steveb’s leatherworks: daily blather & leatherwork portfolio

Geez, where to begin with this set of classic shots from the family vault…..?

I don’t have all the particulars, damn I wish I did - this is one of those instances where I grew up with these pics -they were of Mickey (mom) and Max (grandpa) during the days of their performing the “act”  during WWII - but I never really had the presence of mind to drill down to the nitty gritty and extract the full details from either of them. I am not sure my sister has the granular specifics either (if you do - chime in on the comments). I know this version of the Act was a USO “for the troops” version and it toured throughout the European, Pacific and Asian theaters… albeit in different versions, garb and flavor. In Europe they had skates, in the Pacific - they were in grass skirts.  Sensible, no? I will spare you the grass skirts.

Seriously, I couldn’t make this shit up folks, it is waay to good - ya have to agree..!

The gist of this Act was that Max, the “goofy bird” tried woo’ing  Mickey the ”pretty bird” with all sorts of wacky/zany/crazy antics.  A little weird, remember this is a father/daughter act - not that anyone cared or new for that matter….They both had special reeds in their mouths that allowed them to trill like birds and make all sorts of wild and expressive sounds. Max demo’d this for me in the basement of his house when i was, like 5 years old. it blew my mind - he really turned into a bird in front of my eyes - between the jumping around and the noise he made …wow….a great memory …just me and him.

Anyway, this team toured throughout the war and entertained, teased and amused a vast number of soldiers with their shenanigans. I’d pay a buck to see a movie of this stuff, it must have been precious - goofy and cute. A perfect distraction in a simple, brutal drawn out, beat the crap out of you kind of war. Thinking on the life these two led, I feel sad for Molle, Max’s wife. She was left back in the States, a displaced Australian in a new, alien country  that was in the middle of a war - with her only family off entertaining the troops and doing exciting things in exotic places. Her life must have sucked while her husband an daughter blazed trails out and about in the wild blue yonder.  I see it in some of the pics, she was left alone and she was lonely.  I am not going to scan these images, I am going to let those ghosts lie in a happy place. Years later - Molle was the best Grandmother a kid could ever want, but looking back at these images, man..it musta been tough.

But then, i think people in general (feel free to disagree, I am open to opinions here…)- were tougher back in those days and had what I could only characterize as….”true grit”. They dealt with it…no support groups, no drugs to ease the way, no “by the step” programs, no forums to share your “feelings & thinkings”, no newsgroups, no access to information. Life was a different game.  You lifted your chin, solidered on… and you didnt talk about it. Doesn’t sound so romantic or fun to me, sounds tough.

Here is a little something to delight.  Let it be known, I am always looking for something to do with scrap. So in this never ending quest, I came upon an improvement of the traditional corrugated coffee cup cuff and got to use the unloved scraps of good stuff that I loathe to throw out. I like little projects and I really like making things of great utility that see use every day. I dont know what it is about this kind of *simple, dumb* stuff, but i have always been more impressed by a simple useful thing than a fancy, gaudy, over-baked thing.

I go to the same trouble with these little nuggets as i do with a “full “piece - lined, stitched and treated with care. There is no such thing as a small project when it is for someone else.

Time frame : early 90’s
Duration: we were on the road for about a week
Players: Pupkin, Paulie-boy, Gavin & me
Bikes: 3 fxr’s and one softail.
Destination : NYC to Virgina Beach
Scenic Stops: H-D York PA, Assateague, Chincoteague, Ocean City, Skyline Drive, etc
Memorable moments that have endured: scrapple in Front Royal, crabs in MD, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia Beach freak show, tobacco country encounters with locals, driving rain with crap rain suits.

It was a great trip, one of many we’ve taken over the years.

