steveb leatherworks: the blather

the latest and greatest from Nov.08

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I began taking orders for tool-bags again. Figured it was time. I got alot of requests and dont want to turn away the work. I make these bags out of such heavy leather, that it is a fight putting ’em together.I never break sewing needles and with this latest bag, i broke two, this stuff is iron!!  Makes for a durable and beautiful bag, but man, my ass just gets kicked by the material and what I am asking it to do (demanding it do, is more like it).  Bag Rassler is my Swedish name. I understand why people don’t make things out of heavy material now…it is work.

Part of the joy of putting these bags together  requires I punch slots in heavy 10oz waxy latigo leather. This is a bitch to do by hand, plain and simple. No finesse here, punchin slots just requires a firm grip, a strong swing and an accurate eye. There is simply no way I can punch through two 10oz layers (the bag and the “backing plate”) necessitating that I punch through the back plate part first, before i attach it to the bag with glue, sewing and rivets…

Growing up in NYC, I have a pretty good idea of what pizza is about. You’ve no doubt read my scintillating review and dissertation on New Park Pizza in Howard Beach Queens previously and i will continue the story line here.

When i moved to New England some years ago, the pizza situation was pretty bad…greasy, limp, too saucy or cheezy..it was vile stuff. in expressing my opinion on the “state of the pizza’ one day I was told to 1) stop compaining and 2) to try this place in New Haven called Pepe’s…because it was “the best”. Ahem, yea right…i know better than to trust my friends “the locals”.

So one weekend me and the Boss found our way to Pepe’s original location in New Haven and waited outside in a line for 30min (I have a thing about waiting….I dont) and i was good, i was patient due in large part to the Boss’s directive to “be good”. So we got in, ordered our pizza and 20min or so later we got our pie.

The pie was HUGE and was crisp to the point of being burnt, was really thin and very different to what i traditionally considered “killer pizza”. So we dug in and i liked it, good taste, the burnt crust thing was kind of weird but thats what ya get with a brick oven pizza I learned..ya see at home, we never had brick oven pizza, we had steel and gas oven pizza…the best of bourgeois.

About 5 years ago Pepe’s opened a 2nd location (and have since added a 3rd) close by the secret location, making access much simpler. Me & Freddy wandered up a few days ago to feast…and dug in so quick i never got a pic of the pie before we kilt it!

East Coast Rules!!!

Belts… might seem a little weird, but i invite you to meditate on the true nature of a belt with me. Sometimes in steveb land, we like to dig into the mundane and peel back a layer for contemplation, not that a belt is mundane, mind you. A  belt can be as simple as a rope with a knot, a plain strap of material with some way to tie it off at a given length. It need not be rocket science. If that’s the way you see a belt (plain utility) you aren’t going to be a customer of mine.

I like to complicate shit. A personal quirk i guess..i love to dig into and explore the little details. I see a belt as an opportunity to show some low key, not-too-flashy-smart-style. I see this as a way for a person who shares my sense of style to stand apart with a necessary utilitarian accessory – a killer belt, a one-off,  something made just for them, with their input. 

In a time when our heroes are politicians who promise the world, finding someone to actually make you something personal, for you alone, that you’ll use everyday, for years and years is rocket science…  How many people do you know that can take some raw dead, crap and make something beautiful and useful from it? In my estimation the people that can accomplish that, should be our heros. We’d all be better off if they were. It is one of the reasons I love being near the bike business… making stuff is great, making stuff that has class and moves you along at 60mph is super great, putting a smile on your customers faces is also great…and that sorta, kind of leads me to the point of this story, before i went off on this rambling, half-a-rat-rant…Lisa’s Scrapper belt.

So as it turns out, Lisa is Kirk Taylor’s wife, Kirk being Kirk Taylor of Custom Design Studios fame – the bike builder/painter/fabricator/stylist of great talent and renown. I met Kirk some many moons ago, at a Custom Chrome shindig in Morgan Hill, Cali through my friend Johnny Chop (RIP).  A small group of us went to what passed for a topless joint in that neck of the woods…imagine my surprise when the girls simply parade around in bikini’s!! LOL Guess they aren’t allowed to go topless in this area, so needless to say I was a total dick and tortured Chop about that for years…”you Cali rookies cant even find a decent boob bar for a few beers…ha!” I’ll say it again, East Coast Rules!!  Jesus, let me get to the point..anyway – Lisa saw my Scrapper this summer in Sturgis and said “i want one”. This is a lady who gets what she wants!

