Gator Squared

[sumran]

Originally Posted by Pop's C-10

How long did it take to do that..

This one took a little more than a week, because I did it a few minutes at a time. Normally I do them on a working vehicle, so it has to be done all at once. I can do one in 2-1/2 ro 3 hours if I stay at it steadily. The first one will take a little longer.

You have to push a steel needle through some very tight leather holes, so I would recommend a thimble or some other means of protecting your finger tips. A high quality set of small pliers is also very useful to pull the needle through on the back side.

The trickiest part is around the points where the spokes attach to the rim. You have to continue the stitching until you have gone just past the edge of the spoke, then lace the front side only on the face of the spoke, then catch the hole just before the spoke ends. That allows you to pull the leather tight and flat around the spoke. The seam needs to be aligned with the center of the spokes.

One last warning: If you put one on one of your vehicles, you will want one on all of them.