I finished this Trophy Buckle yesterday. The event is this weekend in Guthrie, Oklahoma. This trophy buckle looks somewhat similar to the other one I had posted earlier. However this one was less labor intensive, with less gold and no gem stones. 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 did 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 buckle I did, this second buckle was under the torch for a good 25 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.

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

Greg,

Great work as usual!... Sorry to hear the material gave you hard times, but good to know. I don't think I'll even try messing with it!

What do you use for the black in your backgrounds?

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Billy & Amber Dodson.
BAD Western Wurks.
Geronimo,Tx.

Very nice!I have had the same experience with some reg sterling as well amd I concluded that I overheated the peice to the point of changing the grain structure in the material.When I bright cut it,the cuts were cloudy,the only thing I could do was to polish it with rouge afterwords.

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I'm only as good as you think I am.

Outstanding Greg!! Did you stipple the back ground with the dremal tool? I use one but have a hard time getting my backgrounds as uniform as yours.
Steve

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The winds of heaven blow between a horse's ears
Black Mountain Bits and Spurs & Big Game Hounds

Greg what type of font are you using? Thanks

Bill~ Thank you for your compliment! I use a paint on liquid "black antique solutin" from gesswein. www.gesswein.com

Dave~ Thank you for your compliment! You know, 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. However the brightness of the cuts were not affected. But when I did cut, it was almost as if the chip was tearing at the outside perimeter of the cut, if that makes sense.

Steve~ Thank you for your compliment! Yes I did use that dremel tool that I posted on Sam's forum. My tecnique is very simple. I hold the tip perpindicular to the silver base and I move it in small circles. I advance the tip into virgin territory then go over where I have been, then advance a little farther in virgin territory then go back where I have been...In this manner I go forward and retreat until finished.

Leonard~ CHAMPION = Belwe Bd BT .... WORLD'S GREATEST ROPER = Playbill BT .... LAZY E PRODUCTIONS = Benguiat Bk BT .... 2007 = Century725 Blk BT

Greg each buckle you post is a gem in itself. You are a true artist and it shows in everything you create! I would be proud to win a buckle you create!

-justin

Justin~ Thank you very much for your generous compliment!

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

By the way, it turns out Daniel Green of Oakdale, CA won this buckle.

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

Thanks for that post Greg. Daniel has been a friend of mine since 1990. That buckle fits him. He is one hell of a hand and a nice guy. I know he will be proud of your buckle. Once again, good job!