steveb leatherworks: the blather

Most companies cringe when it comes to talking about their fan mail and comments from their customers.  Conversely, I actually have come to look forward to hearing from the people I do work for and for those in the “trade of leather”, so to speak. At first , many years ago when I’d see an […]

Overbaked by my standards, but still a pretty piece o chrome arn, I saw this stinker at the Sycamore one afternoon. Funny, I was standing there looking at it, camera in hand ready to award it the Coontail award of the day, thinking to my superior self, “oh man, he must a paid some heavy […]

 Paying props to Eddie tonight, one handsome devil of a sailor. I know he was someone special to Mickey (my Mom) – there were quite a few pictures and mentions of him in photo albums and diary entries of the time. I am pretty sure he didn’t survive the war based on  what i can piece together. I think this pic comes from 1943. All that was […]

Met a real character today – a genuine English “horologist” who only works on maintaining ancient clockworks. Very cool guy took the time to answer some questions and let me snap a few images. Nice way to spend some time. 

I got started on this hot dog thing, now i can seem to let it go..ha!… finding out that my obsession with all things NYC and hot dog, is well settled in my DNA as a NYC native. I came acrosss this shot of Ebbets Field (Brooklyn, you knew that right?), during a game of some sort, (baseball perhaps?) on Shorpy’s.  Unfortunately as we found out […]

Leather looks best when it gets a beating.. kinda like the crackly look of a bar brawlers face after 40 yrs. of boozing….(like that huh?)…it just gets better and more dramatic – it toughens up. In my experience, Veg Tan leather tends to break in to a specific point pretty quickly – and then it tends to stay  at that point for awhile…like…years, […]

People talk about what makes a biker. Or more to the point they talk about what a biker isn’t. Most of this jaw-flappin’ is for the sake of divisiveness. People love to categorize, they like to exclude. they like to rate, they like to compare and contrast. We are all guilty of it… we draw the lines in the […]

Not much info here: The year 1942, these guys were  US sailors and they gave this pic to Mom. I’ve seen these 2 in other photos, so I am assuming they were best friends, and hung together.. thick as thieves… they are  kids really, but the story’s I bet they could have told

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Spending a full day in the shop under fluorescent lights standing on concrete was enough to send me out into the snowstorm pummeling the area today just to get some air and move my body to an area larger than 15sq.ft. Heard on the radio there are 6 hour delays at the airports. I feel […]

I love logos. I have a thing for graphic design. My specific interests are in logo’s, identity’s, brandmarks – whatever you might want to call ’em. I like the idea of distinguishing ones self and services through a graphic mark or device. If designed, with knowledge and sensitivity of the subject matter – a logo […]

Some tools you really need to do a job well and there are some jobs you can get by with a sorta-kinda tool, maybe. Edging is one of those things, that having the right tool, in the right size really helps. Edgers are foundational tools for most any leather crafter. You reach for them often […]

15 years ago doesn’t seem all that long from a numerical standpoint. But the truth is that 15yrs is a helluva long time, in a lot of other ways….  looking at these old shots from a memorable road trip of long ago reminds me of that. Pupkin, Gonzo and me headed up to the wild […]

It is not too often that I start a project without a clear idea of the “desired end-state”. Usually with customer work, I attend to the details in a number of emails or conversations that drill down into the  specific colors, design and hardware they’d like me to use. I don’t ever cut leather until […]

Alot of my customers carry a briefcase or over-the-shoulder/sling/ messenger/ computer bag. Usually they are some sort of heavy duty ballistic nylon – like my favorite (and pricey) brand of choice – Tumi. All of these type bags come with a standard issue shoulder strap – pretty ugly. Since I am always looking for ways […]

As if you havent figured it out by now, I like my words. I like words in general, but i especially like my words…lol. I always carry a journal with me, to capture thoughts, take notes when i am in a meeting and in general, to make me look smarter than I am. For many years […]

Looking at these two pictures of Dennis’s bike, I think to myself – “oh man, what is up with you? Featuring a bike looking like this – a powder puff pimp queen?”  Forever and ever, I’ve been a 3 shades of black guy (wrinkle, gloss, satin), my fxr best personifying this ideal, as that bike […]

One of the rules of taking care of your tools is to use them correctly. Screwdrivers should’nt be used to pry or be pounded on with hammers (unless they are someone else’s), ratchets are not breaker bars, knife blades are not screwdrivers, etc, etc. In the leathercraft world we dont use metal hammers very often, […]

A picture tells a story – and this one has a happy ending. He’s humbled and wiser, but ok. As you most probably know, tough guys hate it when they get it in the nose. Lesson learned – watch where you stick it.

Anvils are one of those tools – you don’t know how much you need one, until you’ve got one at your disposal. I punch a lot of slots, tips, holes, etc – and find my anvils essential to a clean, neat and safe punching job. Nothing provides a more stable surface and you want a […]