Thinning out a piece of leather (skiving) is a common and important chore when making something that needs to blend, or blend. Leather is not one of those things you can just bend sharply and not expect it to crack, so you need to skive. I have a few blades that can skive, you’ve already met the Mighty Giant, the razor blade plane - but here I am using a Blanchard tool, a french blade. Razor sharp, it allows me to take my time and nibble away on the piece I am trying to thin, slice by slice.

Recently received some pics of steveb gear in use…in this case it’s on the fire truck.. Fireman Beau was kind enough to send pics.

This leather has been put to hard use. That’s the idea.

If I could ask some of you slugs to please take some pictures (at work or not, c’mon be creative) of my stuff in use, I’d be “oh-so” appreciative!

Digging back in the archives for this feature.
Had a little celtic thing going here with this belt. Love the off kilter red dot center….
As I recall this was one belt of a set of 2, with the other one being the tried and true tribal flame belt design. 

Winter in NYC these days aint shit.
Back in the day, a snowstorm shut it down
Getting shut down was a pretty normal event growing up.

Typical scene here. You can see my car buried in front of the house, while my old man’s had 4+ feet of snow on top of it drifting off the side of the house.. No cars ran, everyone was buried. Gonzo’s Dad was the only person I knew who had a 4WD truck, a rough and ready International Harvester, predecessor to the SUV. We walked to the main strip with the sled to get food. It was cool, it was winter. I hustled money shoveling snow with some of my buds, paid for gas and other things we wanted but did not need. Easyriders was a favorite purchase. Before i headed out, I had to help my Dad clear the house. He wore his special shovelling hat for this event, i see.

I think this pic is from 1975 or 1976.
It was in a folder marked 1978, but by then, I had split - having enough of “home” life and being parented.

You believe in ghosts?  Well I do.  I grew up with them in the pictures that I saw as a kid, in the stories that I heard the adults in my family tell and now, in being the guardian of their memories. Ya see, in my heart of hearts, I am afraid that all of these people, their stories, their faces and their names will be lost if I don’t do something with them. I just cant let them sit in the many albums, file folders and boxes…dead. Seems wrong. So I scan and i write, and I try to remember what i was told or overheard as a kid.

I am going to start sharing some of these interesting captures of people & moments past in pretty hi-rez form, and i invite you all to “right-click”.  Once online, my hope is that these images live-on….  Since we don’t sit around campfires and tell stories anymore to keep memory’s alive, I will do it here from time to time. we’ve all got stories to tell and I will share some of mine here.

As background: my mom, Mickey was an entertainer from her early teens until her early 30’s, born into a vaudevillian family when that was deemed a respectable profession (sorta kinda). Mickey and her dad Max (a recent Dutch immigrant) had what could be characterized as song and dance acts, even though she couldn’t sing or really dance. Her talent was looking good, being funny, not taking herself too seriously  and acting as the foil for Max, her dad…she was the cutie. She worked it. Prior to this My Grandfather had a series of acts with his brother in Holland, Europe, Australia, etc…, they were clowns, they had trained poodles, juggling, tumbling, mime’ing and all kinds of odd-ball stuff, like a bird-call act… I have this influence in my DNA, think’n on it…ha

So during WWII,  Mickey and Max were serving our Country by entertaining the troops with the USO in what was called the “European Theater”. This father/daughter team traveled all over the world with the USO doing their acts for the “boys”. I really do mean they traveled all over. I have a collection of pictures, luggage “stickers” from all over the world…boats, planes, “caravans”, trucks, buses, trains… they did it all. I can only imagine the adventures they had and the things they saw. Luckily both of them had cameras in hand nearly all the time. When I was a kid, Mickey didn’t regale me and my sister of tales of those wartime days, ya had to pry it from her a bit. I think it was a pretty wild and emotional ride, looking at the pictorial evidence. There was no PTSD back then, you just dealt. She lost lots of friends, like guys in the picture below - she had to, the attrition rate was pretty hideous.

