Another awesome challenge in the shop....

Just when I thought I had a handle on my Summer projects, this motorcycle seat found its way into my shop. This black and white seat is fiberglass, and hollow, but the owner wanted one made of solid wood, for a show bike he's building. 

You know my motto - Sure, I can build that! 

It's funny - your mind can play tricks on you, when you have too many options. I call it analysis paralysis. Too many choices and you get frozen, unable to pick the right one.  Good thing my buddy Denny stopped by and talked me off the ledge.

It's really the case of "Two heads are better than one"  but in this case, Denny's and my brain equal about 1.5 brains. No argument there.

We prepped and laminated some maple and mahogany, to mimic the striping in the seat, and then figured out how to cut the various pieces, 

minimizing my work down the line. I really like the curve of this seat, how it gently sweeps upward.

 So we figured it out, and Denny took the piece home to cut on his Legacy CNC.  

He's gotten pretty good on programing the software, and had this cut completed in no time. Here's a sample, 

and then the real deal.  

Determining the angle of the layers was easy, 

and they stacked up quite nicely. 

Band sawing out the waste and getting the curve into the pieces ahead of gluing will make shaping everything much easier. 

At least that's the plan!

I like how the grain book matches its mate; hopefully this will glue up without too much trouble. (Famous last words...) 

Pretty soon - it will be time to start carving. 

Stay tuned!