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Hello and Happy New Year from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,


Hello and Happy New Year from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware

I guess this blog update will basically have three sections – Announcements, New Products, and New Advertisements.

Lets start with Announcements:

We are searching for models for our next photo-shoot. We need one male and one female model with a gothic/punk/industrial type look to be our next models. The shoot will be sometime in March 2011. It will be in Albuquerque New Mexico. It will be a paid gig. So, if your’re interested, please send a photo to model@gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.com to apply.

We’ve also added free shipping on all orders over one hundred dollars on a permanent basis to the website.

Next: Lets do the New Advertisements.

We booked a spot in Profane Existence for the first time, and here’s the ad that will be appearing in there

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...ll-150x300.jpg

And we’ve taken the big step of moving up to a half page spot in Gothic Beauty Magazine, and heres the spot for issue #33 which comes out at the end of February

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...10-300x199.jpg

Now for the New Products:

We have added body jewelry to the catalog. We’ve wanted to add some body jewelry for a while, but haven’t gotten around to it until now. We’re starting with 316L Stainless Steel jewelry, which is surgical stainless. Perhaps eventually we’ll get into niobium and titanium, and organics etc. but that will be a ways down the road.
Our first piece of body jewelry is a plug with a spiked tip. heres a pic. The one in the picture is a size 00.

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._2-300x247.jpg

Next, spurred on by a customer request, we have added a metal collar to the catalog.

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x208.jpg

At the time of writing, those are only up on the etsy site. They should be on the regular site soon. There is a black one as well as the raw aluminum version.
We will be making some that have some features machined into them probably at some point this month as well.

We have wanted to ad jackets to the catalog for a long time now, this month we put the first one up. The idea is that we’ll find cool jackets at military surplus and thrift stores and the like, and dress them up with patches and spikes and other hardware in the studio and put them up on the site.
Here’s a picture of the first one we did:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...60-252x300.jpg

It came and went, but we have a pile of other jackets to treat and post, so there should definitely be more coming soon.

Finally, we added a new gas mask to the catalog- here’s a pic:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._2-270x300.jpg

What we did here was to take a British Tactical Gas Mask, and machine our own custom hardware to screw into the air intake ports. The tusks on this “Metal Tusk Gas Mask” are cut from solid Engineering grade Aluminum, are threaded to screw into the mask, and have a black oxide finish. The tusk’s are 3″ long and 1.5″ in diameter. These are limited in supply because our supply of gas masks is kind of iffy.

Anyhow, That’s the news and the excitement from the G.P.S.Hardware studio for this month – Thanks as always for your interest
Ben C – owner/designer/machinist
Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware


Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C - Owner/designer

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Hello and Happy Holidays from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

Another month has gone by, and Im always surprised at how many new items we've added to the catalog. It seems like the more we add, the more the list of items we need to add grows. Its like every project completed leaves 3 ideas for new projects.
This month we've added goggles, cuffs, spikes, belts, and also a free shipping promotion. It started as a one day promotion, but we've decided to continue it through Christmas. So, there it is Free Shipping worldwide from now until Christmas. In order to get your order by Christmas, you need to order by the 17th in the USA, and by the 6th internationally. You can order later and still get it by xmas if you want to pay the priority shipping, but that does get pretty steep, especially internationally. Its not too bad domestically - $20 or so for USPS Express 1 day. am I rambling?
Ok, so here's where I list the new products.
At the time of the last post we had added the 2.5" Industrial Cuff 2 with slots in black and silver. We added a black rub-off version of that, and also added a version with a grid of holes. The one with holes also comes in silver, black and black rub off. Heres a picture of the black rub off version


http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...arnished_1.jpg


We've applied that same style to the 1.25" cuffs as well, and so they now come in versions with slots and holes, also in silver, black, and black rub off. Here are a couple pictures of those:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...co_black_1.jpg

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...k_ruboff_1.jpg

We've added a new version of the 1.25" cuff that is made from larger pipe, and is more of a standard round shape rather than the pill shape of the other cuff. I would like to add some type of feature to it and really make it one of our core products. Im still trying to decide what to add to it- a d-ring of some sort; a cut out; some type of nut and bolt stuck on it... I dont know yet. Anyhow this is how it looks at the moment:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...ck_round_1.jpg

If you follow the link, you'll notice that they are also available in different colors like red and blue.