where was I?  Yea, the belt – so I designed this belt I call the Scrapper – basically made from half pieces and scraps from belts made previously. Constructed from three distinct pieces, it allows some really different decorative treatments. I made myself one of these belts, dressed it up with two domed penny conchos i made with a dapping block from pennies from my birth years and happened upon a winning formula – the Scrapper – a high contrast, classy “sumpin different” production. This is what i mean by making stuff complicated, this is as far as you can get from a plain strap, insofar as decorative aesthetic. Yea right. Lots of sewing, pieces, skiving – really a big pain in the ass to make, but i love the look – hope you do  too!

Quick joke:
Ever hear of the dreaded Amish flu?
First you get a little hoarse.
Then you get a little buggy. 

nyuk

Amazing isnt it – with an empty town and sleepy Main Street, some numb nut has to part 6 inches from my ride. What is up with people?  The passenger of this car had to get out the drivers door after they saw me looking incredulously out the front window. Wanna bet this would have ended up with a dinged saddlebag had I not looked?

Got this from Jason, an operative of the steveb worldwide network, and proprietor of IronThread, a high quality embroidery and design company.

Home

The pic speaks for itself.
Fall is fracked, winter is the new kid in town and Vermont is one beautiful place to call home.

Had the treat of making a two-piece set for one of my business associates, specifically, the gentleman who silk screened my most recent t-shirt. Sean, of Otherworld Graphics let me go to town with this set – dealers choice totally – how cool is that, I ask? Well, personally I think it is pretty damn cool to be let loose like that. So in turn this wallet is a bit more off the hook than usual. Complicated meander stamping, funky basket weave pattern with a border treatment turns this into a wearable piece of art. The colors came out great also – with three shades of brown. This wallet will wear great over time. The interior has a pretty wild colored fade interior, another trademark of mine.

The matching belt has a larger meander running down the center and has a more mottled coloration, giving it alot of character. Top both pieces off with some brass hardware and you’ve got one heck of a nice set of personal leather goods to enjoy every day. I know Sean will enjoy and  wear his new goods, based on the call he gave me when he got the box.

As usual, you can get tons of detail from the pics below. I don’t hide a thing, never have, never will. As a matter of fact, who shows close-ups of their work as consistently as yours truly?  No one, that’s who. I can tell you that with complete assuredness. Dig in kiddies, this set came out nice!  Contact me to make one for you!

Well, if she was still with us, she’d have been 81 today – but that isn’t the case as she passed on in 1996. I dont even know where to begin describing her as a person, as a Mom and as a friend. The pics speak in very small part to the rich palette of experiences she enjoyed in her life.

Here’s to you Mom *clink*!!

Handy tools to have for a leather crafter include ones for skiving – as way of an explanation and as I have relayed before, “skiving” is the thinning of a thickness of leather. Many tools skive and are made for this purpose, and I will touch lightly upon two here… you’ve already heard me tell of the fearsome splitter.

Favorite tool of mine appropriated (but not designed) for this purpose is the razor blade plane, the Little Giant being a go-to unit. Date of birth undetermined, the Little Giant takes double sided safety razor blades. Being the frugal sort and using a fresh blade every-time I use the tool, I buy my blades on the cheap, usually of Indian manufacture. Use them once and chuck ’em.

Another good tool for skiving includes this unit from Blanchard, a French company. Sharp as hell, this blade is a heck of alot tougher to use, requiring a firm purposeful hand controlling it. With both of these tools, it is exceedingly easy to ruin your material as both tools want to dive into the leather once they gain purchase and “bite” into the material. These are good tools to respect and keep sharp. Amazing how dangerous a dulled blade is, and so, it is good idea to leave the strop out and give your tool a hit every time you use ’em.

I’ve had a Full Dresser in my life since 1996. Since i travel great distances on this most revered of models – the FL series, I need to be prepared for most any contingency. On a motorcycle, weather is the greatest threat to safety and fun for the most part, motorists in cages notwithstanding. Preparation for “who knows what” includes a good rain suit (I could write a dissertation on this subject), warm dress and these tough guys – soft lowers.

