Anyone wrapped their yokes in leather?

We've got a bag full of leather scraps, left over from our new interior job
last fall. I would like to wrap our yokes with it, so that they match the
seats and throttle cover.

Anyone ever done this? I don't want to just wind the stuff around and have
it look like crap in a few months.

Should I use adhesive? Cut it into strips? Try stitching? Is there a
proven technique to follow?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hm80c.427286$xy6.2499822@attbi_s02...
We've got a bag full of leather scraps, left over from our new interior
job
last fall. I would like to wrap our yokes with it, so that they match the
seats and throttle cover.

Anyone ever done this? I don't want to just wind the stuff around and
have
it look like crap in a few months.

Should I use adhesive? Cut it into strips? Try stitching? Is there a
proven technique to follow?

I have very little experience with this so this advice might be worthless...
;-)

When I was a kid, I used a vinyl strip to wrap the handlebar of my bike with
'decent' results. The trick was to keep it TIGHT and stretched while doing
it and it lasted and looked good for years. I realize that leather is quite
a bit different than vinyl and the results may not come out the same.

There used to be steering wheel covers that would slip over the wheel and
then a lace was wrapped around which looked good and worked for a few months
then looked like crap.

Another option is to check how golf club grips are installed, not the ones
that are tubes, but the wrapped style. You may find some information at your
local golf pro shop.

Keep us informed as to how you decide to do it, how well it works, how hard
(or easy?) it is to do and how well it lasts...

I know that a completely wrapped yoke may look better, but I took
the simple approach. Two pieces of suede about 5x3 in. Friend with
a professional sewing machine sewed velcro on (each type on the ends).

So one side looks like this
-------------------
|o |
|o |
|o |
-------------------

And the other side looks like
-------------------
| +|
| +|
| +|
-------------------

They wrap perfectly around the yoke (cherokee 180). And if I want
to change colors or something, comes off with no effort. The suede
forms perfectly to the finger bumps on the yoke.
I chose black because it matches the yoke.

"Blanche" wrote in message
...
I know that a completely wrapped yoke may look better, but I took
the simple approach. Two pieces of suede about 5x3 in. Friend with
a professional sewing machine sewed velcro on (each type on the ends).

So one side looks like this
-------------------
|o |
|o |
|o |
-------------------

And the other side looks like
-------------------
| +|
| +|
| +|
-------------------

They wrap perfectly around the yoke (cherokee 180). And if I want
to change colors or something, comes off with no effort. The suede
forms perfectly to the finger bumps on the yoke.
I chose black because it matches the yoke.

If you want the feel of leather wear gloves. My dad ex airforce always
advises gloves just in case things get "hot" in the cockpit.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hm80c.427286$xy6.2499822@attbi_s02...
We've got a bag full of leather scraps, left over from our new interior
job
last fall. I would like to wrap our yokes with it, so that they match the
seats and throttle cover.

Anyone ever done this? I don't want to just wind the stuff around and
have
it look like crap in a few months.

Should I use adhesive? Cut it into strips? Try stitching? Is there a
proven technique to follow?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


I did mine and they turned out excellent. They are laced with the leather
lacing (you could use another type of lacing but I wanted the added grip
from a somewhat bulky leather lacing) on the back side which gives a smooth
look from the sitting position but the lacing on the back gives a good grip.
I only covered the part of each yoke that you normally hold during flight.
I wet the leather, stretched it tight around the yoke, cut it to fit and
punched holes for the lacing. I then laced them on while still wet and
after 5 years they are as tight as the day they were done. Tandy makes a
dressing that seals the leather and prevents it from getting discolored
during those sweaty max effort landings.

I only covered the part of each yoke that you normally hold during flight.
I wet the leather, stretched it tight around the yoke, cut it to fit and
punched holes for the lacing.

Thanks for the tip, Dave.

Could you point me to a picture of your installation?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If you are going to wrap a strip around the yoke, you should try leather
made to cover bicycle handlebars since it has beveled edges and will be flat
where it overlaps.

These two places cover yokes with leather:

http://www.aviationdesign.com/mailorder.html

http://www.bitchin-stitchin.com/yokespip.htm

If you try to do it yourself, you might experiment with soaking the leather
in water, stretching it and then put it on. It will shrink tight as it
dries.


Mike
MU-2


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hm80c.427286$xy6.2499822@attbi_s02...
We've got a bag full of leather scraps, left over from our new interior
job
last fall. I would like to wrap our yokes with it, so that they match the
seats and throttle cover.

Anyone ever done this? I don't want to just wind the stuff around and
have
it look like crap in a few months.

Should I use adhesive? Cut it into strips? Try stitching? Is there a
proven technique to follow?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If you try to do it yourself, you might experiment with soaking the
leather
in water, stretching it and then put it on. It will shrink tight as it
dries.

Thanks, Mike. Someday, when the weather warms up around here (it was 60
degrees here earlier today -- just a ten days after being below zero)
consistently, I'm going to tinker with this.

I've got LOTS of leather scraps to screw up! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"