Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the steering wheel in question has wood segments, I won't have to cover the whole thing, just three relatively small areas at 9:00, 3:00 and 6:00 o'clock, extending in to the area around the air bag. Again, I plan on using a seam ripper to carefully deconstruct the existing leather so I have a pattern for each piece. Hopefully, that will make the replacement pieces easier to lay out and install. Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:49 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
I've never done one like that, so you are on your own devices with how the segments attach at the wood. Should be able to recreate what was there with a bit of effort and inventiveness. Good Luck,,, and don't forget pictures.. ;)) Can't have bragging rights without pictures.. On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 5:48 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the steering wheel in question has wood segments, I won't have to cover the whole thing, just three relatively small areas at 9:00, 3:00 and 6:00 o'clock, extending in to the area around the air bag. Again, I plan on using a seam ripper to carefully deconstruct the existing leather so I have a pattern for each piece. Hopefully, that will make the replacement pieces easier to lay out and install. Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:49 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
The pattern made from the old piece with not be very accurate as it will be bulged and stretched. It will only give you a general idea Sent from my iPhone On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:48 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the steering wheel in question has wood segments, I won't have to cover the whole thing, just three relatively small areas at 9:00, 3:00 and 6:00 o'clock, extending in to the area around the air bag. Again, I plan on using a seam ripper to carefully deconstruct the existing leather so I have a pattern for each piece. Hopefully, that will make the replacement pieces easier to lay out and install. Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:49 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
Sounds like a fun project. I'm dabbling in the car upholstery world myself. Sewing leather is very satisfying. Sent from my iPhone On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:56 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: True, but at least it will give me a rough idea of the size and shape of the material. Much better than having to wing it. I was thinking about how easy it might be to add some bumps for finger grips and suchmaybe some small pieces of leather glued inside, or some foam Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:51 AM, dsereta...@yahoo.com wrote: The pattern made from the old piece with not be very accurate as it will be bulged and stretched. It will only give you a general idea Sent from my iPhone On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:48 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the steering wheel in question has wood segments, I won't have to cover the whole thing, just three relatively small areas at 9:00, 3:00 and 6:00 o'clock, extending in to the area around the air bag. Again, I plan on using a seam ripper to carefully deconstruct the existing leather so I have a pattern for each piece. Hopefully, that will make the replacement pieces easier to lay out and install. Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:49 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
I've had better luck buying small pieces of leather from saddlers, especially since Tandy hasn't had good quality calfskin for a long time. Saddlers who make whole saddles buy whole skins and often have small strips and pieces left over that they can't use. Of course, this is horse country up here and he might have trouble finding a saddler around Tampa. Gerry G Mann via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 4:28 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: Grant, Thanks for the detailed write-up! It will definitely be a help when I start to tackle this project. We do have a Tandy Leather store in Tampa, and it just happens to be on my way home, so I’ll be stopping in once I get the steering wheel and assess the condition. I was planning on carefully removing the existing leather to use as a template. I was curious - does Tandy sell small pieces of leather such as what might be required? I really don’t want to have to buy a whole hide… it’s tough to tell from looking at their web site. Again, thanks! Dan On Feb 25, 2015, at 11:52 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: I've done a couple of wheel recovers, so I'll pitch my .02 cents of wisdom into the collective pot.. If you have a Tandy leather store locally, visit them as a supply source for good oil tanned leather that is the correct thickness for your wheel. What you will be using, most likely is leather that is prepared for garments. I suggest you also visit an upholstery supply store that will sell Naugahyde, which is pretty cheap and if you get some that can be stretched in both directions, can be used to make a workable pattern measure twice.. cut once.. good leather isn't cheap. Also.. I suggest that you mount the wheel on a device of your own design that hold the wheel so it is easy for you to work with it, you are going to be a while.. don't rush. Once you have the pattern made that gives you the total length you need to slip the hoop of fabric on the wheel [you should need to stretch it