Squirrel Belt Buckle

nhcowboy1961 · Feb 3, 2009

Hi all, even though I'm not a gun or knife engraver I always love to see the animals and imagery that's done to a lot of them, really great stuff! So I decided to try my hand at a similar style and make a belt buckle with a squirrel on it-I do a lot of acorn patterns so I guess it was a logical step.

The squirrel image was taken oiff the internet but I've been doing a lot of drawing lately (still new to me) and love what can be accomplished, and the fun is always great too so the leaves, branches etc. were all drawn out to fit well within that space -Thanks Ron for the tracing paper idea, it's like working in layers in PhotoShop. It wouodn't win any awards but I'm very pleased with it and how I'm working out shading without being overly critical of myself and just seeing what happens.

I had loads of fun making this buckle and for me it represents a new level of ideas, design and execution, as well as a cross blending of different styles melded together. I have a hunting dog with a duck in its mouth, trapsing through the water for my next buckle but that will have to wait-as my customers sadly have been as I indulge myself into my own ideas to toy with

Paul

Ron Smith · Feb 3, 2009

Looks like you are opening up some new doors. It gets better............

Nice job paul, and unique buckle!! I like unique!!

Rock on buddy,

Ron S

JBrandvik · Feb 3, 2009

Hey Paul,

Now that is a totally original idea. I love it. That buckle set looks like it was custom made just for me.

I am an ole' squirrel rancher from way back.

Here's me with with some of my livestock.

Best,

nhcowboy1961 · Feb 3, 2009

JBrandvik said:
Hey Paul,

Now that is a totally original idea. I love it. That buckle set looks like it was custom made just for me.

I am an ole' squirrel rancher from way back.

Here's me with with some of my livestock.

Best,

Hey that's awesome JIm, I knew there had to be some squirrel people out there ( note I didn't say "squirrely"

Are those red squirrels in the picture?

It's funny because as I was just about to head out the door to make a laser xerox to transfer my squirrel pattern to my metal I happened to look out back and sure enough there was a red squirrel carrying up a storm, first one I've seen all winter long and just as I was about to engrave one! It was a great opportunity to have a quick little bit of refernce in the real world prior to engraving, I thought that was neat,

I put that an eBay but I'll bet it dogs, people seem to want the same old tired thing that's always on there, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. But...the fun's already been had making it

Paul

JBrandvik · Feb 3, 2009

Paul,

Don't be suprised if I'm not your winning bidder. We have rescued a lot of orphaned squirrels over the years. The three in the photo are Spohie, Azelia and Tex. Tex died last fall but the girls are still with us. I rescued them when their Mom abandoned them after making the mistake of building her nest in my neighbor's backhoe. When I took em they were only a couple of days old. All three could fit inside my shirt pocket at once. I fed them colostrin from an eye-dropper for the the first month. At any time of the day, I can look out any window and count at least 10 squirrels. We are a squirrel friendly environment. We even float cedar log in each stock tank to keep them from drowning when they fall in.

cowboy_silversmith · Feb 3, 2009

Paul~ So happy to see that you are creating what makes you satisfied. Very nicely done.

Greg

ken dixon · Feb 3, 2009

Very unique and a nice job. Really a one of a kind.

Ken

PS_Bond · Feb 4, 2009

That's lovely - even though I've been having problems with grey squirrels recently...

What's the construction of the buckle? I'm assuming it is steel - how did you black it?

ddushane · Feb 5, 2009

Looks good Paul! Dwayne

aalv2003 · Dec 13, 2010

JBrandvik with squirrels...

Jim, your picture with squirrels are great!! We dont have squirrels here in Uruguay, however my daughters want a rodent any way... take a look.

Tony was saved from the inside mouth of our cat.

mdengraver · Feb 23, 2016

Is it just a coincidence that the squirrel's fur matches your beard?

Omar Haltam · Feb 23, 2016

great work, and nice simple design. I like it very much

Squirrel Belt Buckle

nhcowboy1961

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Ron Smith

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JBrandvik

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nhcowboy1961

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