Which brings me to the subjects in the pictures below. Mickey could hold her own, she was cute, smart, worldly and seasoned in the ways of hanging out with Soldiers..the “boys”. She loved to party, she smoked, she drank, she could tell jokes, loved to laugh and do things. I could only imagine the boys couldn’t stay away from her… Probably one of the very few attractive women they’d seen in awhile, and a cool one to boot. She had lots of dates, when a date meant a cup of coffee and a talk of home,  and I have lots of pictures with inscriptions on the back from the guys she impressed.

Max was always close by, but Mickey met lots of guys and by the looks of these pictures, many “adopted” her. This pic is of Canadian Airmen, but I’ve got similar shots of American guys guys in Naval dress. Mickey didn’t discriminate, a handsome dude in uniform was a handsome dude in a uniform, no matter what branch of the Allied Service he was in.

What happened to the Canadian guys in that Bomber group?  Did they live through D-Day  - one month past when this photo was taken at a training school for the invasion -  to enjoy old age? Did they even live through the war - they had more than a year to go until the end?  Did they have families?  Have their memories lived on?  After signing the back of this pic for Mickey, did they go out for a few tall-toads?  Did she break any hearts in this group?  Where is the goddamn Time Tunnel when ya need it? I got questions ferchrissakes. Why is it that we only think of these questions when the chance to ask them has passed?

So, take that as a warning, if you have family members who’ve got stories locked away….find the key, before it’s too late…..

Anyway, thanks for indulging me, if your interested in hearing more, let me know.

I dye alot of belts and use an airbrush when browns, reds or any fade is called for. Great way to make a big mess.. using airbrushes and not having a spray booth or backstop. I needed a way to secure a belt in a spot that I could dye it. ..minimizing over spray, maximizing control…minimizing mess. Ingenuity was needed…no running to a Grainger catalog for this one.

So being a big buck tool guy, I took a length of seamless gutter, 4 fender washers, 4 eye bolts w/nuts, a little chain, a binder clip and… ba-da-bing, instant belt dying spray booth. Cost me about $10.

I hang a belt from the clip on top down the center for a no mess spray. Put a little corrugated platform running down the center that sits on a few styro blocks, so my work wouldn’t sit in over spray. Been using this setup for years and works great. A rag clipped to the bottom catches any runoff before it runs onto my shoes.

As I have mentioned in posts past, making a set of leather goods is a kind of special affair, most folks buy one piece at a time, so getting the chance to do a few pieces for one person at one time is cool - i enjoy tying a belt and wallet together with a theme..and i enjoy adapting an idea from one item to the other, its a fun challenge. Making gifts is also rewarding, nice to know your in on something that is going to be memorable. This job had both of these hallmarks - very cool.

A tight basket weave throughout the fin wallet was set off by my usual marine grade stainless chain, nickel plated grommet and partnered up with a nice chain keeper that attaches to the belt. This “keeper” is now a standard feature  on all of my chain wallets and really adds a bit more zing. For those who like clasps for their wallet chains, they are still available. Both wallet and belt are stitched (by arm power) with a bright white 277 thread. The inside of the wallet is set off by a nice red to brown fade. The belt is lined with pig, the wallet is lined with cowhide.

Now here is a small factoid that you didn’t know. Many of the wallets I make that are lined with a cowhide are lined with leather that comes from Langlitz Leather in the rainy PNW. I made friends with their shop manager and owner some years back and I haggled for a monster box of pieces, too small for their usages, but perfect for mine. This is top shelf leather, really really good stuff - and in some ways, I think it is good karma to: not be wasteful in the ways we use an animal and to use as much of it as we can and secondly,  in using leather that comes from one of the (if not the most, next to Vanson) most respected custom motorcycle leatherwear shops in the USA, is just plain cool and laden with positive juju. If your in the know, you know Langlitz.

