This whole project conceptually began somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 months to two years ago. I'm not sure. Damn, time is going so bloody fast that I've got my foot on the hand brake just trying to slow life down a little. Anyways, Paul Cox, the leather master out of NY, was initially going to tool a leather seat for my '63 Panhead. Life sometimes throws you a curve, the Panhead, being a project in the works, wasn’t happening really quick.
I got this notion to have a go myself and fab a seat for my old '72 Shovel. This project wasn't happening real quick either, so I had some rare time to play with.
Those that don't know me, here's a little insight. This will let you in on the world of Glenn and what makes his brain go tickety-tick. Editor’s note- I am not sure if we will ever truly know Glenn. The only thing that matters is he is a real stand-up guy who will go to the ends of the earth for a friend.
The guys on the road to Sturgis a couple of years back, from left, Bob T of the Chop N Grind Team, Bandit, Glenn and Johnny what's his name.
I'm a real fussy bastard, and because I take so long at doing things, I change my mind a lot. I mean a lot! If it means pulling a bike apart straight after finishing it just because something didn't look right or work the way I wanted it to, then that’s what I'll do. I’m dead serious, I have done it before. Hey, that's okay! You got to do what you got to do, right?
I knew Bandit had some great leather articles and tips in Wrench's Garage from the masters like Paul Cox and Rocky. I used these tremendously and they helped me heaps.
The first thing I did was go and introduce myself to the nice folks at our small local Saddlery. I tell you, I came away from there loaded up with tools, leather, a couple of books, and a lot more knowledge. I set myself up a workplace and just started messing around. I began with a carving on bits of scrap and making belts and knife pouches for friends. You know, just having fun and experimenting.
It's really weird how the cosmos work. This guy Bluey, a good friend, turned up for a visit, after years of living elsewhere. He just showed up out of nowhere one day. The funny part is, my old mate Bluey was an excellent leather worker who once did it for a living. He saw what I was doing and loaned me all of his tools and books and a shit load of leather and said to me, “Go get ‘em!”
I really believe likes attracts likes. I've met some good people, in the very short time I've been doing this, who are willing to give me their time, attention, and more importantly their knowledge. From what I'm told, leather work could be a dying art; especially the carving and the hand-stitching side of it.
So I decided to challenge myself and make a seat for Bandit.
I decided to make it in the old style way, based on the way the saddlers make their saddles. I had only made two seats before I did Bandit’s, so it was a great experience and I am really pleased with the outcome even more now that I know Bandit liked it.
John, a great saddle maker and now a friend, told me ,” Everyone has something special in them, you just got to find it. When you do, no matter what it is, it will be automatically become a passion.”
So Bandit asked me to pass on to you guys how I did it and any tips I could share. I hope you enjoy it.
P.S. Now he reckons he's building a bike around the seat.
(1) Here's the pan my good mate, “Wild Willy, ‘The Mad Fabricator” made for the project.
(2) I'm tracing the complete design onto tracing paper. You can use a pencil or a fine text for this, but take your time.
(3) Newspaper is good for making patterns.
(4) Here I'm transferring the tracing onto the leather, you can use a stylus or a ballpoint pen with no ink.
(5) Before you trace your design onto the leather, first you must prepare your leather by casing it, which means having the leather damp enough to trace or carve. For tracing I just run it under the tap for a few minutes and for carving I soak it in a plastic container for a few hours and than let it dry naturally trying to get it just as it's coming back to it's natural color. Practice on scrap leather first.
(5a) Using a swivel knife, I carve the design onto the leather. You must use a steady, firm, and even pressure always pulling the knife to-wards you. Before you start a seat or whatever, make sure you have the confidence by practicing on pieces of scrap leather.
(6) Not a very good shot of my beveling. The beveling tool adds definition to your design, what you do is put the deepest part of the beveller in the cut, and the surrounding area is flattened somewhat, giving your work a real nice effect. You could go onto www.tandy.com and check out their books on stamping and carving.
(7) This shot shows where I covered the seat in a fine suede. This is the first step in forming the back and sides of the seat.
(8) You can see here where I've cut V's and overlapped the leather. Always put a bit of leather between the stainless clips and the leather as they will stain it and it's a bitch to remove. If it does happen, use a solution of Oxalic Acid and water. Try your mix at say 50/50 on scrap leather first.
(9) After cutting the overlapping bits of leather off here I'm stitching them together.
(10) Another shot of the joins stitched together.
(11a) I decided to put a thick bit of leather on the base before the foam hoping it will give Bandit a bit more comfort…but I doubt it.
(11) To make sure I get the leather all flattened out I used a tool appropriately named the “Leather Smasher”.
(12) I skived the leather about 4'' all round from the edge making it much easier to form the seat.
(13) I've soaked the leather in a plastic container for an hour or so making it real easy to mould to the the shape of the seat. When it dries it will hold that shape.
(13a)I think it's taking shape and looking pretty good so far.
(14) The leather has dried and I can cut it to size.
(14a) View from the top.
(15) I thought I'd better give the big fella a bit of padding. It's a special high density close cell foam, similar to a yoga mat. If you look closely I've also skived the foam to achieve the shape I'm after.
(17) I then glued the top section to the seat using an extra strength adhesive in a can. A word of advice here, take your time and mark it out square because this shit goes off, two semi trailers won't separate it. Oh yeah, and wear a friggin mask, I tell you this stuff is deadly.
(18) Here I'm making a pattern for the cantel cover which will cover the stitching at the back of the seat.
(19) Hand stitching the cover on.
(19a) The seat is complete here and the photo also shows where I hand paint the design for a better effect.
(20) I spray the first few coats on, using an oil based Raven Oil, than I apply extra coats with pieces of sheep skin. A word of caution here; I've found that different parts of the hide and different thickness’ will give you variations in color, so believe me when I say, ya gotta experiment.
(21) The finished seat.
(22) I used an “A” grade quality hide from New Zealand between 3.5mm to 4mm thick, nothing but the best.
(23) The underside covered in a nice soft black suede.
