I was quite inspired upon seeing the many cool Steampunk, and Diesel-punk goggles. So much that I decided to make my own. These are modified goggles that I purchased. I chose to make mine this way because when I found these particular goggles, they already had a key feature that I felt was a must have.

Step 1:

The goggles I chose to modify were purchased at Glen's Army Surplus Store in Shelby OH. They came with interchangeable glass lenses, two shades of green for use with an oxy/acetylene cutting torch, and one set of clear for grinding. The lenses are held in place by neat screw on caps. The two halves are held over the nose by a short ball chain for easy adjustment. The also had an elastic strap around the head.

Step 2: Make Your Pattern

First I removed the lenses and adjusted the goggles to fit my face. Then I cut a cardboard strip with 2 appropriate sized holes to fit over the lens holders. Then, with the goggles on, I put the cardboard template over the goggles to double check that the holes are in the right spots. Next I draw out a suitable shape on the template for the leather cover. before I cut out the shape I put the template back on the goggles to be sure that I'll have enough material to wrap around the edges, and to fasten the head-band. Now I fold the cardboard in half so that the two holes line up perfectly, and then cut out the shape of the cover with the pattern still folded. Finally, if you are pleased with the shape, trace it onto some leather and cut it out.

Step 3: Assembly

I decided to use hot glue because it sets fast, remains somewhat flexible and is semi-permanent. That is if you make a mistake, you can pull it apart and scrape it off to start over. I started by aligning the cover with one side of my goggles and gluing around the lens hole a little at a time, lightly pressing the leather into the glue. (Be careful not to burn your fingers as the glue can be quite hot!) Now just work your way outward to the edge, finally wrapping the excess leather around the backside, except for the portion that you will attach the head-band to.

Step 4: Adding a Head-band

The head-band I chose to use is just two strips of Velcro that I glued behind the leather and then wrapped the excess leather around.

Step 5: Adornment

I thought my goggles needed to have some metallic surface so I covered the lens caps in foil tape but it seemed too bright. To dull things out a bit, I sprayed a mist of flat black on the tape and burnished the high spots before it had fully dried with a soft cloth.

I liked the look of the foil when "antiqued" but I had to have more. I had some brass tacks laying around so I drilled some small holes and glued them in place. Once the glue set up, I ground the points flush on the back side with my Dremmel tool.