Anyway, back to the show…..Mrs. Dennis contacted me about this set for Mr. Dennis, we figured out an overall look that Mr.Dennis would find fitting. Details addressed, a few short weeks later, Ms. Dennis took delivery of the goods. Upon getting the package as a holiday gift, this was Mr. Dennis’s note to the entire design and production team at steveb leatherworks, llc, inc., co, esq, pzq:

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Steve,  I got my present the other day from L**, “Black Belt/Wallet” and have to say you did a terrific job.  I appreciate the work and time that you put into this and it definitely shows your attention to detail.  I wear it with pride and have been showing it off to everyone. Thank you for your superb work and enjoy the holidays.  Dennis
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Well, this made my day (as well as the entire team)  as you could well imagine. You have to know that it doesn’t get any better than this for an artisan. Thanks for the kind words Dennis and thanks for the business!

So, take a look at the basket weave stamping on this wallet, if you would. One of the reasons I put such large image files up on my site is so you can really see just what kind of detail goes into my work. I don’t hide anything and am not afraid to show my work in the clearest way possible.

Fortunate to have family members that live in fairytale film sets (see example below), I spent the Holiday here with part of my clan. Funny how being in a place like this puts you in the mood to eat vast quantities of rich food and burn plenty of wood. Of course, I would be remiss in my celebrations if I didn’t leave a few malty beverages in the snow on the deck in the backyard for some frosty enjoyment during my two days of sitting my lazy ass on the couch in front of the fire doing nothing that could be viewed as productive, other than filtering malty beverages and processing  lots of food.

I hope you had just as good a holiday as I had.

home is for the holidays

Sitting here with a full stomach, visiting relatives on Xmas day with snow on the ground, it feels like the last time i was on a bike was a year ago. Looking at the shots on my camera, i must admit that this is not wholly true.

Only 24 days ago Shank, Dan-o and me went for a blast up to Squirrel Country. Shank had an estimate he needed to drop off at a wealthy customers house and so Dan-o and me tagged along to make sure the rich kids in the ‘hood wouldn’t knock him off his bike and take it from him. Tough kids up in Squirrel Country.

The three of us headed up to the sticks and got to the destination - horse farms, monster McMansions and all sort of fancy pants cars, SUV’s and other obnoxious manifestations of wealth surrounded us. Ironically, all of these nice road machines are piloted by dumbshits that don’t know how to operate them. Guess these nice whips didnt come with “operation instructions”.

We got to the spot and Shank asked me and Dan-o to hang back so as to not freak out the Customer with 3 bikes rolling up his cobblestone driveway. Shank aint no fun. So Dan-o and I parked on the side of Fancy Pants Drive and waited for Shank to come back from his visit to the “Main House”. By the way - wtf is up with having a main house? Isnt a plain old regular house enough? I mean  what is up with that….. I dont get it, how much room does a family of 4 need? 20,000 sq ft? I dont think so. These are the sucker-heads that are feeling the Hedge Fund debacle in a big way. Poor rich folks, sniff sniff.

Anyway, me and Dan-o got comfy and burned our burnables, whilst camped out on a stone wall waiting for Shank - and lo and behold, a parade of neighbors begins the slow drive by our previously quiet out of the way location . Great - at this point I am waiting for the local Resident Trooper to come by and scare us off. I know that in this ‘hood, me and Dan-o look like clay pigeons waiting to be taken out. Not so good. I am not a big fan of billboarding my presence in areas that my “get out of jail free” cards dont get good reception.

Just as i am feeling like we’ve outstayed our welcome (were we ever really welcome?) Shank comes tooling down the dirt road and we hit it - and head back to home turf - where the cars are dirtier, where our friends and family’s live and where we fit in.

In our ‘hood we all live in the “Main House”, fucking A.

Merry happy ho-ho

For your Xmas consideration - another in the series of Journal covers I’ve been producing…presented here for your viewing pleasure is a real sweetie. This Journal came out nice. Deep and dramatic stamping really sets this Journal off the hey-now scale, you must feel it in your hand to appreciate just how good it feels - its that tactile point of difference i look for in all my work.