In an effort to reduce the cost of our belts, we have made our Pointed D rings out of Aluminum in addition to Stainless Steel. The Stainless ones are much heavier and more rugged of course, but also more expensive. And especially when you sell wholesale, and the retailer has to double the price, every dollar counts.

I actually dont have those D Rings up on the main site at the time of posting this, so Im going to link to them at the Etsy store. Here is a picture of the black ones though:


http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196173514.jpg


Boy, that's a giant freaking photo....

Its going to be too large photo time for a little while because the next several items are also only up on the etsy site, and those are the photos Im linking in....

Maybe I wont put up pictures of all of the new belts we've added since the photos are giant. Basically we added a gothic belt in Black with the aluminum D's , and one in silver with the Aluminum D's . We also added a 5 D ring Belt in black with the aluminum D's, and that one I will put up a picture of:

http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196181792.jpg

Let us now turn to the subject of Gothic Cyber Industrial Goggles shall we? At last post, we had added a pair of our new style with slots. We have since added a pair with holes, and also a pair with Slits. Slits are distinct from slots in that there are only one of them on each eye, going horizontally. They are kind of like the eskimo goggles that have been made for thousands of years to fend of snow blindness; and kind of like classic 1950's robot eyes; and kind of like killer machine age cyber industrial goggles cut from solid Aluminum- take your pick.
Anyhow, we have also given the goggles a leather lining around the back to make them a little bit more comfortable of a fit against the face. Those also are only up at the etsy store at the moment, but should be on the regular site within a week or so.

http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196964242.jpg

http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196963051.jpg

Those come in silver and black of course.

The ones with Slots will have lining on them soon, and original ones, without the screw-on ring cover will probably be dropped from the catalog before too long in favor of the new kind.

We actually added 3" cone spikes to the catalog at a customer request- so those are available:
http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._spk_blk_3.jpg

Dont forget that we have gift cards on the website.

And that does it for this post. Thanks for all of the ideas and requests we get from customers keep them coming. Also please get in touch if you are interested in buying wholesale. You can start a new account with a small initial purchase to try our products out in your store.

Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C - Owner/designer

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Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

This month has been a wild one – We try to come up with new products whenever we have a minute to spend time on it, and looking back over October, it seems we had more time on our hands than usual, because we added a handfull of new products to the catalog.

First, we made a new design for the the 2.5″ tall industrial cuff, and since Im not very good at coming up with clever names for every new item we make, its called “Industrial Cuff 2″.
http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._3-300x259.jpg
The design is basically just like the 1.25″ tall cuffs we make, but extended to a 2.5″ tall cuff. Because of the oval shape, the cuff is too narrow to make a large size cuff for a large wrist like we can with the original 2.5″ tall, but for a small or medium sized wrist, it has a more close fitting look than the other cuff.

We will add a black version of this cuff to the catalog, we just havent had a chance yet.

Next, we’ve taken this same new cuff, and added some industrial stylizing to it.

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x280.jpg

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x280.jpg

These cuffs are called “Industrial Cuff 2, Slots” and “Industrial Cuff 2, Slots, Black.” Yes, very imaginative I know. Anyhow, they look cool, and thats the important thing.

We have also updated the look of our goggles. Please direct your attention to:

“Apocalypse Goggles 2, slots” and “Apocalypse Goggles 2, Slots, Black” !

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x245.jpg

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x256.jpg

These are just the same as our other Apocalypse Goggles, but the cutouts in the center have been shrunk down slightly, and the screw-on cover piece has been added to the design to give the goggles a more chunky, industrial look. Im sure we’ll add the ones with the holes too, and probably some with other designs cut into the front.

Ok, what else? Looking around at other supplier of spikes and studs, I didnt see anyone that had a 1.5″ Brass tree spike in their line up, so, we jumped in to fill that niche. Here we have the 1.5″ tall Tree Spike, machined from Solid Brass:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x252.jpg

I guess I need to add that one in Antique Brass as well. Anyhow, as far as I know they aren’t available elsewhere, so we’re happy to make them available here.

