Here's my latest solid bronze belt buckle. Done on the press and the tooling I made to produce it.

Front:



Showing depth:



And the steel tooling:

I mean I HATE skulls... but man that is some cool work anyway!

Randy did you sink the skull tooling into a plate and then press the bronze into that? Or press the skulls from the back of the plate? Looks great!

Randy did you sink the skull tooling into a plate and then press the bronze into that? Or press the skulls from the back of the plate? Looks great!

I want to know how you did it to. I'm guessing they were pressed into a plate then the bronze pressed over the relief of them. Couldn't get the detail otherwise.

Nice work Randy-

That is wicked cool Randy and I'm no fan of skulls accesorizings. Please clue us in on your technique and tooling it has soooo much potential.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, all. Yes, the tooling was pressed into a plate and then the hot bronze was pushed into the plate. That's pretty much how most of my dies are made. It amazes me the amount of detail and depth I can get with this, too. The more detail/time you put into the tooling the more detail you'll have in your finished piece. I've also done buckles with flying anvils, waves, tire tread running across them and a cheshire cats' head. I designed and get the backing laser cut out of stainless and silver solder them on.

Thanks Randy, worth a try for sure.

Frosty The Lucky.

Oh, he's just an Aztec at heart. I have been doing animal bones in my cast iron and bronze sculpture for years but have refrained from doing skulls because of the hue and cry it raises from my wife so I'm thinking of using animal skulls. That is a really fine looking buckle to my mind, you done good! :P

I'm not a big fan of skulls either. Now I'm having trouble looking at someone with out seeing the skull in their head. :blink: But the interest is there so why not?

well I am a big fan of skulls and belt buckles, and I think its pretty xxxxxxxx cool...

i am amazed and bewildered why so many of you dont like skulls???? whats not to like??!! the skull is an icon, and an incredibely powerful image - Love it randy, and the tools look just as cool as the finished item, for me :)

Awesome work!

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That came out great Randy, makes me even more excited for getting the press built.

Yes! Such a cool buckle, the layout of the skulls is really pleasing and the tooling makes nice little sculptures themselves.

I think the image of using human skulls and bones has, at least since the West has been Christianized, been associated with that which is bad. Skull and cross bones for pirates, on poison or dangerous chemicals for causing death and then there were all the pagan cults that used human remains for supposed evil purposes and sacrifice. I think the stigma of evil has just hung on especially in English culture but not so in Mexican culture which in large part has many hold overs from Aztec ancestry. As for myself I am fascinated by bones much like the great English sculptor Henry Moore was, bones just have some truly wonder shapes to them.