Filming - How It's Made

Tom’s reputation for superior craftsmanship has spread worldwide. In 2011  the film crew for Discovery Channels How It’s Made documented the elaborate process of hand-crafting a belt buckle, bit and spurs. Three segments were captured on film and have been aired within the United States. The segments are slowly being released worldwide in a multitude of translations. The segments are currently up on You Tube and can be viewed on our Video Tour page.

 After we received confirmation the film crew from Discover Channel would be visiting us, we drew up some designs and started creating 'step' pieces. Since the film crew would only be with us a short time, these pieces would be used to show each step of the process as quickly as possible.

 

 

They arrived in a small white van, that was deceivingly spacious, and unloaded a large about of expertly packed equipment. The crew was efficient and extremely professional as they captured each process in HD. Every detail from lighting to angle was skillfully adjusted to perfection. The work spaces were tight so we all became friends fairly quickly. They even humored us taking photos of

 

 

them during the whole process!  

 

 

We catered a large meal and get together in honor of the opportunity and the
hard work of the crews. It was set at Tom's home and was a beautiful ending to the filming phase.  In the following months we worked with the editing crew to finalize footage and dialog for each of the three segments. This was a extensive phase of the process, but was crucial to the accuracy of the show. We were asked specific tool names and reasoning for each process so the segment would be as educational as possible. We had to be careful not to be to technical or industry specific as the audience is large and diverse.

 

 

We had fun during the process and hope you enjoy the segments created. If you are ever in the Sheridan Wyoming area please stop in the shop for a personal tour from Tom and see the process first hand!