Soft lowers are easy on, easy off, takes 2 seconds a side – they buckle on with Delrin buckles, easily adjusted in those rare instances, with handy velcro straps and are made of tough as nails Cordura. They take the spray off your legs and boots in the rain, and in the cold, they save your legs from a direct blast of icy frigid-ness. I can say without a doubt  that this is probably the best accessory H-D sells for the Touring rider. I dont know where i got them, or when, but they’ve been stuffed in my saddlebag for years and years, have taken a beating and still look new – and even fit from Big Blue to the Shiny Penny – probably the only part in existence that would fit both models equally well.

I had these on the bike that 40deg morning when i took out the Worlds Dumbest Grouse, and thought i had washed all of Mr.Grouse off the lowers, that were gore covered. I am not a very good cleaner. These tough units took the brunt of Mr. Grouse’s impact without a whimper! Thumbs up to the MoCo for putting out a good one with these units.

Black kind of sucks for the leather crafter. Dying a piece black kind of guarantees that alot of the detail put into a piece gets lost. Not the first time I’ve said this. So if I produce a piece in black, i try and “texture it up”, with a dramatic stamping pattern – while trying to keep it simple to the eye. Alot of the quality of a stamped image lies in preparing the leather correctly to accept the impression (wetting agents, lotions, potions and rituals), using a great tool, that is the right scale/size for the piece with a clear sharp “cut” to it and a good mallet/maul -wielded with the knowledge of how to swing it. Laying out the design is a whole black art that looks much easier than it is.

This basket weave pattern for this belt looks clear and crisp, the pattern that runs along the edge pulls it all together. My basket weave stamps are from Elko, NV, handmade and, as with most anything worth  a damn.. expensive. Comparing the impression of this basket weave stamps impression to a store brought, Tandy stamp is laughable – these are so much deeper, crisper and dramatic – keeping my basket weave work from looking like a cheap embossed  Sam Browne ranger gun belt rig for a Mountie. Take a look at the Fin wallet from 4 years ago. That was a state of the art stamp for the day. My newer stamps are much sharper and will punch through leather pretty easily, so care is required… but they also look the shit!

For this belt, the white stitching gives it that little bit of zing, bling…what have you. Nice black belt for those special times your wearing jeans and hobnobbing at the polo match with the VanDickel-Dyke’s …know what I am saying?

A leathercrafter needs hole punches. Usually he needs a good many of them in a variety of sizes. Better to bite the bullet and get a good set and just keep them sharp and clear of plugs (important hole punch maintenance), than to try and scratch by with a set of odds and ends..this I know from experience. Always punch into a poly cutting block, or as I do – a thick rubber mat that sits on top of a bench top anvil. It helps to have a real solild surface when your punching holes in leather. Never use a metal hammer with a punch, always a poly lump hammer or a leather-faced mallet.

In my tool stand, I have a number of good steel hole punches, three sets of Bob Douglas  burr&stake rivet setters, a few awls and a variety of small pliers – handy stuff to have handy.

Seeing lots of “cuts” these days. Used to be, there was only one “allowed” on the street and it was a well known 1% club’s. Times have changed. This is just a sampling of what i saw at one event. Pretty cool to know you’ve got options, if you’re an organizationally minded person.

Some of the bikes that came out and showed themselves this past Toys for Tots run typified the style I associate with home. Anyone riding a rigid in NYC gets my respect. I especially love the Shovel stylin with Moon floorboards and the Z bars…mmmm

NYPD Motor Unit duty is, I can only imagine – a good gig. You get to ride the streets, highways and byways on a classy ride, usually a late model Harley FLHP type of model. I have seen Dyna’s set up to handle police duty but for the most part, especially in the Northeast, the FL rules when it comes to Police Duty. Ya get to carry a gun and shoot at stupid motorists (i wish) , drive recklessly around NYC and give tickets to the terminally dangerous and stupid.

The Queens NYC division/squadron/platoon (whatever the hell you call ’em), is made up of local guys, making any police presence, very very mellow at any bike event in NYC.  Come to think of it, I have never seen a NYC Motor Unit cop ever hassle a biker, anywhere ….ever. With that said if your screwing around or breaking the law in front of them, they are a tough, unforgiving bunch.

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!********************************************************************************************************

Last Sunday was the annual Independent Bikers of Queens NYC, Toys for Tots Toy Run to benefit the Childrens Hospital in Howard Beach Queens…a super good kid-related cause. This is an annual rite for NYC riders, an end o’ season run and meet for me and my crew, right in the center of our old Hometown turf…Queens NYC, (yeah, thats right, got a problem with that?). Normally they get a turnout of a few thousand bikes, cops close the streets to cars, so it is pretty cool…and dangerous with all the riding yahoos stampeding down the streets like a herd – but it is the only time i do this kind of thing all year, and what the hell, ya only live once. Chalk it up to tradition.

