Recovering a Wheel with Leather

[Hermanns]

Almost complete with our new steering wheel cover from boatleather.com - we've got a tricky metric wheel diameter/circumference and thickness, they were extremely helpful in explaining how to measure with a piece of paper and warned me about string stretch!

Tom who works there is great, the final product looks and feels AWESOME - couldn't be happier.

He even made a video so sewing-neophytes like me can do it: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FHTuL...%3DFHTuLV1L1tg

Takes a bit of patience, but it's a great deal (<$200 for a custom wheel cover w/ padding) - over half the price of what our local sailmaker was gonna charge me! And he wanted me to take the wheel off and deliver to his loft!

Kudos to boatleather.com - great product and service.

-Jer
(Note: I am in no way affiliated with them, just a happy and satisfied customer)

[Jim Cate]

G'DAy Jer,

Glad that you are happy with your outcome, but there are other, far less expensive means of accomplishing this.

I recently re-covered our 40 inch diameter wheel. Went to a leather supplier, bought two offcuts of nicely tanned Black finished cowhide of appropriate thickness. Cost was 5 Australian dollars each. Used a cheap wheel-type cutter (about 10 bucks at a hobby or sewing shop) to cut the strips, and then a 4-hole punch (about 25 bucks IIRC, but I've had it a while) to punch the holes. My wife sewed the ends of the strips together using our old Pfaff 130 home machine, V-92 dacron thread and a short zig-zag stitch. Used normal waxed whipping twine and a sail needle to herringbone stitch the leather onto the wheel. Whole project took about 4 hours (exclusive of the purchase trip for the leather).

I didn't use padding as I prefer the feel of an unpadded wheel, but it wouldn't have been a big deal to do so.

I'm not criticizing your method, but offering an alternative approach for budget sailors... besides, I enjoy such work!

Cheers,

Jim

[Hermanns]

Jim,

That's awesome - Erika and I both don't know squat about sewing, so this is already a huge learning experience for me. We don't own a sewing machine or any other materials, so we had to 100% outsource.

Sounds like you came out with a very similar covering at a fraction of the cost, that's truly amazing. Serious Kudos to your sourcing and leveraging of existing tools.

I couldn't agree more, the feel of a leather wrapped wheel vs. raw stainless is no comparison - after sailing from Hawaii >> Tahiti with no autopilot, the leather wheel wrap saved our hands!

Another option: Edson has a fairly inexpensive kit I saw at the local shop prob. $75-90bux (cannot remember exactly) - so there are alternatives out there which aren't "custom", and they should work for 80% of folks/applications out there. But, for those out there needing a custom solution, our Boatleather.com product quality is top notch and will fit any boat and skill level.

Nice option on DIY Jim - great work and insights Sir!

-Jer

[Hermanns]

Here is the post Erika made while I was working on the leather wheel wrap:
Recovering a Sailboat Wheel is Not a Fast Task | S/V Cerulean – Official Site

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Hermanns

Almost complete with our new steering wheel cover from boatleather.com - we've got a tricky metric wheel diameter/circumference and thickness, they were extremely helpful in explaining how to measure with a piece of paper and warned me about string stretch!

Tom who works there is great, the final product looks and feels AWESOME - couldn't be happier.

He even made a video so sewing-neophytes like me can do it: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FHTuL...%3DFHTuLV1L1tg

Takes a bit of patience, but it's a great deal (<$200 for a custom wheel cover w/ padding) - over half the price of what our local sailmaker was gonna charge me! And he wanted me to take the wheel off and deliver to his loft!

Kudos to boatleather.com - great product and service.

-Jer
(Note: I am in no way affiliated with them, just a happy and satisfied customer)

I too recently covered our wheel with a kit from boat leather . Com. Took all day to sew it up but the result is wonderful.