We modified our 1.5″ pyramid spikes to make some 1.5″ tall Claw Spikes in Silver and Black- take a look at those here:

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x245.jpg

http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._1-300x264.jpg
So, those are exciting. We also added a new belt using those spikes to the catalog. It is the Burgundy, Claw Spikes, Spike D Ring Belt, and you can see that here:

Burgundy, Claw Spikes, Spike D Ring Belt

Im out of images for this blog post, but the actual belt is sitting right now at Free Radicals Punk Greaser and Gothic Shop here in beautiful Albuquerque New Mexico if your in the area and want to check it out.

What else what else……..

Oh, We’ve added gift cards to the webstore as well. They are paypal gift cards and you set the amount. So they might make a good gift for someone this holiday season ;) .

Gift Card

I guess thats about it and my 3 year old is anxious to go to the playground, so Id better wrap it up - please contact us if you are interested in carrying our stuff in your store at wholesale prices. Also feel free to contact us with custom requests.

Thanks a lot for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware – Ben C- owner/designer/machinist

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Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,


The news for this entry involves a new pair of goggles added to the catalog. We have attempted to make a contribution to the vast field of Steampunk accessories with our line of "Steampunk Gothic Accessories". The idea is to combine some of the elements of steampunk stuff, like the brass and copper metals, and burgundy leather, with elements of the more streamlined gothic aesthetic to create a kind of synthesis of the two. This line includes a belt, a full forearm leather lace up cuff, and now a pair of goggles. Behold ,Steampunk Gothic Goggles
http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c..._goggles_2.jpg

These goggles are machined from Solid Copper, and feature a classic Gothic Trefoil design on the grille of the lenses. The back of the goggles are lined with high quality, stitched leather to create a comfortable fit against the face. The straps and nose bridge are also made of high quality leather, and the strap closes with a metal buckle. The lenses are dark grey acrylic. We should be adding a pair with burgundy leather soon, as well as a monocle version.


In other news, its been a big month for the 5" cone spike, and for run ins with the fashion industry. Cushnie et Ochs, a New York Runway Fashion House, ordered some of our 2" stainless steel cone spikes to use on shoes I belive. That should be exciting to see. And Angels Carying Savage Weapons in the UK ordered some of the 5" cone spikes to use in a fashion show. We actually made them to begin with as a customer request, and a sizable order of them is on its way to that customer in LA at the moment though Im not sure what they are going to be used for. The 5" cone spikes have been popular in general since we added them to the catalog I think because they are one of the largest spikes available at the moment.


As far as Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware items being available in a store near you, you have to live in Albuquerque for that to be the case at the moment. Cellar Door Gifts by the university is opening October 2nd I believe, and we have a few items in there. Nan at Free Radicals is also going to carry a few of our items, so that is great. We really do want to wholesale, so if you would like to put some of our belts or something in your store -please get in touch.



I think thats about it at the moment,

thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,
- Ben C - Owner/Designer

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Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

I said last time that the blog was going to be going to bi-monthly updates, but I think it may actually be going to once a month- we'll see.

Since last time, we have been pretty busy, which rocks. The model photos are having some effect on website activity which is great. I'd like to do a photo shoot twice a year if things work out. That would keep things exciting I think. That being the case, we will be needing models, male and female, so if you're interested in modeling, please get in touch.


We have added a handfull of new products to the line-up since last time. We added a couple of belts- The Bullet Rivet Belt, and the Black Bullet Rivet Belt. Here are pictures of those:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ck_1_thumb.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ts_2_thumb.jpg

We added a couple of collars using the 2.5" Pyramid Spikes that we introduced last time. Here are pictures of those:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ck_1_thumb.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...g_1_thumbs.jpg


Here is the link to both of those on the website, and they are actually the weekly special at the moment (the weekly special is kind of like the weekly blog entry that doesn't change for a couple weeks at least these days) so you can get those a little cheaper by buying them from the special box on the left side of the site page.


We also added a black metal cuff with spike holes- we hadn't put a black one on the site previously- but here's a pic of that and a link:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ck_2_thumb.jpg
Here's how it looks with spikes in it -
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...es_black_5.jpg
Pretty bristly no? It probably weighs almost 2 pounds with the stainless steel spikes in it, and you probably wouldn't be allowed into most public places wearing it, but I'm sure its just the thing for some occasions.


