First Carved Solo Seat.

[shadowryder]

This is the 1st seat I done with any carving,tooling on it.

Used 3 mm vegtan leather top and bottom,

I know the lacing is not brilliant, unfortunately the lace I used was not of good quality which I found to my cost trying to save a few pennies.

check out my pics.

[shadowryder]

Here are a few more pics,

SORRY about the large crummy pics.

Edited May 25, 2014 by shadowryder

[shadowryder]

well guess my work ain't worth the effort of a comment or two from all you experts,

never mind we all gotta start somewhere but I do not think I,ll bother sharing any more of my work on here,

Y'Know i can take critisism as well as encouragement but nothing at all well!!!!! that just sucks.

I know my photo skills are sh!tty but you can still see what I,m trying to do.

I,ll keep my work to myself and the few peeps here in the UK who recognise what I,m trying to do from now on.

I REALLY did not think it was that bad.

Edited June 5, 2014 by shadowryder

[JohnD]

I dont think anyone is trying to be mean and though the pics are pretty bad, as you said I can still see what youre doing. If you were looking for more critique or advice, maybe a post in the show off or critique threads would garner more attention.

I'm no expert but I think youre on the right track. The thing that jumps out the biggest at me is it looks like the quality of leather youre using is not so good. The wrinkles and such in the leather look like the grain is separating from the hide, where it get all squishy in the middle. It looks to me like you know what you want to do, just take your time and be consistent in your layout of hole spacing and such. Dressing the lacing with a smooth faced hammer or mallet after usually neatens things up quite a bit. Im not sure if you wet molded the top or not, but I like to cause then I can smooth out any wrinkles and stuff to end up with a neater appearance.

Youre right that its not that bad, I think sometimes people just dont reply to things, it has nothing to do with who posts it. Posting your work and using the collective knowledge on this site is a big help to getting better and I think it would be a mistake not to take advantage of it. My wife used to call me the thread killer because whenever I posted it would end up being the last of that thread, not everytime mind you, but often enough to make her laugh about it.

[shadowryder]

John,I appreciate the time you have taken to comment on my post and my work,and thank you for it.

The leather I am using is a 3mm veg tan shoulder,probably not the best out there but its what I can afford right now,

The finish and the grain is not too bad actually its quite smooth, the pictures make it look worse than is,

I did wet form the top and it took quite well but I did not manage to get my holes lined quite right.

to be honest even when the work is top notch people here in the UK will not pay the high dollar prices you guys command over there,I may make about £80 GBP for that seat and about a third of that is tied up in materials,never minding the time spent.

thanks again for your comments and advice.

[mato]

looks good to me nice job

is this your first seat or just first with carving ??

and the last pic looks better it looks to have shape to it

[shadowryder]

Hi Mato,

thanks for your comments,they are much appreciated.

I have made 4 0r 5 seats before this but without any carving/tooling work,all of which I have sold privately or on ebay.

I think I have let myself down badly on the photography front more than all else..

[ConradPark]

Hey, your seat looks cool, keep up the good work! Also I think you shouldn't worry too much about the lack of response, like everything there are things that are of more general interest on this site and if you want feedback it's probably better to post in the Critique section of this forum.

On another note, I've done leather work for many years but never a bike seat, while the leather part doesn't bother me I have felt a bit wary about the whole dressing the pan with foam bit - if you know what I mean. What would you suggest a good seat to start with as first project - a bobber seat like the one you used maybe?

[shadowryder]

Hey, your seat looks cool, keep up the good work! Also I think you shouldn't worry too much about the lack of response, like everything there are things that are of more general interest on this site and if you want feedback it's probably better to post in the Critique section of this forum.

On another note, I've done leather work for many years but never a bike seat, while the leather part doesn't bother me I have felt a bit wary about the whole dressing the pan with foam bit - if you know what I mean. What would you suggest a good seat to start with as first project - a bobber seat like the one you used maybe?

Hi thanks for your comments,much obliged.

