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I want to make my own leather brake hoods

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I want to make my own leather brake hoods

Old 09-17-17, 07:40 AM
  #26  
rhm
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My suggestion, for those who want to try this at home, is:

1 cut the leather too small. It will stretch.

2 punch the holes with a proper leather hole punch and get them exactly where you want them. This is the trickiest thing.

3 plan to put the thread through the holes, with a lot of extra, long before you put the leather in place. You will waste a foot or two of thread and save an hour of aggravation. You may even want to put the thread through the holes before you soak the leather; I never did that, but next time I think I will. The holes close up in the soaking.

4 soak the leather until it's really really soft. A couple hours minimum.

5 install the leather hood on the brake lever without the handlebar attached.

6 once it's in place, gradually cinch up the threads, a little at a time, using a tool that won't cut the thread or mar the leather. Work it around, massage the leather to get it to comply. Your goal is to get or any wrinkles or bulges, and bring the seams together snugly.

7 trim the leather from the edges an hour or so later, when the leather is more dry but still dark. That's the easiest time to cut it, with a sharp knife. The leather has a mind of its own and it will try to steer the knife. Don't let it.

At this stage you can emboss a design on the leather, if you want. Plan your design ahead of time, though!

You may now trim the thread and install the lever on the bar, but....

8 a real perfectionist will let the thing dry completely now, then cut and discard the threads. Carefully smooth the cut edges of the leather with sandpaper. You may apply finish now or later.

9 reinstall new thread, again, loosely. And then install the hood on the lever, as tightly as before. Tuck the cut end of the thread (at least an inch long?) under the hood somewhere.

________________

Anyway, that's how I'd go about it. If Rootboy has a different method, it's probably better. Good luck, everyone!

Last edited by rhm; 09-17-17 at 07:44 AM.
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Old 09-17-17, 08:19 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by zammykoo
True, it may be tough to fit eyelets into the hood design but I'm not ready to give up on that idea yet. I'll just save it for later.



I'd be interested to see those pics. Try hosting them on Imgur, that's where I've been putting them for the past few years and hasn't given me issues.

--

Anwyay, here's a bit of progress for tonight. I'm going to use a layer of padding of some sort underneath the leather, not sure what yet. It'll have to be molded into shape though.

wow ...
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Old 10-16-17, 08:47 PM
  #28  
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Rootboy's superior work-

Here's how they arrived complete with waxed thread and installation instructions.
[IMG]DSC_0574 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

He did all the hard work and I got the fun and easy to do ;-)
[IMG]DSC_0618 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_0617 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_0616 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

I've since darkened them and close to match the original Cinelli V.I.P. bar wrap by using brown shoe polish.

[IMG]DSC_0715 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]
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Old 10-17-17, 06:27 AM
  #29  
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Inspired by @rootboy, I tried my hand at making Weinmann/Diacompe leather hoods over last winter. The black one is softer and was made from leather in a Coach purse. The brown came from another purse and the leather was very stiff and more difficult to work. (look for them in consignment shops). The trickiest part was the "doom" area which covers the cable housing stop/feral.



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Old 10-17-17, 08:29 AM
  #30  
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^ Nice work! I need to hurry and finish mine up.
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Old 10-19-17, 05:49 AM
  #31  
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Those look great, Bob.
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Old 10-19-21, 05:00 PM
  #32  
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Just a thought.

My mother was into crafting, she used to make leather gloves for her friends that gardened. She used a automated cutting thing called a Cricut. Traced the friend's hands on to two separate pieces of paper ( added something like a 3/8" border to the tracing) and scanned them onto the machine. Cut two pieces each then sewed them together, trimmed excess and turned them inside out.
She would get the leather from a discount fabric store that sold scraps by the pound.
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Old 10-20-21, 06:20 AM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by RustySpokeTech
My mother was into crafting, she used to make leather gloves for her friends that gardened. She used a automated cutting thing called a Cricut. Traced the friend's hands on to two separate pieces of paper ( added something like a 3/8" border to the tracing) and scanned them onto the machine. Cut two pieces each then sewed them together, trimmed excess and turned them inside out.
She would get the leather from a discount fabric store that sold scraps by the pound.
Rusty ST,

Welcome to C&V and Bike Forums. Keep on posting and reach 10 so you can post pictures.

Thanks for this suggestion. I'll look into this as a possibility.

I primarily use goat and sheep skins which I've been purchasing from the same ebay seller for my leather projects. I do enjoy doing it by hand, but a Cricut would add precision. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Old 10-21-21, 01:08 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by USAZorro
I made some a few weeks ago. Getting close to finishing the project they're on, so haven't tested them out yet. Some pictures along the way:

Very nice.
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Old 10-21-21, 01:09 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by zammykoo
True, it may be tough to fit eyelets into the hood design but I'm not ready to give up on that idea yet. I'll just save it for later.



I'd be interested to see those pics. Try hosting them on Imgur, that's where I've been putting them for the past few years and hasn't given me issues.

--

Anyway, here's a bit of progress for tonight. I'm going to use a layer of padding of some sort underneath the leather, not sure what yet. It'll have to be molded into shape though.
That looks great.
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Old 10-23-21, 08:22 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by nashvillebill
The blue sparkles reminds me of the blue (or red or silver) sparkle Naugahyde on the Kustom amps of the late 60's and early 70's. I think the Naugas went extinct.

Oh, the same material could be found in some diner and bar stools....
They're still harvesting Naugahyde and there are young Naugas. Probably because the almost extinct originals are selling in the neighborhood of $1K.


Last edited by Ronsonic; 10-24-21 at 06:42 PM.
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Old 10-23-21, 09:02 PM
  #37  
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I'm wondering if anyone considered making hoods out of modern "pleather" material, like "Lorica".
The material looks and feel like leather and even breathes like leather. It is also less likely to get damaged by repeated exposure to moisture/rain, so they do not dry out and shrink. Durability is also good, as it had been used for many years now on motorcycle apparel like race boots and gloves for its abrasion resistance.
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