just a bit to get it on the wheel and about 1/4 to 1/3 of the radius of the wheel should bulge into the hoop. Then establish the width of the pattern piece so that it closes the two edges together. Here comes a decision for you to make at that time.. What kind of edge finish do you want at the closure seam? I suggest you will want to allow enough extra material in the wrap width to allow you to turn under a hem and leave two finished edges that butt together at the stitched seam inside the wheel.. Make that decision, and adjust your pattern to accommodate what ever you have decided. Then. cut leather using the pattern.. Then.. turn under the seam hem and stitch it nicely on SWMBO's nice sewing machine.. If you are sewing garment thick leather, a home machine will do it nicely.. trick.. Use a round point needle in the machine.. When you turn under the hem seam, a little white glue will hold the hem in place, not to much, just a finger smear along the seam allowance, turn the hem seam and press it flat with finger pressure, take you time.. think old world craftsman... Once the hem seam is flat.. stitch it, being very careful to make a nice straight edge distance for the stitch line... it will show. Also.. make the hem stitch line wider than you think you should from the turned edge... It's important for the next step. Then... Take the thread out of the machine.. take the thread out of the bobbin.. Set the machine
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
True, but at least it will give me a rough idea of the size and shape of the material. Much better than having to wing it. I was thinking about how easy it might be to add some bumps for finger grips and suchmaybe some small pieces of leather glued inside, or some foam Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:51 AM, dsereta...@yahoo.com wrote: The pattern made from the old piece with not be very accurate as it will be bulged and stretched. It will only give you a general idea Sent from my iPhone On Feb 27, 2015, at 7:48 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but since the steering wheel in question has wood segments, I won't have to cover the whole thing, just three relatively small areas at 9:00, 3:00 and 6:00 o'clock, extending in to the area around the air bag. Again, I plan on using a seam ripper to carefully deconstruct the existing leather so I have a pattern for each piece. Hopefully, that will make the replacement pieces easier to lay out and install. Dan Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:49 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: Glad to help. With a bit of care and effort you can produce a perfect wheel cover that will be a good as the $300+ job. I forgot to mention.. on the hem seam.. use a straight edge [I used a metal yard stick ] and mark the fold to line on the inside surface of the strip. It will help give you a sharp uniform finish on the final product. Lead pencil line worked for me. From my experience, most Tandy stores are Owner Operated under the franchise name, so some will have smaller pieces , so do not.. Also.. it will depend on your choice of leathers.. If you are doing the wheel in baby seal or extinct condor chances are you will have to buy the whole hide.. ;)) The strip to make the hoop will be about 6 X 50 [adjusted to your particular wheel] If you wish, you can add things like increased hand grip areas by laying in additional layers of leather or closed cell foam. Again, simple white glue will suffice to hold those in place until install.. Don't use much.. just a dab spread thinly will do the job. When you dampen the leather on install, the glue will soften and allow a bit of slip to stretch the single layer leather which will define the increased width areas .. Again.. take you time. And.. don't forget .. pictures to show off your progress and finished product... Can't do an Attaboy without pictures.. ;)) ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
Grant, Thanks for the detailed write-up! It will definitely be a help when I start to tackle this project. We do have a Tandy Leather store in Tampa, and it just happens to be on my way home, so I’ll be stopping in once I get the steering wheel and assess the condition. I was planning on carefully removing the existing leather to use as a template. I was curious - does Tandy sell small pieces of leather such as what might be required? I really don’t want to have to buy a whole hide… it’s tough to tell from looking at their web site. Again, thanks! Dan On Feb 25, 2015, at 11:52 PM, G Mann g2ma...@gmail.com wrote: I've done a couple of wheel recovers, so I'll pitch my .02 cents of wisdom into the collective pot.. If you have a Tandy leather store locally, visit them as a supply source for good oil tanned leather that is the correct thickness for your wheel. What you will be using, most likely is leather that is prepared for garments. I suggest you also visit an upholstery supply store that will sell Naugahyde, which is pretty cheap and if you get some that can be stretched in both directions, can be used to make a workable pattern measure twice.. cut once.. good leather isn't cheap. Also.. I suggest that you mount the wheel on a device of your own design that hold the wheel so it is easy for you to work with it, you are going to be a while.. don't rush. Once you have the pattern made that gives you the total length you need to slip the hoop of fabric on the wheel [you should need to stretch it just a bit to get it on the wheel and about 1/4 to 1/3 of the radius of the wheel should bulge into the hoop. Then establish the width of the