In honor of the late engraver D.J.

[Damon Joaquim]

Hello all -

I am starting a thread to remember my late father's artistic craftsmanship.

It's been a little over 2 years since Domingos Joaquim (D.J.) has past. He worked as a Factory Engraver in the late 70's into the 80's for Smith where I believe he did his best works. He also worked for Colt and Ruger for a brief time before traveling to the gun shows up and down the east coast. Maybe you have seen him engraving behind the big wooden eagle with the magical spinning vise?

I will be posting different pictures of art work he has done through is life, including engraved guns.

Please feel free to add any pictures or comments of your own and help me remember him and add to his grand daughter photo albums. She is a spitting image of him with the same talents, creativity and just as a kicker, born on the same day also.

 

[Damon Joaquim]

First off the Belt buckle he designed and engraved for Smith & Wessonhttp://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=170481&d=

 

[Damon Joaquim]

Photo 2. B

 

[Damon Joaquim]

..................

 

[Damon Joaquim]

.................

 

[Watchdog]

Beautiful work for sure. I'd love to see larger, more detailed photos.

I like the discreet placement of D. J.'s initials in Photo 2B.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

1902 paintings

In 1902 Smith & Wesson did 12 advertising prints. To find a complete set of the 12 is rare. A fellow SWCA member asked DJ to paint them for him. 4 paintings were done by Remington in black and white. When DJ did them. he did them in color. I have the 12 1902 oil paintings DJ did for that member. I have them up for sale.

 

[Revoman]

My Uncle was a polisher from the end of WWII till his passing in 1984 I sure they must have known each other.

I enjoyed seeing your photos so far and I hope members here have some of his work to post also.

Your Dad was a very talented artist and this is a great place to pay a tribute to him.

Thank you for posting.

 

[JJEH]

I'm sorry for your loss.

That is very nice work your father did, thanks for sharing.

 

[Damon Joaquim]

Thank you for the support everyone.

Sorry about the pictures. I am trying to figure out how to post them larger and multiple ones in a post.

JJEH - thank you for posting them larger

Gun club fan - I remember those 12 paintings. The Last Cartridge was my favorite one out of them all. After that painting he ended up doing a bronze of it also.
They casted 20 of them in 1981. I would love to get my hands on one. You wouldn't believe how many times I helped him pick pieces of it up off the ground after he dropped it when it was still in wax form. Ugh .... I know of 2 of them. The one in the photo is #12 and Roy Jinks has #13. Neither of them are for sale.

Revoman - I am sure he would have known him. Before he started in the custom engraving department, I believe my father worked in maintenance? After his messing dramatic departure from S&W he did not like to talk about that company at all. My father had a love hate relationship with Smith & Wesson, but deep inside his heart will always be with that company.

 

[RaginRog]

Incredible work

 

[Damon Joaquim]

His first and real passion was custom hand built motorcycles and trikes. Not like these American chopper catalog ordered stuff we see on TV now a days. He once started a chopper shop in the 60's way before this TV craze hit He told me, "I missed the bus on that one, Damon." I would reply, "yeah by decades Dad" But he was right. He did miss it
This trike was known as the "skull". He built it from swap meet and junkyard finds, and an old V.W. Bug rear end and motor, chicken wire, and fiberglass (which a young boy lost his plastic pool on a hot summer, for mixing purposes )

 

[Damon Joaquim]

This one was built before the skull. Late 60's early 70's I would say. Called the shingle shack. It had a Black and White TV in it!!! It was between the seats and behind the cushion with the medallion on it. Look at cars today. He truly saw things differently than anyone I will ever know. I will look for a photo that shows it.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

After I had come to know DJ for a while, I wanted something that he engraved. At the time, I was a police officer and on my salary, an engraved revolver was out of the question. We were both attending the Big E Gunshow in West Springfield. I asked DJ what else he engraved. He showed me a silver quarter he had flattened and made into an oval shape. on the front it had the Smith & Wesson logo. I asked that he put my initals on the reverse. This is what i got back. As you can see it is number 3 on the back. I don't know how many he made.

 

[Watchdog]

This trike was known as the "skull".

Wow. That trike is such a striking example of the customs of the mid-sixties to mid-seventies. Just seeing the photograph of it brings back memories of a time when custom cars and motorcycles were really taking off...a time when builders were letting their imaginations run free, and using whatever materials were at hand. The sky was the limit.

Remember those old TV shows, The Munsters and The Addams Family? The Skull trike would have been a great addition to either of those shows.

Love the photo. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Watchdog]

This one was built before the skull. Late 60's early 70's I would say. Called the shingle shack.

Another "wow". Love the old springer front end and the big key for a fender ornament. And when's the last time you saw a front drum brake on anything?

Do you remember if your dad built the frame, itself? That's a long frame.

 

[Damon Joaquim]

Watchdog - yes he built the frame. I don't remember exactly how it was built I was way too young. Back than he had no money to do anything. So if he had a idea, he had to figure it out himself and figure how to get it done himself. This was the biggest struggle for him and my mother. I believe it held him back from reaching his full potential throughout his life along with other problems he had.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

Damon
I actually remember that trike. If I recall it was around for a long time.
I might have even stopped you dad with it. It was a long time ago.

 

[6518John]

He has a nice obituary online:
Domingos Joaquim Obituary: View Domingos Joaquim's Obituary by Rutland Herald

 

[Damon Joaquim]

My father (D.J.) and my mother (Marilyn) on the earliest picture of a trike he built.