104 replies to this topic

[gaffer1986]

Cut the leather no shorter than where my thumb nail is before test fold, you can cut more off but you can't put more on

 

20160716_120846 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

So far:

 

20160716_122250 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160716_122327 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

Any slight wrinkles in the grain of the leather will settle over time. I hope 

[jules_s]

Great work

[gaffer1986]

So did a little bit more this morning, this is time consuming but feel if I did it again I could do it better and faster.

 

Very carefully draw around the out side leaving an extra few mm to the sides that will fit in the steering wheel groves, other than that I try and get the exact same size.

 

20160716_125139 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Skive the parts of the leather that need thinning, usually the bits that will overlap at the back (very thin) and the bits that need to make sharp corners (half as thick as original).

 

20160716_132815 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160716_150331 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Glue this bit first as it is the most important part for accuracy

 

20160717_112712 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Use the Awl tool to make sure it's a good fit

 

20160717_113045 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160717_113251 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

[gaffer1986]

Finish wrapping, overlapping at the back and glue the edges into the groove.

 

20160717_123435 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160717_123440 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160717_123448 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

[gaffer1986]

So far

 

2016-07-17_01-04-34 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

I have a feeling the other hand grip will be much easier now I kind of know what to expect, it may also end up looking a lot better which may or may not look odd. One thing is for sure, I really like the feel of this new leather.

[CocoPops]

Loving this, quite an insight into how they are made as well. Looking forward to seeing the stitching.

[junkwavepete]

Respect, that's a lot of work! But if you want a mint car, that's a thing you've got to do

[Stevie Dubyah]

Hmmm. I have a spare steering wheel...

 

More of this thread, please!

 

[gaffer1986]

Another bit done:

 

Cut out and skive:

 

20160719_080924 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Start gluing from here:

 

20160719_112258 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

Work your way round - remember to glue both the leather and steering wheel, you only really get one shot at each it or the glue will be weak the second time.

 

20160719_114128 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160719_114120 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Glue and hold this bit down with a baby wipe:

 

20160719_115022 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Or shoe lace for a few minutes:

 

20160719_115651 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Then it's set:

 

20160719_115016 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

More shoe lace gluing

 

20160719_182633 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160719_182651 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

[gaffer1986]

Glue the leather around the spokes:

 

20160719_182920 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

But there is a gap because I cut it too big on purpose, forgot to retrim all of it and only realised this when it was glued, so I tried to cut a bit off but cut too much off.   

 

20160721_121609 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

So I got the off cut, skived it in the relevant place so it would sit flush with the rest of the leather and stuck it on.

 

20160721_121613 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160721_121820 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Worked really well

 

20160721_122345 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Done:

 

20160722_215209 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[ChrisS1]

Great work well done. More patience than I've got!

[gaffer1986]

Cut out the leather, measure and check three times against the steering wheel, this is very important.

 

IMG-20160723-WA0000 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_113749 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_114950 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_115350 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_115954 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Use a shoe lace to see if it fits

 

20160723_123730 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

Once it is cut, you need to do the holes for the stitching, I made the holes 4mm from each edge and 1/4" apart, I also tried very hard to figure out where to start the holes which turned out to be 15 in from the sides as some of the leather gets folded into the grooves of the steering wheel.

 

20160723_125246 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_130036 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_130356 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_131014 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Make sure your blunt needle can go through the holes, I used an Awl to punch the holes.

 

20160723_131109 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_131610 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Both sides

 

20160723_132822 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_133402 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

Measure the middle of the leather on the inside to help you fit it in the middle first time and glue it in place, make sure you stretch the top of the leather or you will get a crinkled bottom where the stitches are because the outside of the steering wheel is shorter than the inside. I found this out the hard way and had to re-glue it but fortunately I had only glued a very small portion of it.

[gaffer1986]

20160723_141410 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_141600 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Hold in place with shoe lace.

 

20160723_141713 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Then glue the sides down to near the holes trying to make sure the holes line up.

 

20160723_145417 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

[gaffer1986]

I used this video for the stitching technique and used 3 core (TEX 210) polyester thread with a small blunt needle. Polyester is important because of its resilience to UV.

 

[gaffer1986]

20160723_151311 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_155738 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

 

 

Fold in the edges and that's another part done:

 

20160723_171433 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_171531 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr

 

20160723_171444 by Richard Fanders, on Flickr