We’ve been doing this for 18 years I reckon , by the collection of patches I got in the drawer….  Zeb, Jeb, Sonia, Steve (and even Marko on that rare occasion) – all show up, so it a good raccous affair and an end of season reunion, with a meal always thrown in for good measure – before we brace ourselves for the mean ride home in the afternoon. Traditionally this run is held the first Sunday of December and is a freeze your ass off adventure (ambient temps in the 30’s). I’ve seen the same faces attend every year.

This temperature based challenge is especially true for me, Pupkin and Freddy – all Queens NYC transplants now living in New England. We got some time to do on the great slab (with a 70mph wind chill) before we get there…and its even worse for the Greek, that miserable bastard who comes in from the hinterlands, has major time to do. Honestly now, I’ve done this ride and it has damn near brought me to tears in the past, it can hurt that much.  The actual ride itself once your in NYC isn’t bad – only about 5-miles to and from the launch point – Forest Park to the Hospital in Howard Beach..its the getting to and fro for us Norte denizens, that takes the smile off our faces.

So anyway, I am feeling all smarmy about this years adventure, due to the fact I got an electric jacket that can protect my sorry ass from mean old man winter and his loyal bitch, the cold. I got a new, reliable bike with a strong charging system to boot, a change from years past. I am feeling rather prepared. Well..now hear this… Surprise! Pupkin clues me in last week, that the run is going to be THIS  Sunday (6 weeks earlier!!!) and can I make it? Huh? Avoid the fearsome twosome, winter and cold? Shit yeah, sign me up (after I cleared it with the Commander in Chief, who i petitioned with the “sense of it all” – yeah)

To sweeten the pot even more, the meet-up in Forest park is at 2pm.  This allows us to meet our crew and grab a bite beforehand, super cool! Now you must understand that this roll call used to be a 9am, front and center ride for all those cold, miserable, snowing and shitty years. This 2pm stuff is a friggin revelation, if you ask me. So Cat proclaims that this must be because this whole 5,000 strong old school NYC rider community is aging –  and is getting soft in its old age. I argue that its not that at all, its simply sensible. To make this whole scenario even better  – we had a beautiful outstanding day for this run. Far out! UNREAL!!!

Now the bummer – NONE of the local losers who live on Long Island or NYC showed up, not a SINGLE one of them, not Zeb, not Jeb, not Sonia, not SteveD – NONE! I consider this aberrant behavior and left a rather unpleasant message on Zeb’s mobile, (I still love ya pal  ;-)   and experssed my displeasure and severe disappointment. Honestly, attendance overall was 1/3rd of what it normally is, shocking given the weather.  Hmmm – i fear that the word didn’t get out far and wide enough – and there are going to be folks showing up in December…mark my words…I should go that day with a camera to document it.

Anyway, we travelers walked the block from the Children’s Hospital to New Park Pizza (people have died to get a slice there, i shit you not) to bad mouth and plot some unkindnesses on our friends,  the losers who didn’t show up and had a few slices of what is arguably the very best pizza in all of Queens. This made up for it and we soon we were simply enjoying the very nicest, sunniest day we’ve had in a few weeks and marveled at the brilliance of the Run organizers for moving the date to a more reasonable time of the year and toasted our good fortune. We got home in the afternoon after enjoying a great ride home on the slab, motoring as a tight formation, a locked unit of 4 bikes.

I am always on the look out for old stamps, and have a small but frequently used assortment.
Cowboy stamps from the turn of the last century are a favorite..here are some of mine…

These stinkers are really old and I try to use them as cornerstone images on pieces that it makes sense. I wish it made sense more often and i wish it also wasnt so hard to find tools like this…

You’ve heard me in past posts refer to the fearsome Splitter, the handy as heck (almost a necessity) tool for a leather-crafter to have, and as dangerous a neighbor as you’d ever care not to get close to.  This is a tool with a Dahmer/ Gacey like personality…. yet another tool that doesn’t come with an instruction book, rather, it should come with a “call 911” sticker you can affix to it..ha….  hmmm, not really… only kidding

sorta

The splitters function is simple, it’s to shave, cleave or “split” leather by its thickness.  In English-> this is a tool you use to make a piece of leather “thinner” in terms of thickness.