pattern piece so that it closes the two edges together. Here comes a decision for you to make at that time.. What kind of edge finish do you want at the closure seam? I suggest you will want to allow enough extra material in the wrap width to allow you to turn under a hem and leave two finished edges that butt together at the stitched seam inside the wheel.. Make that decision, and adjust your pattern to accommodate what ever you have decided. Then. cut leather using the pattern.. Then.. turn under the seam hem and stitch it nicely on SWMBO's nice sewing machine.. If you are sewing garment thick leather, a home machine will do it nicely.. trick.. Use a round point needle in the machine.. When you turn under the hem seam, a little white glue will hold the hem in place, not to much, just a finger smear along the seam allowance, turn the hem seam and press it flat with finger pressure, take you time.. think old world craftsman... Once the hem seam is flat.. stitch it, being very careful to make a nice straight edge distance for the stitch line... it will show. Also.. make the hem stitch line wider than you think you should from the turned edge... It's important for the next step. Then... Take the thread out of the machine.. take the thread out of the bobbin.. Set the machine on the widest stitch [ usually something like 12 stitches per inch, perhaps as few as 8, depending on what machine you have] Being very careful to keep the edge distance straight.. stitch a line of holes with the machine between the hem seam you just stitched and the turned edge. Do this on both sides of the strip that is about to become your new steering wheel cover.. You now will have a strip of leather with a nice hem.. and the perfectly spaced lacing holes pre punched. This strip can be made of several shorter pieces if you wish to not have to buy a whole hide of leather. Just join them along end seams with at least 30 degree angles.. to the length. The stitch pattern of the joints is up to you.. french seams, butt seams.. overlaps.. you pick.. Also.. if you wish to have more than one type of leather on the wheel.. you get to decide the layout for that. Then: Using your carefully made pattern, on the machine.. sew the ends of the now prepared strip together to make the hoop which you will stretch over the wheel... you will have to use some judgement based on the chosen leather and how much stretch it has. I'm not a big fan of wet leather.. it will darken the leather and could ruin the finish you desire.. I suggest you will have good success with two good sized needles and the correct waxed thread [bees wax is what you want.. not paraffin wax]. Start lacing the hoop to the wheel. Pay attention to the leather.. it will tell you how much it can stretch. You may find, for the leather you have chosen, you need to make several tack stitches around the diameter of the wheel to close the leather and let it adjust to it's new shape.. before lacing it continuous.. your judgement on that. A light spray to the inside surface of the leather to slightly dampen it could be helpful also.. while you stitch and massage the hoop into the shape of
[MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
Snagged a leather and wood steering wheel for the SL tonight on eBay for $20. The leather definitely needs recovering. I saw an Instructable on recovering a leather wheel (BMW) today, but was curious as to if any of our esteemed listmembers have attempted this themselves. For $20 I figured I could give it a shot. To have it done professionally is about $350. For that you can buy a nice aftermarket or really nice used wheel. Oy! Dan ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
Snagged a leather and wood steering wheel for the SL tonight on eBay for $20. The leather definitely needs recovering. I saw an Instructable on recovering a leather wheel (BMW) today, but was curious as to if any of our esteemed listmembers have attempted this themselves. For $20 I figured I could give it a shot. To have it done professionally is about $350. For that you can buy a nice aftermarket or really nice used wheel. Oy! Dan Saddle shop/western store buy the heavy duty waxed thread for sewing leather, and the hand type sewing awl. alternative: shoe shop cut the leather undersize I'd guess 1/4 under the circumference of the wheel. After dry fitting, soak in water. Lace it up. Dry I'd try a water based glue also. Carpenter glue/alliphatic resin (yellow wood glue) Curly Who still has several pairs of the old boy scout hardsole moccasins made over the past 50 years or so. (but they are all pretty worn, and some had been resoled also. I'd still be buying the kits if the kit didn't get so crummy after tandy bought Radio Junk.) SWMBO bought me new Minnetonka hardsoles for Christmas. Those are nice, but i didn't sew em up. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
All good ideas - thanks! Here’s the Instructables for doing it: http://www.instructables.com/id/Reupholstering-a-steering-wheel/?utm_source=baseutm_medium=related-instructablesutm_campaign=related_test http://www.instructables.com/id/Reupholstering-a-steering-wheel/?utm_source=baseutm_medium=related-instructablesutm_campaign=related_test I like the idea of doing it wet so the leather shrinks when it dries. I have a heavy duty sewing machine that can do the edges. Dan On Feb 25, 2015, at 10:41 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: Saddle shop/western store buy the heavy duty waxed thread for sewing leather, and the hand type sewing awl. alternative: shoe shop cut the leather undersize I'd guess 1/4 under the circumference of the wheel. After dry fitting, soak in water. Lace it up. Dry I'd try a water based glue also. Carpenter glue/alliphatic resin (yellow wood glue) Curly Who still has several pairs of the old boy scout hardsole moccasins made over the past 50 years or so. (but they are all pretty worn, and some had been resoled also. I'd still be buying the kits if the kit didn't get so crummy after tandy bought Radio Junk.) SWMBO bought me new Minnetonka hardsoles for Christmas. Those are nice, but i didn't sew em up. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor. ___ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
