steveb leatherworks: the blather

So to continue on with the Proto-Manta plug belt saga.. I wanted to talk about color a bit.

Black is the turd in the punchbowl when it comes to leathercraft. There isn’t a skilled leather crafter alive that likes to work in black. Black sucks – it soaks up detail like the dickens. Black, unless it is hot-stuffed latigo type material also fades and turns to a gray/grey/purple-y baby crap kind of color that I don’t find very attractive. We all have a jacket./toolbag /set of saddlebags that has turned this color and although mink oil and potions might work to darken the material – it aint right.

What does “turd in the punchbowl”  mean you might ask? Well after putting a ton of work into creating a detailed item with intricate stamping beveling and finessing, you, the creator of this minor miracle in craft,  then douse it in a color so dense that all you can see are the most bold of highlights and details. How much does that suck – to have taken the time to do it up, only to see it disappear.

With that said, I used to live in black. it just so happens these days the only things l like that color are my bikes, their tires and the business end of my boots. I think that this is a function of two things: a deep love and appreciation of leather craft and the second is, color is fun and since the older I get, the less I care  what others might think – it frees me up to pursue my whims, and color is one of ’em.

This manta ray was a gift of Paul Cox, sometime ago he gave me a bag of bland, off-white, weird sized manta ray scraps to “do something with” and this is what I’ve come up with so far – using them as inlays (as well as pretty badass knife sheaths). Dying ray is a tricky adventure, requiring a light touch and a sense of humor – after a bunch of impressive failed attempts, I began to get the hang of the technique required to get the look I wanted out of my head and working in the real world. I probably should have asked or researched the “right way”, but that’d not be nearly as much fun.

So check this out – something new to consider when you order a belt from me…. and hey, lighten up and lay off the black  – will ya? The second shot is of a veg tan lined belt, reminding me why I use black, mission grain pigskin as the  linings on the belts I make for my valued customers – it LOOKS good and doesnt stretch or stain.