interior temps can reach 160+ , and I have recorded body panel temps of 177. Here it is February, and it is supposed to reach 75 today.

Ya the polymer thing works ok on small stuff, but the impressions won't last, no reason for any more mocking up, i have started with the knife work already.. I have done quite a bit of pyrography, usually on shoes or small bags that are not real leather, and the problem with the wood burner is consistency, without owning a 500€ temp control unit it is pretty hard to keep the burn consistent. I do use the wood burner quite a lot for various projects but not for these door panels.Plus even when you are done you still have to brush in black dye; so really in the end the old school methods of stylus, knife and bevel,and backgrounders really do work the best.

No worries about temps here the hottest it gets is 93 f and that is rare...Summers here are normally around 85 tops.. not to rub it in but it is for sure one of the top reasons I like living here. But with that, we also here brutal winters that last till March. So riding season is short, but driving in the snow is great fun as well:) There is a lot of motorcycle guys here that when winter comes they bust out the 2" ice spike tires and go racing to kill some time, I haven't done it yet, but it looks like a blast!

[ItzKat]

Love it. What a great idea for a project.

[WScott]

This is going to be really cool!

Happy to be following along for the ride, so keep us posted and lots of photos please

[Iron Pounder]

That will be a cool project for sure. I'm just having a hard time getting my head around the 200 plus hrs each deal. Even at 20.00 per hour you are talking 4000.00 per panel? So the guy is going to have 8k in door panels min on a ratrod truck? Dang if you pull anywhere close to that I will consider you the jedi master of all things leather.

[chancey77]

I gave a rough quote and put a price on the panels. Anything over 2,000 I allow Monthly payments for the next year:) I am keeping a real good log "as always" on the time spent so I will know the hours, I will let y'all know how long it took:) He has been one of my best clients, getting me a lot of work, he is also a pinstriper, so we are haggling a little trade work , but it is only an hour for hour trade, and he might save about 15 hrs....I have a Gretsch Guitar that needs some striping:) We are great friends, he has brought me about A LOT of work and he is getting a friend hook up, but I still don't give away time:) We are both happy:) He has already bought all the materials and will be put to work helping me lace these monsters with a triple loop stitch...hahahaha we already have another leather order in for the Bench Seat as well, I will be busy for a while but only putting in about 100hrs per month and doing other projects on my list between his hours. I have a 2 month wait list as it is already and people are bitting at the bit for their jobs as well. Plus motorcycle season is coming and that is when it really gets crazy! I have a Telecastor job coming as soon as the guy makes up his mind to either have us build him a dream tele or just cover his Fender Custom Shop Tele....my hands hurt even thinking about all that lace:)

Edited February 27, 2012 by chancey77

[Iron Pounder]

Love working for guys like that. Whenever I do projects where I have a lot of hours in I always end up discounting too much as the bill as more than I would pay. I have a bad habit of charging what i would pay not based on hours and materials. That truck is going to be sick when done, I'm feeling it.

[chancey77]

Love working for guys like that. Whenever I do projects where I have a lot of hours in I always end up discounting too much as the bill as more than I would pay. I have a bad habit of charging what i would pay not based on hours and materials. That truck is going to be sick when done, I'm feeling it.

PM SENT-

[Jetplane]

Awesome! That's a lot of leather. I bet it's going to look like something Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) would drive.

[chancey77]

Awesome! That's a lot of leather. I bet it's going to look like something Brian Setzer (Stray Cats) would drive.

I know! I am having trouble keeping in all my excitement! And it is going to be a fine line between over doing it and just the right amount.

F' Brian Setzer...I am making it something I would drive...hahahahha

Just kidding I love the Stray Cats!

But here is one of my vids so you know where I am coming from...Sixgun Republic

That is my band if you haven't guessed!...hahaha

And here is one from the Harley Davidson Super Rally-

YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!

There are a lot more on youtube if you want to watch them....

Edited February 28, 2012 by chancey77

[Jetplane]

Awesome sound! Lotsa energy. I love it! Even the live one sounded nice, most youtube vids of live shows sound crappy but not you guys. I'm going to YT now to add you to my favorites. I got a couple music vids there too, but not near as professional. My name there is MrGuitarjay.