DanTwoLakes said:
... I have posted tons of information on this subject, but you don't seem to have read any of it. You have read everything ever printed from anybody who has ever gotten a book published on car interiors, but you take everything I tell you as tainted in some way.
Dan has articulated some very accurate observations and leveled some well deserved criticism of my upholstery efforts thus far. He is absolutely correct. I have read a number of books published on upholstery, paying special attention to those that came most highly recommended by our members here on HR.Com. These included "Custom Auto Interiors" by Taylor and Mangus, "Auto Upholstery & Interiors" by Bruce Caldwell, "How to Restore and Customize Auto Upholstery" by Dennis Parks, and "Automotive Upholstery Handbook" by Don Taylor.
Research and reading come as an old habit for me, particularly when tackling some new area of hot rodding. Together with hands on experimentation and testing, it's a difficult habit for me to break. And I apologize for that.
Unfortunately when one gathers together a large number of authors and "experts", the advice can sometime be conflicting. And I apologize to Dan for any slight that may have been caused by the attention I may have paid to the books and authors named above.
DanTwoLakes said:
...I guarantee that I have BY FAR more upholstery credentials than any of the people whose books you have read. I CAN'T HELP YOU IF YOU WON'T LISTEN TO ME...
Again, my apologies to Dan for any instance where there may have been conflicting recommendations among the experts and I failed to give his methods the degree of attention he feels they deserve. This was a clear oversight on my part.
DanTwoLakes said:
...There are certain things you just can't learn out of a book, especially when you have a vehicle like yours that is unique, and nobody has ever tried to upholster one before.... You can't learn world class upholstery from a book without somebody standing right next to you while you're learning.
Once again, a very accurate observation. Unfortunately very few of us have the luxury of a full time upholstery coach who can stand over our shoulder and tutor us at each step. Most of us muddle along by reading, asking questions of others, conducting test and experiments with the materials at hand, and practicing the techniques and methods we need to master.
This is how I've made my way through every other part of building a car from scratch. And the good people of many other HR.Com forums have always been willing to happily help answer my questions and guide me along the way. Folks in "suspension", "engines", "paint and exterior" and the general rodding forums have been more than welcoming to my rudimentary questions and my occasional misstep. So "interior" has been a new experience for me. It is the first forum where I've encountered outright hostility to my questions and my musings. Obviously I have a lot to lean regarding how to conduct myself here.
DanTwoLakes said:
...You haven't even been able to get a simple curved corner on a small insert panel right (post 11), and that is a baby step. The panel you show in post #11 should have not been spliced anywhere, the outside perimeter should have been one piece and then there would have been no problem with a splice showing.
In the past, in other forums and my journal, I have been quite willing to take pictures and share with others my tests, my experiments and my early efforts, letting others see my failures, warts and all. My thinking was that by seeing my mistakes and missteps, others could avoid them and learn at my expense rather than theirs. Perhaps that thinking is wrong and I shouldn't post up those errors and make them subject to belittlement and ridicule.
The panel referenced in post #11 is just such practice panel. It was in a series of practice panels I documented in my journal beginning at entry #442
here. And you are right to belittle and ridicule the effort. It was my very first attempt at building such a panel...ever.
Unlike the Masters here in "Interior", the rest of us have to start somewhere. And I prefer starting with test panels, like the one in post #11, using leftover or discarded materials and push the envelop a bit to see the results of things like slicing and butting those corners. I learned a great deal from that first panel. Granted, to the eyes of a Master, it is a POS. But to my eyes, it was a thing of beauty, like the little child's plaster of Paris ash tray with his hand-print in the center of it. Only a parent could see it as art. And only a parent recognizes it as a first step in a long long learning process.
DanTwoLakes said:
...And I promise you this, I'm not spending the rest of my life answering your posts trying to keep you from making a gigantic mess out of this vehicle's interior. You're way beyond that point already.
This quote was originally part of Dan's post #12 which appeared here. It was later edited out but I include it here because it is another well deserved criticism of my efforts. We novices and newbies often forget what a nuisance we can be with our pesky questions and our erroneous assumptions. And what a huge favor we are granted when one of the Masters here takes the time to entertain our inquiries. And I have been quite guilty in my past failures to properly thank all these fine folks who keep me from blowing myself up.
And it is always good medicine to get a wake up call letting you know you are "well beyond...making a gigantic mess" of your project. In fact, I think I will inscribe those words on a big plaque and mount it on the wall of my shop. Just a constant reminder that I am forever learning...and forever just muddling along.