Sounds easy, sounds simple, right?  Sorry to disappoint – it is anything but. Challenge lies in the fact that it takes a tremendously sharp blade and a good deal of physical force to pull the leather “through” the blade. This is a brute force operation… conducted around a 3lb, 6″ razor blade. It is also really easy to cut through the piece you’re trying to split, which is why , again, experience rules.

I used the splitter in this instance to thin out a strap,  because I am making belt loops. The same thick leather as I use for the belt, I use for the belt loops.  I take a 1/3 off the thickness of the strap i use for the loop, so it will bend sharply and not crack as a thick piece is prone to do. Its a little thing, but then, thats what your paying for, right?

I have a 6″ splitter, meaning the nasty razor blade is 6″ wide and weighs about 3lbs – this is one sharp chunk of steel.. I could not imagine trying to pull anything wider than a belt through this sucker though, the only analogy I can draw is… imagine if it was soft wood we were trying to PULL through a knife blade…ugh!@! Thats is what it is like… stupid, plain and simple. It is one of the reason, I order my hides split at the tannery to the thicknesses I use most.

Out of all the tools I own, this is the only one i left the “stock” safety grill on..it is that scary.

Well for those of you fed up with my carrying on about the wondrous change of seasons here in the Northeast might just want to tune me out right here because I am back on the case, just cant shake it..kinda like a itch i must scratch. I know it gets tired, but tough. I will at least try and be witty. Operative word: try.

So Pupkin, his girl Dani and I headed out to see what was to going on up in the woods. A super clear crisp fall-ish day insured the bikes would be happy and all we needed to do was pick a town as a destination for some Lunch. I got out the map and we scoped.

That done we saddled up and headed out.   Dani, being very short of stature has what is definitely the lowest Low Rider I’ve ever seen, that was still ridable. I’ve seen alot of bikes and this Dyna has such limited suspension to get it as low as it is, that it is damn near a crippler to ride. But ride it she does and she cracks it more frequently and harder than most guys.  Pupkin and I on our old-age Barcaloungers with full-on music and comfort look a little soft when compared to the 5’1″ Dani on her loud-as-hell blue Dyna.    Oh, the irony.

So we saw some great color, and I will just let it speak for itself. Enjoy.

Clearing out some stuff in the shop…. like this beauty of a belt, worn once…really-> ONCE

Big deal, this…mallet vs. maul question.

I used to be a mallet man, then went full time maul for a number of reasons, ergonomics being one.

Went so “maul” as a matter of fact,  that I asked Wayne Jueschke to make me two special mauls, a light one for beveling and lighter “detail-y” work, and a heavier one for pounding thick cow and for whacking bigger stamps and punches

Just looking at ’em makes me want to hit something.

The weather is changing fast. Mornings are cold, plain and simple, and it seems weekend mornings are always the cruelest, especially when your scheduled to meet up at 8a.

But, you do what you have to do – double up the leathers,  long johns, soft lowers on the bike, electric jacket and big fleece turtle complete the super hero costume. Pray the motorists pay attention, car windows are rolled up, necessitating extra vigilance – because not only can they not see you, now they cant hear you.

See the sights, more color, great morning, brisk. Bike is happy.
Felt very alive and thankful.

The Javier Belt done back in September 05 was the start of a run on flame belts that has not stopped. Folks love my flame belts! I’ve been through the gamut of flame styles, close C, open C, tribal, narrow, entwined, etc, etc. I never tire of flame belts, the forms are fun to work and its a graphic that i personally have a connection to.

But, flames are alot of work – work to draw to carve, and to bevel and dye. It takes some tedious detail work to make a flame belt look right, this is not a quick and easy process and by the end of a flame belt, I feel half blind and tired from holding my breath while dying the flames so as to not slip with the brush.

Here I am also showing a bit of work in progress – the latest flame belt coming off the bench.  Thought y’all would be interested.

************************************************************************************************
As it happens, Bob got his belt today and sent me this:

Steve,
I received my belt today and I am very impressed with the quality. The only bad part about it is that it is so nice it makes my buckle look bad. I guess after 30 years it’s time for a new one.
I know you don’t make tool bags often, but when you are in the mood I’d sure like to have one.
Thanks for an excellent product.
Bob
************************************************************************************************

Score one for the happy Customer!