This seat I made the pan myself with 3 mm steel plate cut to shape 13" long x 9" wide,I welded in an extra strip2" of 3 mm steel up the middle on the lower side as a spine for extra stength and welded in the bolts.

for foam padding I used neoprene foam aprox 1.5" thick cut from a camping mat glued to the base with contact adhesive then shaped with a sanding disc.

I did my tooling and After that I wet formed the leather onto the pan top and bottom then well I guess you know the rest.

Hope this helps,

thanks again for your comments on my seat.

[Billy P]

Hey Ryder, I like your seat too. I've been messing up good leather off and on for 40 yrs. and still have not done a bike seat, I guess like of confidense, LOL. I'm thinking of buying a seat pan and doing one to see how it turns out and sell it if possible. I'm kind of like you, in this little section of South Carolina I live in people just don't appreciate the work and material cost it takes for that sort of work. Just across the field from my house there is a used auto parts junkyard. the guy also has a shop and couple of mechanics, that work on other peoples cars. He charges $60.00 an hr. for their work. He charges a min. of 1 hr. so if they change 1 spark plug and it takes 5 min. he gets $60 +the cost of the plug. He asked me about doing him a carved belt with a bike theme on it along with his nickname, I told him I charge $25.00 an hr + materials and such. He got all red in the face and told me that I wanted to much. I told him to spend about 40 yrs. and about $8 or $10 thousand dollars on tools and leather and make his own. He thought about it probably after checking around somewhere else and got back with me and had decided he wanted me to do him a belt after all. I told him screwit, I didn't have time to do it and didn't have any idea when I would. which is never. Anyway keep up the good work, and you and I both need to work on our pics, but we know that. thanks for sharing your work with us. Billy P

[David]

Shadowryder,

I've made a few solo seats. Maybe I can offer some advice. Your leather is way too thin. I finally hit on 8-9 oz. as being the best for a solo seat when you use the construction method you use. (It's the same way I build seats.) Lace, use the best! That would be kangaroo lace. I used 1/4" lace and 1/8" holes. The bad part is it is expensive! Regarding the holes, mine are 1/8" holes 3/8" apart (on center) and set in 3/8" from the edge. The holes must line up, and remember the top and bottom leathers are neither the same size or shape if you use 3/4" padding like I did. So line them up carefully. There are several posts on here about how to do it. When you finish lacing, tap your lace with a mallet. It will make it lay down flat and look more consistent. Make sure your splices and endings are invisible. No one should be able to tell where you start or stop.

Regarding seat expense, mine cost me $320 to make so be sure you charge enough! I bought my pans so that added $60 to materials cost.

Keep building, it will come!

Edited June 29, 2014 by David

[earthling33]

David,

You answered some questions that I was wondering about, primarily the cost you had into your seats. The other questions concerned the quality and character of your materials.

Thanks for the info.

John

[shadowryder]

Billy P,and David,

many thanks for your comments and advice,they are very much appreciated,

I finally sold this seat on ebay this week for £80.00 GBP $137.48c

The materials came to about a third of that because I made my own pan from 3mm steel plate.

I will keep practicing and making stuff and one day hopefully I will be able to turn out work like yours David,

This is my 5th seat and each gets a little better than the last,I have sold them all for between £50 to £80 GBP.and have managed to make a small profit on each.

Thanks again to all that have commented.

[Turn n Burn]

Last pics could see whats going on to me it dosnt look like you are beveling your carving that would help make it pop and give it dimension. I havnt done a seat yet been focusing on the carving buthave a couple coming up this winter

[Sanch]

the only constructive criticism I have is get better materials, art work is very subjective. Practice makes better not perfect but better I love the plain look to the carving very sketchy and raw you could put more time into your lay out on holes, what antiquing process did you use?

[shadowryder]

stealfdawg,

Thanks for your comments and tips,I will take them on board.

Ref the colours and finish I used feiblings dyes and then used an antique polish to get effect and finished with resoline.