Completed! My Leather Steampunk Goggles

above: Goggles by DreamSteam, after being modified in 2012

goggles before being modified

Here they are, the results of my very first attempt at goggle-making! They are actually wearable and sturdy. At first I wore them on my forehead, until a guest at my party asked if I was "Hellboy".  Pfffft!  (I wore them around my neck the rest of the night, lol.)

Some may wish to know what materials compose these wonders of tinkering.  Here is a link to the post which contains pictures of the pieces before assembly: Goggles in Progress

The strap is a purse strap; the eyepieces are heavy leather that I cut, dyed black, formed, pinched, and laced together. The lenses are clear glass that I also cut by hand, and the metal rings are some pipe fittings which I antiqued. (As an interesting bit of trivia, Lord Featherstone of Brute Force Studios told me that years ago, he was one of the first people to use this style of pipe fittings as goggle parts, and then everyone began copying the technique.  I think they did so because it is an easily found metal goggle part for those of us who do not have milling machines!)  The leather pieces are joined by rivets and leather lacing. Twisted copper wire with jute twine wrapped around it forms the nose piece.

In the future I may add the decorations that I had in mind but did not use (a couple of small watch gears on the eyepieces at the temples), but the siren song of other projects and prospects may steal me away.  Regardless, I have thought of making more of these and posting them for sale on ArtFire.  Perhaps I will even offer these for sale.  I would consider taking offers.... Stay tuned!

I hope you have enjoyed following the short but suspenseful saga of steampunk goggle-age over the last weeks!

~  DreamSteam

Note: in 2012, I modified these goggles.  I disassembled the eye cups and cut the leather to make the cups shorter, re-laced the nose piece area, colored the metal pipe rings copper, and added some copper accents to the outer edges.  Then I wore them to Anachrocon 2012, yay!