There is a local store opening up called Cellar Door Gifts by the university and we are going to put some stuff in there on consignment. That should be exciting. We want to do more wholesale and consignment, so if you have a shop and want to carry any of our stuff, please get in touch.


We are going to try to switch the website over to a dynamic platform at some point during the next month or two, so that should make it easier to get around the site and to check out, and it will allow you to set up an account and all that cool dynamic stuff- we need someone thats hand with web design to customize the site template for us so that I don't have to spend hours and hours messing with it. If you can do that kind of thing and want to make a few hundred bucks, please get in touch. You wouldnt need to build the entire store, just customize a template, so I would think that it wouldn't take more than 10 hours total for someone that knows what they're doing.


That's it for this entry,

thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C - Owner/Designer

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Hello From G.P.S.Hardware,

These weekly blog posts are becoming bi-monthy I think.
The big news is that we got the model photos done! They are really cool we think. Here are a couple of them

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...dit_smudge.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...00/48+edit.jpg

There are 6 in all and you can see them on the splash page of the website.

Bazil Zerinsky at TerminalBlue photography did the photo shoot, and we were really happy with how it all went and with how the photos came out.


Next, we developed a gas mask/respirator and added it to the catalog.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3886.JPG

This guy is cut from a solid piece of aluminum tube. It has a cutout to fit around the mouth, and endcaps that screw onto either end. There are 4 straps to hold it onto the face, and the piece has a black oxide finish. All in all, its definitely a unique piece. Take a look at that products page on the website here.


Finally, we have added a taller pyramid spike to the catalog as well. Previously we had a 1.5" pyramid spike, and we decided to try to lengthen them by an inch to create the 2.5" pyramid spike. Here are some photos:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3911.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3917.JPG

You can see more of those spikes on the Giant Spikes Page of the website.
Thats about it for this update -

Thanks a lot for your interest in G.P.S.Hardware, - Ben C - Owner/Designer

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Hello From G.P.S.Hardware,

Its been an exciting past 10 days or so here in the Gothic Punk Specialty hardware workshop.

first of all, we finally did our first photo shoot with a real photographer and models - The pictures are still being edited, but the shoot went really well, and the photos look good - so we're excited to get those up on the website and stuff.

Next, we got our Black Oxide chemicals, which allow us to put a black oxide finish on our aluminum parts here in the shop. Im really happy with how thats working out so far - its great to be able to make a new product and quickly and easily give it a black finish here in the shop. We do powder coating on our stainless steel hardware, and thats a great finish, but you cant really use it on things like the metal bracelets that have hinges, because it will clog up the hinges. We have done some black anodizing on our aluminum parts, and that is a magnificent finish for aluminum - you get deep rich colors, and it gives a hard shell to the surface which makes it scratch resistant, but, its pretty expensive to do. You really have to be making large volumes of product to do a lot of that without it really driving the cost of the items up.

So, Black oxide is a great alternative - it gives a nice black finish to aluminum parts, and its relatively inexpensive to do. Here are a couple pictures of how it looks:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3834.JPG http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3836.JPG http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3851.JPG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3806.JPG

Those are the 1.25" black metal cuff, the 2.5" black metal cuff, the 5" black cone spike and the 8" black tree spike.Check those all out at the website.

There are also some cool rub-off effects you can get by buffing the black finish partly off to expose the aluminum underneath. the 1.25" black metal cuff is available with that tarnished looking finish.

The last bit of excitement we've had going on has been two separate customer requests for large spikes. We have had 3" tall spikes available for several months now on the website, and they have been pretty popular, and we hadnt really thought of making larger ones any time soon, until a lady called from L.A. wanting to know if we could make 5" Cone spikes, so we whipped up a batch, and they look great. They are 3/4" wide by 5" tall. They are cut from solid aluminum and come in raw silver color and with the black oxide finish. Here are some pictures of those:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3822.JPG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3832.JPG
A few days later, a man called wanting to know if we could make a spike 9" long and 3" around! We could, sure, why not- but that thing would probably weigh 3 pounds and wouldnt really suit his purpose of making the worlds biggest dog collar. We slimmed the dimensions down a little bit, and came up with the monster 8" long by 1.25" in diameter tree spike. Here are some pictures of that:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3849.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3852.JPG
And here is a picture of the 3", the 5" and the 8" spikes, with the black oxide finish standing side by side: I guess this picture captures the new developments here at the G.P.S.Hardware studio over the past 10 days.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...0/DSCN3865.JPG
You can see more of those spikes on the Giant Spikes Page of the website.

