Hello all. As I make progress towards finishing a set of desert ironwood 1911 grips, I thought I’d lay out my process. Normally I use my jigs and power tools and I can make a nice set of grips in little time. For these grips I’m using nothing but hand tools. I’ll include pictures at a later date.
Tools:
Rasp
Files
Chisels (SHARP!!!)
Sanding block
Lots of sand paper
Surface plate
Eyeball
Step 1: Select the wood
I try to pick up nice blanks at every opportunity. To me, the grain should flow with the gun. I also try to book match as much as possible. If I’m buying pre cut blanks I want a thickness of .300 or thicker. This gives you plenty of wood to work with.
Step 2: Initial sanding
I find this step important to see where the chatoyance might be hiding. I’ll do a quick sand up to 600 grit and wipe on mineral spirits to see what I’m working with.
Step 3: picking grain layout
To do this I use a pair of clear 1911 grip panels placed over the blank. This allows me to best orient the grip for maximum grain and flow on the pistol.
Step 4: Roughing to size
This is where the rasp, files, and chisels come into play. For a wood like ironwood you need laser sharp chisels and good files. Go at a steady pace, but be aware that ironwood will chip and tear out out if you’re not careful. Keep the super glue handy...
Step 5: sanding to size
Once I’m close to my finished size I’ll switch to sandpaper and the surface plate to get straight lines to the final width of the grips. Normally 80 to 120 grit will make short work of it.
Step 6: Drilling the holes
Do not do this with a hand drill and eyeball, lol. I purchased a jig and special bits just for this. A mill is best, but a drill press works just fine. If you do it with a hand drill, ensure you have a round file, lol. Once again, use sharp bits because ironwood will chip and tear out. Make any necessary repairs after this step to the edges of the screw hole.
Step 7: contour top of grips and cut in channel for plunger tube
I like my grips to cover the plunger tube, so you’ve got to make sure you cut the channel and make clearances for slide release. I make my grips to go edge to edge of the frame so I also cut a clearance for the thumb safety. The right side grip panel needs a clearance filed In for the mag release.
Step 8:sanding to correct thickness and contour
To sand to thickness I just double side tape the grip to a block and sand on a surface plate. I am shooting for .250-.260. Ensure you flatten the back of the grips to 220 grit first and then remove material from the top to final thickness. This will be done during final sanding and contouring. This allows you to hit a nice high grit finish, and have crisp screw holes.
Step 9: final finish and polish
I take ironwood to 1500 grit, put on a couple counts of ultra thin super glue and buff with white compound. This gives a glass like finish and makes the grain glow. Once again, you want that chatoyance.
Using hand tools it takes me several days to make a set of ironwood grips, but the result is similar to what I would get using power tools. The process goes much faster with softer woods. I hope this helps someone out and they learn how easy and enjoyable it is to make their own grips.
|
   
   
|
|
Reply With Quote
DougGuy
Originally Posted by Winger Ed.
I found a new one from a member here
