When I was a boy

[Barry Lee Hands]

Mario was asking about belt buckle closures, I thought I would post some pics of a buckle I Made when I was a teenager working at Gist Engravers in Vacaville California in the 70's.
The design of the sheep is by Ethan Jacczak.
The Initials are CCJ, which was for Clifford C. Judd, my grandfather. I gave it to him as a gift, and later I inherited it.
The piece has a lot of wear, I have used it a lot while guiding elk hunters, fly fisherman , and general ranch work.
I wore it to the first Fega Show I went to when I recieved my professional status.
I have been charged by Grizzlies while wearing it, involuntarily dismounted horses, and been kicked by mules.
A lot of memories are in this buckle

 

[Steve223]

nice buckle and great story Barry thanks for shareing it!!

Steve

 

[bronc]

Great buckle Barry. How do you approach engraving the back of a buckle like that with the hardware in the way? I have been wondering about this for quite a while but never think to ask anyone.

Stewart

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

Great buckle Barry. How do you approach engraving the back of a buckle like that with the hardware in the way? I have been wondering about this for quite a while but never think to ask anyone.

Stewart

Bronc, the way this was assembled is to hard solder on the bead border, then medium solder the overlays while the blank is still a rectangular flat piece.
next it is trimmed to oval, and the edges cleaned up on the belt sander.
Then you lay out the hardware for the back and scribe the locations.
After that you lay the hardware aside, and engrave the back while it is still flat.
And then you stamp the berries on the bead border, and shape the dome of the buckle with a deadblow hammer,on a rounded tree stump and using a piece of leather to avoid scratching it.(preferably the stump from a tree a famous outlaw was hung from, to give the buckle more "western" provenance)
Next, you use soft solder to attach the hardware to the buckle back.
later you pickle and polish it out to remove the scale.
Lastly, you engrave the front.

 

[BrianPowley]

Barry...I enjoy the nostalgia. A great sentimental journey.
Your early work is pretty darn good, if you ask me. (sans wear)
The inside of the buckle shows a real good grasp of the western style of engraving.
You were about 17 years old at the time, right?

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

Thanks Brian.
Yes, I was 17 or 18, I can't remember exactly.
Ethan Jacczak, who was my teacher at Gist, tells me I started in the fall of 77.
That buckle was made in the fall, as a gift for my grandfather for xmas of 77, or 78.
I was born 11/25/59, so its in there somewhere.
I believe I left Gist Engravers around November 1st, 1979, as I was at Silver State Silver in Reno by December of that year.
At Silver State I had the privilege of training Hugh Weaver, who has become quite a talent in the western field.

 

[eastslope]

Barry, thanks for the lesson on the buckle making. I was also courious about the steps, and the history is also very interesting. I'm not sure if I can find a stump that someone was hung from; hopefully a regular stump will do. I'm going to have to try this. Good post and a very nice buckle. Thanks, Seth

Oh Yeah, One question. Was that buckle hand pushed in 1977? Thanks, Seth

 

[doug]

Barry your buckle shows you were quite talented at a young age.If you dont mind me asking how old were you when you first started learning to engrave.
Doug

 

[RT Bit and Spur]

Barry
You mentioned putting on the bead border then later you said you stamped the bead border. Does the bead border start out as a smooth wire then is formed on the buckle?
Rod

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

Doug, I was 17 when first trained to use chisels and liners.
I did do a little wriggling on metal when I was younger, like, ten ,I made my own and then learned things from jewelry classes, but did not use chisels on metal to engrave until '77.
My mother was an art instructor for the University of California at Davis, and we would go to San Miguel De Allende in mexico for UCD extension classes which she taught, and I picked up a few skills there.

Rod, the bead border is like a wire, with one round segment after the other.
The Berry shaped stamp is used on each bead segment to make it a little more interesting, if you look close you can see the effect in the pics.

 

[Peter E]

GREAT looking buckle Barry....and cool story too!

I also was impressed by the engraving on the back. The sequence of steps to craft it make perfect sense.

You have an incredible backround in art and engraving. No wonder your work is SO GOOD now:big grin:

 

[Sam]

Great design with really nice character in the cuts. Obviously you had a eye for scroll design as a young whippersnapper! I have an old buckle I did somewhere...I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

Thanks gentlemen.

Here are a couple of pics from back in the day.

The first is in march of 77, a couple of months before I was hired as an engraver, I am the scared looking kid in the crowd:

This is in the fall of '77 with Ethan Jacczak at Gist Engravers:

and Sam, it was a long, long time ago, hehe.

 

[Kevin P.]

Isn't that 'The Grateful Dead'?
There was also 'The Band'.
Kevin P.

 

[gail.m]

not too related, but....

Barry,
When I saw the title of your post it made me think of the old Tex Ritter song: 'When I was a boy and ol' Shep was a pup'. The song is a real antique by now but it was a tear-jerker of a song.
This has nothing to do with your post..... it is a lovely buckle however, and something with memories attached makes it even better.
Thanks for sharing.
gail.m

 

[bronc]

Barry,
Forget about engraving. Tell us about jamming with Jerry Garcia! Now that's about as cool as it gets.

Stewart

 

[Barry Lee Hands]

Stewart, I am not the guy onstage, hehe, I am the scared looking kid in the crowd at the point of the tag:

The guy on stage is Phil Lesh.
I never jammed with Garcia, but I have been on stage with Vassar Clements a couple of times.
I think I have a picture of jamming with Vassar in a friends house, I will see if I can find it.

 

[bronc]

Barry,
You were my new hero there for a little bit. haha

Stewart

 

[silverchip]

Hey Barry,You must have crossed paths with My friend Mark Drain in Reno?The first buckle that I saw with that style of back was made by the late Al Peceti around that time too.

 

[eastslope]

I've got a friend with a custom rodeo buckle that he won in the early to mid 70's w/ that style of back. It's marked Diablo on the back. I've never made a buckle, but I looked at it just the other day wanting to learn how. Seth