My First Military Bicycle Seat Restoration

[HuffmanBill]

These photo's were taken this afternoon. They show my first attempt at restoring the leather seat cover to my 1943 Columbia Military Women's Model Bike. I had the Persons stamp dye custom made. The leather work, stamping, dyeing were all done by me. The color ''Saddle Tan'' was used to match the color of the original Persons Tool Bag pictured with the seat. I wanted to match the color of the seat to the original WWII tool bag as close as possible for authenticity. The seat safety tabs are original to the WWII bike. What do you all think?

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[HuffmanBill]

and these also.....

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[doug p.]

That's a beautiful job!

[Bozman]

Simply Gorgeous! If the machinist that made your stamp would like another client I'd love to get a stamp made so I can make my recovered seats look as nice as yours.

[HuffmanBill]

Now Boz, if I told you his name I would have to kill you. Ha Ha, thanks for the compliment.

Regards, Bill

[Bozman]

Now Boz, if I told you his name I would have to kill you. Ha Ha, thanks for the compliment.

Regards, Bill

Dead Man Pedaling!

[MUTTSNBOLTS]

Unbeliveable, Job very well done...Museum Quality....So are you talking orders yet?
I'll take one skin


Richard

[HuffmanBill]

Thanks Richard, I am quite pleased with my first attempt and how well it matches the color of the original 65 yr. old or so Persons tool bag. As far as taking orders, well I still have a few kinks to work out with the padding between the pan and the leather. Nothing big, I would just want everything as right as possible before making one of these for someone else. One of the most important aspects to me is getting the seat color as close as possible to that of the Persons tool bag that is going on the bike. That way it will look more natural and like both the seat and tool bag went together and aged together. Anyway, I do appreciate the feedback and it helps me to know that I am on the right track.

Regards, Bill

[Craig Johnson]

By the way both your seats look great.

I was wondering what type of leather you went with, Im going to attempt to get my Huffman ready to ride at Tower Park and cant seem to locate an affordable seat so I thought I would just recover mine. Just want to make it usable for now. Not going to try and make it look as good as us yours. My deer hide seems a little thin. Figured I would just order some from Tandy. Cost me $10 just to drive there and back.

[Andrew OBryan]

Looks real good nice job

[HuffmanBill]

Hi Craig,

If you just want leather to cover the seat for now, without the stamp, you could go with upholstery grade chrome tanned leather. The type used to cover car seats. I believe a 1-2oz weight would do. Its very thin , but strong and comes in many colors. I had a bike seat covered by a auto upholsterer a while back and it looked real nice. You could also use vegetable tanned leather from tandy. For your purposes a 3-4oz weight would work well. Be aware that you will need to wet the Veg. tanned leather through so that you will be able to mold and shape it to the upper seat pan. You will also be able to dye the Veg. tanned leather to your liking. The chrome tanned leather already comes dyed.

Regards, Bill

[amer-team]

Thank you for the tips on how to mold the leather to the seat pan. I ended up going with OD canvas as a stop gap measure. Took the seat apart, cleaned it and primed with a black epoxy primer, so it is ready for padding and leather at a future date. I have ridden mine quite a bit and if the canvas gets a bit worn, just cut another piece and go again.

[Craig Johnson]

Bill. Just realized I read this on my phone and never thanked you. So thanks for the response.

[crazychevelleman]

Here is my first attempt.

[Travelfix]

Hi Ken,
Nice seat restoration....really nice. Like the undercarriage with complete seat clamp assy too!
Bob