F8customs
Your Fate Awaits
MOST SEATS ARE $299.00
I Hand-Tool everything I make.I draw it, then swivel Knife the drawing, and then tool it,and it's all done by hand with saddle maker tools from the past.
By the way, "Tattooed" means done with a Laser Printer.
The subtle color changes are from burnishing the leather while tooling. I do not use a lot of colors.When you see all those "Pretty Colors" some other leather guys use, they are ACRYLIC PAINT. Save that for your walls because it will not hold up on any leather that is used in real life, no matter what anyone says.Think of a vintage classic horse saddle. How many have you seen with color? I make all my work thinking what it will look like a few years down the road.I only use Pro Oil Dye in shades of Brown and Mahogany, so when they weather they will look even better.
The leather is "A Grade" top quality leather.It's made from the bend that is the best and cleanest part of the hide.It is Vegetable-Tanned and that is about as natural as you can get.I use a thicker weight 9-10 oz. leather , so the tooling is super deep and clean.You can see the depth on the side shots.Compare this with other seats out there and you'll see the difference.You can feel the tooling and the quality of these seats.
The lace I use is actually from Australia and is made from kangaroo hide.It is the strongest, best quality lace you can get and is 1/4" wide.It's done in a Round Braid (see chart above) that takes about 12 inches of lace to do 1 inch of braid, so you can imagine how much lace it takes to do this seat and how much time.
That's 12 times the distance around the seat.It's also why most seats you see are done in the easy, fast (and cheap-looking)
sewing machine stitched,Cross stitch (XX), Whip Stitch (////) or even worse, a loop pattern called Easy s (----),because it's much easier, quicker and cheaper to do that kind of edge.
I use a hand-made pan that is 10-Gauge steel and won't bend no matter how big you are.
It has a real good curve in the back to keep you in theseat when you get on it.
I use the best Closed Cell Neoprene foam that is out there.
Closed cell foam won't break down,won't stiffen up like gel and won't absorb water.So you don't need a plastic bag covering it before I put the leather over it like many seat builders do.