steveb leatherworks: the blather

Ever have a job sneak up on you?  What looks like a simple job…turns out to be a “not so simple” job? Tradesman know what I am talking about, its those “no problem” jobs that come to bite you in the arse, demanding special attention…Well Beau’s Fireman Suspenders turned out to be that kind of job. A repeat customer, Beau asked if i could come up with my own version of these units that hold up a fireman’s over-pants (i think that’s what you call them).

I said “yep” and so Beau sent a set of old beaters I could use as a template for measurement and such. Plain old straps would have been the norm for most firemen, unlined, unstitched and unloved..crappy hardware..not so cool, so much.   Well Beau got a whole shite-load of cool with this new steveb rig. It was fun putting it together but each and every piece of it was a small project in itself, this took a lot of tine. Every strap and piece is lined, the buckles are stainless roller buckles from the horse&saddle world, the rivets are copper burr&stake rivets and every surface is decorated, dyed, antiqued and topcoated.

The one squirrelly part to make was the “wingadinglers” – the things that you actually button the pants to. I looked at these freaky creatures and figured if a machine in China could make ’em, I could too.  I am as talented as a factory machine, right? I noodled around with one experimental unit and figured it out. Asian factories got nuttin on me!   Made in America mofo – true dat

I expect this unit will last a good long time. It was cool to do something new and i always like making stuff that sees hard use and gets beat up and abused. I really liked making the “gather” that holds the suspenders together in the back – that was  a serious slab of leather. It was cool to work on something different than the norm…and i like making stuff for folks that do-good for us in the herd, like fireman and I super dig returning customers – home run all around!

********************************************************************************************************after getting them, Bill wrote
Steve, I got the package the day I left for Arizona and the Grand Canyon.  Outstanding!  Can’t believe you got them done that fast.  Holy shit!  The two guys I was riding with saw them and were really were impressed.  I really like the contrast and the intensity of the flames plus the gather you made.  Exactly like I wanted it.  Probably going to get some additional requests on that.   Can’t believe how freakin’ nice they are, Steve.  VERY impressed.  Can’t thank you enough!********************************************************************************************************