Thats it for this post -

Thanks a lot for your interest in G.P.S.Hardware, - Ben C - Owner/Designer

Hello From G.P.S.Hardware,


Short and sweet blog entry for this week - This weeks new product is a bullet belt with studs. I really like this belt - its made with 12 of our Black Stainless Steel Bullet spikes, arranged in 6 groups of 2 around the belt, and then the gaps are filled in with 3 rows of black pyramid studs. This belt is the weekly special for this week, so its available at 15% off of the usual price. So, its a great time to get it.

Here's a picture and a link to the page on the website - make sure to buy it from the weekly special box on the right side of the page to get the good price.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...s_3_thumbs.jpg
Bullet Belt with Studs, Black


Thanks a lot for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C - Owner/Designer

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Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

Im finally getting around to updating the blog. Its been a busy couple of weeks, and of course, thats a good thing. G.P.S.Hardware is attached to a regular machine shop, so when we get busy with the machine shop, it makes it hard to put in as much time as I would like on this stuff.

Anyhow, The roller derby at the albuquerque convention center a couple weekends ago was pretty fun. I have a picture of the booth there Ill dig up at some point.


We have a new product that we've added to the catalog - and that is a 1 1/4" wide metal cuff.

Its a lot thinner than the first metal cuff we made, so its easier to make and costs less. I think its pretty cool. Here's a picture of it:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...25_1_thumb.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...25_3_thumb.jpg
and here is a link to it on the website.

We talked about anodizing aluminum a couple of posts ago, and that is a great finish on aluminum, but its kind of expensive. So, Im looking into a black oxide finish to turn these cuffs black at a lower cost than anodizing - hopefully Ill get that going in the next couple of weeks. I think these cuffs will be really neat with a black finish.


We have also updated the graphics on the website a little bit. Here's the new header block:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...itle_red_2.png
I should put that at the top of the blog I guess.

So thats a little bit of an improvement.


Thats it for now, Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C- Owner/designer

Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

The Bizarre Bizarre Crafts fair last weekend was pretty cool - Thanks to all of the people who stopped by the booth. This weekend, Saturday June 19th 2010, there is going to be a roller derby match at the convention center, and some friends invited us to split a booth with them there. They do really cool paintings - I dont think they have a website, but if you're going to the derby match, stop by and check it out.


As far as the new item we seem to add to the catalog pretty much every week, this week, it is the "Black Hook D Ring Gothic Belt".
http://gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.c...lt_black_4.jpg


I have to say that I do really like this belt. I think its got a wicked look to it with all of the spikes, and it is totally unique since this hardware is available nowhere else. The bullet spikes are solid stainless steel, and the hook D rings are solid aluminum. All of it is machined in the GPSHardware machine shop and given a powder coat black finish.


There will probably be one with pyramid studs on it eventually and what-not too.


Other than that, we are getting ever closer to doing a modeling photo shoot. It will probably happen within the next few weeks, and I hope to have some great pictures showing off the products up on the website within a month or so. That will be exciting - I think it will really help to spice up the website. In the meantime, thewomanimal is taking some photos of herself modeling a couple of our belts as well. We look forward to getting those up on the website within the next week or two. She makes cool stuff on Etsy, so check her store out.

I guess we'll put our newest belt up as the15% off item for this week to get it off to a good start, so if you like it, now is a good time to pick one up ;)


Thats it for now, Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C- Owner/designer

Hello from GPSHardware,

We finally got around to getting some of our hardware anodized! Anodized aluminum is awesome for a couple of reasons. first and foremost, you can dye the aluminum once it has been anodized, so you get colored metal, but the layer is microscopically thin, so you dont' lose any of the look and feel of the metal. When you paint metal parts, you build up a relatively thick layer of paint that kind of separates you from the metal, but with anodizing, even though the part has a deep and rich color, you are still seeing and touching the surface of the metal directly.

