Silver Farrier Workhorse Buckle

This is the first of the new work horse buckles I have done in sterling silver. The original was forged, but this one is from a mold made from the original.  It's getting the cross peen hammer texture. This is a nice hefty buckle about 2 inches long and 1.5 wide. I designed it for dress or jeans or dress jeans. It works well on 1 3/8 to 1 1/2 belts shown here on 1.5 rawhide.

The finished Farrier Workhorse buckle in sterling silver (available here)

This is the rough shape while doing the sanding. Silver buckles take considerably longer to finish because the surface must be sanded down with multiple grits to get past the oxides that cause fire scale to show up.  Fire scale prevents a good polish and it causes a pinkish gray color to appear as the piece ages.  By removing it, the silver will develop a beautiful patina as it ages and will come back to its original silver color with metal polish. 

Here it is being textured. I use a special anvil that follows the shape of the piece so the hammering doesn't distort it. 

Oxidation puts color (tarnish) in the depressions. The surface will be polished again to brighten the highlights.