If only he had some secrets. He’s been making brass belt buckles since the early ‘70s. We decided to add them to our 5-Ball Racing line-up, sorta for the kicks. It’s not as if the bastard wants to be buried under a torch everyday making buckles.
In general, Bandit made these for a couple of reasons. He’s sort of a creative freak. He would rather spend a week making a coffee table out of old motorcycle parts than to buy one in 15 minutes from China on Amazon.
Over the last decade, he stumbled across different elements and started to change up his styles. When he first made buckles, he created the same jig he uses today. Almost 48 years ago, he made his own tires and rims using brass rod.
Then he stumbled into some manufactured brass rings, which simplified his operation tremendously. It was only when he discovered McMaster Carr, his system found size direction. Before Carr, he was restricted to brass rings he found at swap meets.
Then he met Sin Wu, who was into sailing and she brought him a large cigar box full of massive solid brass wood screws. They were removed from the wooden hull of a discarded vessel.
Wooden hulls are frowned on in Los Angeles marinas. They are tough and costly to maintain and keep afloat. And of course due to global warming, almost all of the boat repair joints are closed. No shit. You can’t sand, paint or repair fiberglass without life-threatening fines or imprisonment.
But we won’t go there. It just pisses off the old bastard.
Okay, so he started to make mag wheel buckles and this one was the latest. He actually upgraded his jig by drilling and taping a ¼-20 hole in the center to hold the hub perfectly in place. It only took him 30 years to figure that one out.
In this case, with a 2.5-inch brass ring, he centered the ring and then measured the length of the mag spokes, about ¾-inch long. The customer, Capn Bill, wanted the patina-styled buckle with the threaded end of the screws and a lack of final fully polished effect.
With the rim clamped carefully in place, Bandit sized each spoke and brazed them in place. He brazed them front and back and then decided which looked the best before making the belt loop and pin.
He asked Cap’n Bill how wide his belt was and at 1.5 inches it was perfect. He can make the loop to fit any width belt. Bandit used Scotch Brite and wheel-smoothed any rough areas. But then he tried a new high-speed wire wheel, which is extremely dangerous. Safety glasses or preferably a face shield should be used. He’s still picking strands of the wire-wheel out of his sweatshirt.
There you have it. Another masterpiece shipped to a brother who is about to take a run to Nova Scotia.