The second reason anodizing is great is that the mico-thin layer it produces on the surface of the aluminum part is very hard and so provides a protective shell for the part. The down side of anodized parts is that it can be somewhat pricey to do it - if you have a lot of parts to get anodized, you're probably looking a few bucks per part. When you're talking about goggles that have two parts to them, you can see how it can add a handfull of dollars onto production costs. At any rate, the results are worth the money :)

Dont get me wrong, powder coating produces a great finish as well, but like I say, it adds a layer of seperation between you and the metal surface. You can't anodize steel, only aluminum, so for the steel hardware it's not an option. You can give steel a "black oxide" finish, which would be about the equivalent appearance wise, but that is also expensive and something we probably wont look into for awhile.
Anyhow, we anodized our goggles, and you can take a quick look at them here,

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...lack_tab_4.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...lack_tab_4.jpg

and for a more in depth look, go to the goggles page on the website here.

Last week we put up a page that shows how we make our goggles, you can see that here.
This week we added a short video showing how we turn the points on our1.5" stainless steel cone spikes on our lathe. You might find that interesting, and you can see that here.

Finally, if you are local to Albuquerque or are going to be in town this weekend, friday june 4th through sunday june 6th, there is going to be a crafts fair at the Kosmos Coffe shop and 5G warehouse/studio space down on 5th street just south of I40, and we are going to have a booth there. That should be fun. There will be a lot of other artists and crafters there, so it should be interesting, and you can take a look at our stuff up close. The website for the studio is here.

Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C- Owner/designer

Hello again from GPSHardware,

We skipped a week there because we were a little too busy to get around to blogging. We were busy putting together an order of custom goggles for a customer, and like many of our products, that custom order is now a product on our website. The order was for goggles similar to the ones we already had, but with a biohazard design cut into the face, with holes for spikes on the sides, and painted black. They came out pretty cool, and we've added them to the site in the raw aluminum version, the black version, and as goggles or a monocle. Here are a couple of pictures:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ack_bucket.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ard_bucket.jpg

You can take a look at their pages from the goggles page on the website here.


We also put up a page that shows how we make the goggles which you might find interesting - you can see that here.

Anyhow, we do appreciate custom requests because it leads to products that we would probably never make otherwise- so feel free to suggest custom designs if you have an idea you'd like to see.

The week before last, we added all of our brass hardware to the catalog in an antiqued version. We put the hardware through a chemical antiquing process and then clean them thouroughly, and the result is really cool - you get brass with discolorations ranging from browns all the way to blues and greens. Here are a couple pictures of some examples of that:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...roup_index.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...rass_thumb.jpg

The Brass spikes have their own page on the website, and the antique brass is all listed on that page.

The weekly special item for this week is the Black Round Bullet Spike 10 pack, so its a good time to pick up a couple of those. The weekly special is 15% off of the normal price and theres a purchase box on the right side of the website for that.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...lack_thumb.JPG

That does it for this week - Thanks as always for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware - Ben C- Owner/designer

Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,


Steampunk designs are awesome -we all know that -and now we have incorporated some of that aesthetic into a couple of our products. The first is a belt - called the "Steampunk Gothic Belt".

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...lt_1_index.jpg

This belt is based on our "Gothic Belt" design. It uses the pointed D rings flanked by bullet spikes. However we have used a beautiful burgundy latigo leather instead of black leather, and the hardware is all solid brass. The bullet spikes are hexagonal rather than round, to give them more of that mechanistic, gear-like look, and the brass has all been treated to give it an antique finish as well. All in all then, the burgundy leather, antique brass hardware, and hand stitching give this belt some of the hallmark details of Steampunk fashion, and blends them with the streamlined simplicity of gothic fashion. We hope you like it.

You can take a closer look at the Steampunk Gothic Belt on the website here.

The second item we've added is a Steampunk Forearm Buckle Cuff.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ff_6_index.jpg

This is just like our Full Forearm Buckle Cuff, which is black with silver buckles, but of course we have used the same burgundy latigo leather as with the belt, along with solid brass buckles to make this forearm buckle cuff much more in line with the Steampunk aesthetic. This cuff has the look of a 19th century prosthetic arm attachment, and looks great with a long sleeve shirt tucked into it. You can view this cuff in more detail on the website as well here.

