World's Greatest Roper

[cowboy_silversmith]

World's Greatest Roper / Trophy belt buckle

I finished this Trophy Buckle yesterday. The event is this weekend in Guthrie, Oklahoma. I did use the STERLITE from American Bullion Inc. It is supposed to be a tarnish inhibiting sterling silver alloy material like Argentium. I had used it on some ranger sets I made where there was minimal soldering and the temper was fine and very engraveable. But this is the second trophy buckle where I used STERLITE as the base material. As the first trophy buckle I did, this second buckle was under the torch for a good 25-30 minutes. Let me tell you... it was almost like engraving on 16 karat dental gold, very hard to make smooth deep cuts. The grain was very inconsistent. I was not a happy bright cutter!

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

 

[smays]

Awesome buckle... very clean, like always Greg. If I didnt live half way across the US... you could bet I would be knocking on your door for a visual. Thanks for posting. Like your others... I'll sit here and stare at this one for a while!!

Shawn

 

[hmw]

Greg, you did another outstanding job, this time with a material that wasnt cooperating too much. The cuts are very good.This Sterlite, is there a way to normalize it after the brazing is done to make it to where it cuts a little easier? Great buckle H.M. Wells

 

[Brian Hochstrat]

Greg, that is very nice. How do you get your wire shaped with such smooth even arches and no marks? Also are the circles the dates are in are the cut from sheet or are the bent wire also? Next time I am down in Ca. I need to pay a visit and try to learn something. Very impressive work. Thanks for showing it. Brian

 

[Haraga.com]

Absolutely great job. Even though the silver was hard to cut, your bright cut engraving looks better than 99% of the other bright cut engravers out there. Including myself. And I'll repeat what I had said on another forum. I'll bet you did not waste any time getting it finished. I cannot say enough good things about your work. You are one of the best. Do you think people know tough the buckle market is? You must get them out the door fairly quickly or you will be in the poor house before you visa bill arrives! What roping event did Gaylord have this buckle made for?

 

[cowboy_silversmith]

Thank you very much for your compliments, they are very well received!

hmw~ I ordered a 6" X 18" sheet of this stuff and there was no literature to go with it. They told me that its properties were just like sterling silver. That does not hold true for me. I treated this material like regular sterling. I just think that it can not stand up to any amount of sustained high temerature. I have done other trophy buckles in sterling and had them under the torch for longer periods of time and they engraved like a dream. I do believe the grain structure was definitely changed, I could visually see it under my optivisor. The surface looked slightly mottled.

Brian~ I did not use half round or square wire. I cut the arches and circles from 22 gauge sterling sheet. I would be pleased to have you come and visit any time you're in the neighborhood.

Leonard~ I agree, I don't think most people are aware of how competive the trophy buckle market truely is.

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Sharp looking buckle Greg. However you do your lettering, they always look great.

 

[ED DELORGE]

Hello Greg, that is just beautiful. How do you make the little balls around the edges?

Ed DeLorge

 

[cowboy_silversmith]

Mike & Ed ~ Thank you very much for your compliments, it is very much appreciated! Mike, all the letters were hand sawed with a 4/0 jewelers blade. The smallest letters are a 1/4" tall. Ed, the balls are actually a 6 gauge 1/2 bead wire silver soldered to the face of the buckle.

Best regards,
Greg Pauline