Re: [MBZ] Recovering a Leather Steering Wheel
I've done a couple of wheel recovers, so I'll pitch my .02 cents of wisdom into the collective pot.. If you have a Tandy leather store locally, visit them as a supply source for good oil tanned leather that is the correct thickness for your wheel. What you will be using, most likely is leather that is prepared for garments. I suggest you also visit an upholstery supply store that will sell Naugahyde, which is pretty cheap and if you get some that can be stretched in both directions, can be used to make a workable pattern measure twice.. cut once.. good leather isn't cheap. Also.. I suggest that you mount the wheel on a device of your own design that hold the wheel so it is easy for you to work with it, you are going to be a while.. don't rush. Once you have the pattern made that gives you the total length you need to slip the hoop of fabric on the wheel [you should need to stretch it just a bit to get it on the wheel and about 1/4 to 1/3 of the radius of the wheel should bulge into the hoop. Then establish the width of the pattern piece so that it closes the two edges together. Here comes a decision for you to make at that time.. What kind of edge finish do you want at the closure seam? I suggest you will want to allow enough extra material in the wrap width to allow you to turn under a hem and leave two finished edges that butt together at the stitched seam inside the wheel.. Make that decision, and adjust your pattern to accommodate what ever you have decided. Then. cut leather using the pattern.. Then.. turn under the seam hem and stitch it nicely on SWMBO's nice sewing machine.. If you are sewing garment thick leather, a home machine will do it nicely.. trick.. Use a round point needle in the machine.. When you turn under the hem seam, a little white glue will hold the hem in place, not to much, just a finger smear along the seam allowance, turn the hem seam and press it flat with finger pressure, take you time.. think old world craftsman... Once the hem seam is flat.. stitch it, being very careful to make a nice straight edge distance for the stitch line... it will show. Also.. make the hem stitch line wider than you think you should from the turned edge... It's important for the next step. Then... Take the thread out of the machine.. take the thread out of the bobbin.. Set the machine on the widest stitch [ usually something like 12 stitches per inch, perhaps as few as 8, depending on what machine you have] Being very careful to keep the edge distance straight.. stitch a line of holes with the machine between the hem seam you just stitched and the turned edge. Do this on both sides of the strip that is about to become your new steering wheel cover.. You now will have a strip of leather with a nice hem.. and the perfectly spaced lacing holes pre punched. This strip can be made of several shorter pieces if you wish to not have to buy a whole hide of leather. Just join them along end seams with at least 30 degree angles.. to the length. The stitch pattern of the joints is up to you.. french seams, butt seams.. overlaps.. you pick.. Also.. if you wish to have more than one type of leather on the wheel.. you get to decide the layout for that. Then: Using your carefully made pattern, on the machine.. sew the ends of the now prepared strip together to make the hoop which you will stretch over the wheel... you will have to use some judgement based on the chosen leather and how much stretch it has. I'm not a big fan of wet leather.. it will darken the leather and could ruin the finish you desire.. I suggest you will have good success with two good sized needles and the correct waxed thread [bees wax is what you want.. not paraffin wax]. Start lacing the hoop to the wheel. Pay attention to the leather.. it will tell you how much it can stretch. You may find, for the leather you have chosen, you need to make several tack stitches around the diameter of the wheel to close the leather and let it adjust to it's new shape.. before lacing it continuous.. your judgement on that. A light spray to the inside surface of the leather to slightly dampen it could be helpful also.. while you stitch and massage the hoop into the shape of the wheel. Once you are done stitching, with the pattern of lacing you have chosen.. give the new cover a good massage with saddle soap, just like your favorite pair of boots or shoes... This will help stress relieve the leather to let it set to the new shape, and give that nice new leather smell [also cleans all your sweaty finger prints off the leather.. [how do I know this.. ;)) ] Enjoy the adventure.. and think of all the money you saved .. hahaha.. On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 8:54 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote: All good ideas - thanks! Here’s the Instructables for doing it: http://www.instructables.com/id/Reupholstering-a-steering-wheel/?utm_source=baseutm_medium=related-instructablesutm_campaign=related_test
