I have now started to recondition the leather on the wheel. It's a multi step process so I will post pictures at each stage.


The following pictures are after a thorough clean with white spirit and single coat of leather colour.

The leather looks a little lighter than in the other pictures but trust me it's the same. In fact I have only put the leather re-colour on the affected areas and the main leather had not been touched.


http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...86fa8c8e2c.jpg


http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...86fa938eb8.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...86fa983c8b.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...86fc59f083.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...86fc5e1c0f.jpg


I was quite suprised how much a single coat has done.

Second Coat of leather colour
 

I left the first coat dry and then applied a second coat. I'm getting more impressed with each use.

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...870e09b071.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...870e0e05c3.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...870e166c58.jpg

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...8712820279.jpg


http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...871284e363.jpg


I have a little spillage as I was not steady enogh with the brush I used but still. It's starting to look quite good.

Looking at the progress
 

If you look at what I started with compared to now I think you'll agree it is quite suprising how good this stuff I'm using is.

Before
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...a243521da8.jpg

After
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...870e09b071.jpg

That is looking very good!

Thanks.

I want to try and re-smooth the leather where it has been rubbed a lot. At the moment it's a little frayed and does not quite feel the same on the large area. Any ideas?

Could you shave it??

Hi Steve,
Glad its working o.k, when i used it after 4 or 5 coats it looked like new. I dried mine with a hair dryer between coats to make it quicker.

Cheers Mel:lol:

HI, Yes it's working great thanks.. The colour is a perfect match. I'm in no hurry but I did also use a hair dryer to dry the first coat.

I think it will look excellent when finished but i don't think it will feel perfect. I'm tempted to shave it and then use a fine wet and dry to just clean the worst of the 'frayed' edges.

Id be very careful Steve as you may make it worse perhaps try it on the back of it.

Mel:)

I will probably try the wheel out for a few weeks after I've finished this attempt. If I don;t like the feel only then will I get a little more drastic.

The other option is to transplant some leather from a non wood wheel as they are cheap enough.