Other than that, we have made a few minor tweaks to the appearance of the website, and have started doing a weekly special item as well. The weekly special is discounted 15% over the usual cost, so thats a good way to pick stuff up a little cheaper. this week the weekly special is the Black Pyramid Belt.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...lt_3_thumb.JPG

Thanks a lot for your interest in Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware[/b] - BenC- Owner/Designer

Hello fromGothic Punk Specialty Hardware,


As usual, we've added a couple new pieces of hardware to the catalog this week. We've also collected our spikes together on subcategory pages on the website to make them a little easier to search through. Eventually we will have a fully dynamic site that makes it easy to search and sort through our products, but having a few subcategory pages should help out a little bit. First off, here are the new products we've added to the catalog:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ring_thumb.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...ss_1_thumb.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...al_1_thumb.jpg


We have added our Pointed D Rings in Brass, our Giant 3" spike in Brass, and our giant 3" spike in unfinished Aluminum. The Pointed D Rings in Brass are the same size and shape as the steel ones, but are cut from solid brass. The Giant 3" Brass Spikes are really neat. Being cut from solid brass, they do have a pretty good weight to them. I could see people using them on a motorcycle helmet or something -or some special type of clothing. And the Giant 3" spikes in unfinished Aluminum are just like the black ones we introduced last week, but without the powdercoat finish. These of course are not very heavy at all considering their size, because aluminum is such a lightweight metal. Ive said before that I would like to give some of our aluminum hardware a black anodize finish, and eventually we will- its really just a matter of selling in enough volume to justify taking that step.


One thing we are going to try to do soon is apply an antique finish to our brass products for people that like that look. We plan to introduce a couple new products soon along the steampunk aesthetic line, using antiqued brass hardware and burgundy leather. We plan to make a belt with the point brass d rings, and hex brass bullet spikes and burgundy leather in the same pattern as our Gothic Belt, and call it a Steampunk Gothic Belt. Also, we are going to make our Full Forearm Buckle Cuff with brass buckles and burgundy leather and call it a Steampunk Full Forearm Buckle Cuff. So, those should be interesting.


Concerning the subcategory pages on the website- because we are getting to the point where we have a lot of styles of spikes, we have broken them down into groups to make it easier to search through them - One of the categories is Brass Spikes, so you can easily see all of what we have in brass spikes together on one page


That's it from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware for this week, Thanks a lot for your interest - BenC- Owner/Designer

Hello from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware,

First of all we would like to say thank you to everyone who has shown interest in our products - we appreciate your interest, ideas and suggestions. We've said before that several of our products that we probably would not have made otherwise, have come from people's suggestions. So if you have an idea for a piece of hardware you would like to see, please feel free to let us know.

This week, we have added another new product to the line up. It is a 3" tall, 3/4" diameter spike. This is a giant spike as far as spikes go. It is cut from solid aluminum (a stainless steel one would be really expensive and really heavy) and it has a powder coat black finish. We will probably put raw aluminum finish ones on the site eventually too, but for now, only the black ones are up. (If you really want aluminum ones let us know and we'll give you a price- they will be a little bit less than the black ones). Anyhow, here are a couple pictures of the new spike:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...in_spike_2.JPG http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3iGOL0fUED...in_spike_1.JPG

These spikes are priced at 3.25 individually, or 2.75 each in packs of 10.

We are really starting to think about doing a photo shoot with models at some point in the next two or three months. We need one male and one female model with a good gothic/industrial/punkrock/deathrock type of look. This will be a paid gig, so, if you're interested, and especially if you're local to albuquerque or maybe santa fe or denver, drop us a line.
We're actually looking for someone to produce the shoot as well - meaning get the models, the photographer, the hair and makeup, and the venue all lined up so that we don't have to do it all. So if thats the kind of thing you do, let us know. drop us a line at gpsh@gothicpunkspecialtyhardware.com .

Thats about it from Gothic Punk Specialty Hardware for this week, Thanks a lot for your interest - BenC- Owner/Designer