Saddles, cheap and quick.

[the tinker]

Covering some more saddles tomorrow. I've got 10 to do. Starting out with these 6.

If you've never attempted to cover a saddle, check out "Covering saddles , cheap and quick," in the Restoration section. I keep a razor blade handy in my truck. When I see an old leather couch on the curb, out comes the blade. Even if the top is shot, on the better couches, the sides and back is leather too, and it's the perfect thickness for bike saddles. I've gotten yelled at for doing it, and one time, to save an argument at the curb, I just took home the whole chair. I've covered saddles with the man-made stuff, but I like leather the best. It looks the best on an older bike. It takes about 20-30 minutes, start to finish per saddle, ready to install on a bike. Remember, your first saddle will be "the learning" experience. Have an extra piece of leather handy if it doesn't turn out to your perfection. No big deal to re-do it right. The latter ones will be easy for you.
Sometimes the original padding is okay and I re-use it. I might cover it with one layer of terry-cloth. If the padding is shot, I make my own padding using old towels, flannel shirts, or some similar fabric. It gets cold where I live in the winter. I've found that the the wife's winter pajamas is the perfect fabric for padding. 3-4 layers of it works well. Have fun. Your finished saddles will look like these two.

 

[bikejunk]

LOL I wonder how many of those sofas were put outside for Craigs list pickups

 

[vincev]

Go visit your buddy and when he leaves the room cut a chunk out of the back of his sofa.

 

[Rivnut]

In my town, once a year the city pays the trash pickup companies to pickup anything that's at the curb. You put your stuff out the day before, and before the trucks can get around to pick up stuff, the scoungers are out in their pickup trucks hauling it all away. The neighbors sit out in lawn chairs, drink some tall cool beverages, and watch stuff disappear. It's junk, not even worth a Craigslist posting. Saw one pickup truck piled to the heavens. My neighbor asked if the guy was going to try to resell it. "No, we're taking this load to Mexico tonight." I'm betting he didn't get 15 miles down the road let alone 1,500 miles with those skinny ropes.

 

[The Carolina Rambler]

Covering some more saddles tomorrow. I've got 10 to do. Starting out with these 6.View attachment 1208858

If you've never attempted to cover a saddle, check out "Covering saddles , cheap and quick," in the Restoration section. I keep a razor blade handy in my truck. When I see an old leather couch on the curb, out comes the blade. Even if the top is shot, on the better couches, the sides and back is leather too, and it's the perfect thickness for bike saddles. I've gotten yelled at for doing it, and one time, to save an argument at the curb, I just took home the whole chair. I've covered saddles with the man-made stuff, but I like leather the best. It looks the best on an older bike. It takes about 20-30 minutes, start to finish per saddle, ready to install on a bike. Remember, your first saddle will be "the learning" experience. Have an extra piece of leather handy if it does't turn out to your perfection. No big deal to re-do it right. The latter ones will be easy for you.
Sometimes the original padding is okay and I re-use it. I might cover it with one layer of terry-cloth. If the padding is shot, I make my own padding using old towels, flannel shirts, or some similar fabric. It gets cold where I live in the winter. I've found that the the wife's winter pajamas is the perfect fabric for padding. 3-4 layers of it works well. Have fun. Your finished saddles will look like these two.View attachment 1208859

View attachment 1208860

That is very nice work. And you're able to do 10 in one day! I've only restored two seats, a 1920s one and a 1950s one, and both took me 10 hours at least from start to finish for a full restoration {that included removing rust and painting the chasis}. It is definitely something that takes a bit of skill, and a lot of patience.

One further question, what glue do you use to glue down the material on the later seats, like those from the 50s with the double pan?

 

[juvela]

Go visit your buddy and when he leaves the room cut a chunk out of the back of his sofa.

-----

Aha!

Now we know why vincev is PNG at Boris' house.


-----

 

[the tinker]

They're done. Just have to assemble. Started at 0845 and it's 1030 now. That's less than 20 minutes per saddle. Before I go any farther, I want to say this is not for the "purists," that gotta have everything perfect. That's okay if that's your thing, but it's not mine. This post is for the backyard biker that maybe only has a Saturday morning to get it done, and just wants to have a decent looking saddle, fast and cheap. If you want it perfect, hire the professional. They have a good laugh over how I do them. These saddles will all go on Rat Rods, that's my thing. Two of these I will re-do. On one, the brown leather must have been starting to decay. I didn't catch it until I started stretching it. It started to separate a bit. On another one, I left the old padding on and it started to pull away as I was stretching the leather over it. It bunched up on me under the leather. No big deal to re-do these. Everything is a learning experience.

 

[The Carolina Rambler]

They're done. Just have to assemble. Started at 0845 and it's 1030 now. That's less than 20 minutes per saddle. Before I go any farther, I want to say this is not for the "purists," that gotta have everything perfect. That's okay if that's your thing, but it's not mine. This post is for the backyard biker that maybe only has a Saturday morning to get it done, and just wants to have a decent looking saddle, fast and cheap. If you want it perfect, hire the professional. They have a good laugh over how I do them. These saddles will all go on Rat Rods, that's my thing. Two of these I will re-do. On one, the brown leather must have been starting to decay. I didn't catch it until I started stretching it. It started to separate a bit. On another one, I left the old padding on and it started to pull away as I was stretching the leather over it. It bunched up on me under the leather. No big deal to re-do these. Everything is a learning experience. View attachment 1209231

Those look great! In fact, they look good enough, I don't see why "purists" would have a problem, factory quality job!

 

[CWCMAN]

Good from far.

 

[the tinker]

"Good from far, but far from good." Sounds like my wife.

Actually, these saddles look good close up.

Re-did the two I wasn't happy with in black leather. Lesson learned; very old leather gets funky. If you are re-using the old padding, carefully check that it won't pull apart on you when your'e stretching the new leather over it. Usually it's rotten underneath. Here they are ready to go. Got another pile ready to start on .

One can find these derelict saddles at any swap, usually for $5-15 bucks, depending on age and condition. The leather is free and for the cost of some cement you're in business. Have fun. When your hobby causes you concern, where everything has to be perfect, it's no longer a hobby. Enjoy!