Logte106

Has anyone got some cutting patters for me or any other suggestions?

Would love to hear from you all

KonAaron Snake 

I know it was tried by Rootboy...and he wasn't thrilled with the results as I recall.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...d-project.html

Photobucket sort of killed this.

Fahrenheit531 

The results were solid, I think (there's a pair of 'em on my Paramount and they're sweet)... it was just the colossal PITA construction part that got to him IIRC.


But yeah. It can be done!

Logte106

I I read that thread, to bad the photo's were killed

dabac

I've done a pair.
Don't know how much a pattern would help.
My levers might not be a close enough match to provide much benefit.
I cut a paper template.
Got some thin and supple leather out of an old handbag. Soaked it in warm water. Did a trial fit. Pulled, shaped, trimmed.
Coated both leather and lever base with contact cement. Waited a bit. Mounted the leather. Used clamps to hold it in place while it dried.
Once dry, I did the final trim of the edges, trimmed off some folds and stitched them together.

nlerner

I believe @PastorBobnh also created some.

79pmooney

My challenge is that I pull hard on the hoods climbing. That means two challenges; not destructing or delaminating and how to do them with edges that will chafe of get ruined.

Thinking out loud: suppose I glued on a "U" from the top and a small rectangle from the bottom. Let that set up, then wrap the whole thing tightly with quality thin tennis racquet or HB leather tape, contacting cementing it down as I went. So lots of leather so a nice grip. It ought to stay put. Interesting. Might do it someday. (I love the Tektro V-brake levers for drop bars. Wonderful hand holds. When I kill those hoods this could be a really good upgrade.)

Ben

dabac

I can't post pics from this unit. So that'll have to wait.

But I stitched mine.
The leather meets in the middle on the underside, behind the lever, and is stitched together.
Felt solid enough.

rhm

It's not that difficult to make a decent leather hood for a brake lever.

Making two good ones that match, that's a much bigger challenge.

Making them in any quantity, as @rootboy was doing (and very well, I think) efficiently enough for it to be worth your time, I kinda doubt it's possible.

I have a pattern I can post, along with my suggestions. I'm sure Rootboy has a better pattern and better advice.

zammykoo

I was thinking of making some the other day. @rootboy's looks great.

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:

Fahrenheit531 

@USAZorro -- I'm intrigued by the sparkle blue treatment. Will be watching for the finished project.

mountaindave 

How do you get blue sparkles on leather?

USAZorro

I mixed two different leather paints. One is Angelus Sapphire (the blue). The other is Leather Studio Silver Metallic. It took about 3 coats to get the saturation I wanted. I am just as curious as anyone about how well it will hold up.

Drillium Dude 

I was

They are absolutely fabulous! I bought two sets; one is in use on the gold Colnago and the other one is waiting for the right project some day...

DD

zammykoo

Has anyone tried fastening the hood ends together with eyelets instead of stitching? My first choice would be stitching too, but I have a ton of eyelets that I have been wanting to use up. Just a thought.

brewerkz 

Cilo | Cycle EXIF

here is one persons solution

USAZorro

I guess you could, but what would you lace them with? In the case of my hoods, I think there'd only be room for 2 eyelets at the point that they're stitched together. Not sure how well that would hold.

KonAaron Snake 

Rootboy is a perfectionist...and his own hardest critic. He's made me a couple of bags and bar plugs; I thnk the world of his talent.

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....

rootboy 

Yeah, sorry about the photo death, Logte. Had all my pics on the dastardly Photo****ket and they screwed the pooch, so I deleted all of my pics on that site and haven't figured out how to post directly to this forum.

I was pleased with the few sets that I thought turned out well but they were a major pain in the whatzit to make and, Aaron is right. I am cursed with the perfectionist malady and wanted them to be as perfect as I could make them. A lot of frustration ensued. But some worked out OK. I only made them for Campagnolo brakes, a beautiful if tricky lever body to cover.

The main challenge I found was taking a natural material that has a definite grain (stretches, and shrinks, more one way than the other) ...which was once covering a curved, three dimensional shape, then removed and flattened during tanning, and trying to then get it to conform to a very small shape with lots of compound curves...and not stretch too much, or too little in the process.

It was a fun project though, and I wish you all success.

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.

Drillium Dude 

I get that because I go there, too.

I still have my custom Colnago saddle bag and some tire-savers - but I wasn't quick enough on his short-run of handlebar plugs

@zammykoo: those are looking good!

DD

styggno1

I have been looking into this for some years now but never got around to actually doing it. My reason for being interested is the future lack of original gum hoods - of course. I feel I would rather have a home made solution than using aftermarket gum hoods.

This is the direction my investigations has taken me:
https://www.google.se/search?q=vacuu...w=1366&bih=659

qcpmsame 

Those are looking real nice @zammykoo. Rootboy and Drillium Dude kind of set the standard for me personally, if they offer up something its worth taking into account. Biggest thing I can offer is to have patience about everything you try that is this difficult.

They may not make any claims about their personal skills or habits, but their attention to detail brings it out. The guys and ladies here have taught me more than I dreamed of, when getting interested in C&V bikes again. Please keep updating this thread.

Bill