I put new leather on my B-66

And it doesn't look awful even though I have never done anything with
leather before.

I made up a page describing how I did it with photos of the finished
product.
http://www.ericvey.com/Workhorse/new..._brooks_66.htm

I have enough leather to make a new one, and be a bit more careful, but
not enough to pre-shrink the leather before I cut it out.

I have new found admiration for those old guys that figured this all out
enough to bring it to production.

So maybe, if you have an old frame kicking around, you can try it, too?

On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:58:34 -0400, Eric Vey may
have said:

And it doesn't look awful even though I have never done anything with
leather before.

I made up a page describing how I did it with photos of the finished
product.
http://www.ericvey.com/Workhorse/new..._brooks_66.htm

I have enough leather to make a new one, and be a bit more careful, but
not enough to pre-shrink the leather before I cut it out.

I have new found admiration for those old guys that figured this all out
enough to bring it to production.

So maybe, if you have an old frame kicking around, you can try it, too?

I have an old Brooks on a European roadster that I need to refurb;
probably won't get around to it until summer, but I have some leather
to work with already. I'm planning to try something a bit heavier
than 12-16 oz, though, since this is one of the broader sprung
saddles.

There's probably a wealth of knowledge about leather's workability
habits available from your local SCA group's armorers. I'm planning
to pick a few of the brains of local ones when I try my own
reupholstery project.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

newt

On Mar 24, 10:24*pm, datakoll wrote:
newt

newt

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:
On Mar 24, 10:24 pm, datakoll wrote:
newt

newt

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/1/Freaking-Newt.jpg.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

On Mar 23, 11:58*am, Eric Vey wrote:
And it doesn't look awful even though I have never done anything with
leather before.

I made up a page describing how I did it with photos of the finished
product.http://www.ericvey.com/Workhorse/new..._brooks_66.htm

I have enough leather to make a new one, and be a bit more careful, but
not enough to pre-shrink the leather before I cut it out.

I have new found admiration for those old guys that figured this all out
enough to bring it to production.

So maybe, if you have an old frame kicking around, you can try it, too?

Thanks for the report. Informative. Good luck on your next try.

/s

Eric Vey writes:

And it doesn't look awful even though I have never done anything with
leather before.

I made up a page describing how I did it with photos of the finished
product.
http://www.ericvey.com/Workhorse/new..._brooks_66.htm

Here are some suggestions for the next try :

(a) Find an almost-new or non-saggy brooks saddle. Bend your scrap of
leather over the new saddle, and trace the outline, while laid against
the saddle. You might get a profile closer to original in this way.

(b) I have experimented with trying to get an old (slighly saggy)
saddle back into 'original' profile shape. This cannot be done
without a form, so how about tring this method next time ??

before you remove the leather -- make a plaster-of-paris (or
similar) cast of the saddle!! You'd probably need about 5 lbs of
plaster of paris, which should cost about $5 at a reputable shop.
Cover the saddle in a plastic baggy, turn it upside down, and use a
cardboard box (also covered in plastic) filled with plaster of
paris, to make the mold.

don't touch that saddle !! Once its dry, you can place your scrap
of leather into the upside-down mold, and use your existing saddle
(even if it's the one needing recovering) to press the leather into
the correct shape. Once the shape has been established, NOW might
be the right time to trace original saddle borders onto your new
scrap of leather, and trim it down.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Nice write-up.
The reason your saddle didn't come out symmetrical probably had to with
where your part of leather was cut from the hide. A part cut from, well,
the "armpit area" of the animal will stretch more unevenly than a part
cut from the middle of the side.
Given the choice I'd also try avoiding the strip covering the spine
too.
Some claim that there is a "grain" to leather similar to the way there
is a grain to wood. I can't vouch for that, but that different parts can
be differently stretchy is easy enough to discover.

If you're intent on continuing your experimentation you might benefit
from looking into different degrees of curing. There's a semi-cured type
of leather that's supposed to be especially suited for making knife
sheaths and holsters. Basically it's leather that still retains a layer
of rawhide in the middle.
It holds its shape very well, but maybe it's too stiff do well as a
saddle.

Another action that might improve things is (as already suggested) to
shape the leather over a mold first, before trimming to shape and
cutting the rivet holes. For knife sheaths and various holsters I've had
good results by first making a mold and then using a frame(mold
periphery+thickness of leather) to force and stretch the leather over
the mold.


--
dabac