A rich blended palette of browns and reds give this a snarky hi-tone son-of-a-bitch look, something not seen very often. The finish on top is a clean and tough acrylic, so although this Journal will show wear over the years - as it should, it’s coming to the party wearing protection. Clean machine stitiching gives it a little added snap.

Lined inside with electric blue (find that anywhere else!) and accompanied by a antique brass birdcage snap and detailed snap strap, this is a Journal that will inspire the owner to write and record the whats what.

After nearly 20 years of faithful service my novelty jockey helmet needed a rebuild in a pretty big way. Back in the day, most any self respecting NYC biker wore a jockey helmet - this was most certainly a *club* style influence.  Growing up at ground zero in the moto scene, there was never really a choice about headgear and it was a rite of passage for me and my friends to take the ride to the tack shop near Belmont Racetrack to select our jockey helmets. You rode a HD, you lived in Queens, you wore a jockey helmet…simple. The Boss calls this helmet Q-tip head,  and cant believe that Bikers would ever wear anything *so stupid*…..*sigh* girls…they just don’t get it…

I remember the day pretty clearly when i got mine - it was just after i got legal license wise (had to before i moved to CT) and got my motorcycle accreditation - after a bitch of a road test. It was a new and improved helmet with a semi indestructible coating on the outside. I wasn’t too happy at the time with this innovation - I really wanted the *really really* old school version all my friends wore. But i walked out with it and it became my primary lid. After getting hassled a few times when being on the bike out of state for it being a non-DOT lid, i picked up a *real* half-helmet, which i wore out and replaced just last year… Seems all my shit is wearing out. I still wore my jockey helmet  when harassing motorists locally, so it has seen pretty consistent (ab)use over the years.

Amazingly, 20 years of  miles and road trips, the outside of my helmet still looks like new, really surprising considering the lack of care. The inside liner is still in pretty good shape, but the leather pieces that hold this lunker to the head, not so much - they were pretty ragged and really began falling apart this riding season, so I promised myself to add this to the production schedule for steveb leather works llc, international inc. co.. Brendan replaced Pupkins helmets leather bits years ago, so i knew it could be done. I wound up making a chin cup for that rebuild, contributing to Brendan’s work.

The riding season here is pretty much done for the time being with the weather being oh-so East Coast-y, so I thought, now is a good time to tackle this chore. Giving this some thought, i knew I wanted to use a laminated construction - lined, glued and sewn materials, and a specific weight of veg tan. The leather pieces needed to be comfortable and I couldn’t go overkill in terms of weight, as I am known to do that on rare occasion.. I knew I wanted to improve the chin cup materials and get rid of all the nylon webbing and adjustable buckles…I don’t need the adjustments, once the helmet is set for me, I am good. At this point in my life, I think i am done growing. Well my hat size isn’t expanding anyway….

So I got my helmet, materials and game plan figured out -  drilled out the rivets on the old set up, made my templates, made some adjustments in the design, based on my *user experiences” and got to making hay. All the pieces cut, dyed, glued, stitched, edged - I made the chin cup, lined it with Elk for comfort (elk is thick stuff and soft) and decorated the straps holding it on. I opted to keep the helmet simple in terms of decoration for the most part, the stitching gives it a little zip, which is all it needs.

So ther yea have it, the new helmet set up holds to the back of my head a little closer, the chin cup is nice and the strap snaps on now, rather than the lames-ass hook arrangement it came with. I didn’t buff out all the edges like I normally do, and the stitching is a bit rough, but hey - it’s a prototype and its for me - so cut me some slack, if you would. Either way, I think that this should last me another 20…. I also know that I will be getting some calls for this service once the cat gets out of the bag that I am doing this, now that I’ve worked out the prototype on my own gear. ……excuse the lousy helmet model, hard to find good handsome help these days,,,