“I’ve Got Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle…”
“…as I go ridin’ merrily along…”
You couldn’t possibly remember that song. I learned it in Grade 3 and we sang it regularly. I just recently learned that it is a song written in 1942 and made popular by a number of singers, including Gene Autry. I hummed it over the last couple of days as I made up a set of spurs for Buford.
I started with a couple of brass tacks I found in a shop drawer. I flattened them out in a vice to learn that the tack pin is actually a nail with a head. That little nail ended up being a nice “axle” for a spinning spur.
I then took a file and cut teeth around the circumference of the spur. Following that, I used a bit of lead to fashion the bracket of the spur that wraps around the boot heel. This bracket is actually in three pieces. The part that has the spur “wheel” is drilled directly into the heel of the boot and epoxied in place. The side portions of the brackets are flattened and shaped lead pieces that are epoxied to the sides of the boot.
The bracket portion of the spurs was given a coat of silver acrylic paint and a urethane coating. I think that it looks pretty reasonable. Plus, them spurs spin!
tributesinwood 