Anyone Ever Made Grips??

[Shiloh]

I don't have a woodshop, but jewelry tools. I have made a hadguard to fit a Krag and it fit perfectly.

Never made grips. Looks like a CDC machine would work best, but that is out of the question. What about a drill press as a router?? Would that work??

Shiloh

[FLHTC]

I made many grip panels for 1911's and Ruger Standards but none for revolvers

[Shiloh]

This would be for a revolver. Thicker, wider grips. Without tools looks like a real challenge.

Shiloh

[JWFilips]

Made some for a 1940's MAB ...just did them by hand The import Target grips were atrocious
103620
103622

[Frank46]

just a suggestion, trace the frame out on a piece of wood (don't use the good stuff first) then use a jewelers saw or coping saw and cut outside of the line. I had one of the military 40x stocks and some 3/8" walnut. Made up a cardboard template and with files, coping saw,and small block plane made up a piece to fill in the forend rail slot in the stock. I goofed the first one and the next took considerably longer but fit like a glove. Frank

[frkelly74]

I have some pieces of solid surface counter top ( Corion ) that Is close in appearance to Ivory that I would like to sell or trade just in case someone wanted to try something different. 103642103643

other colors too like a pink marble look.

[DougGuy]

You need a drill press to correctly drill the holes for the screw escutcheons, and for an emblem if you use one. Other than that, you need a piece of cardboard or something thin but stiff, a band saw, maybe a 4" grinder with a tiger paw wheel on it, and a bunch of abrasive paper and a sanding block or two, and a 1" round dowel. You could also use a drum sander kit with 1" to 2 1/2" mandrels, in your drill press.

I cut the cardboard to fit the frame, then use that to mark out the grip panels, use a band saw to cut the grips out with, flatten the bottom of them on a belt sander or tape a piece of abrasive paper to a flat surface and lap them flat on it. Then start rounding and shaping, once you get them feeling pretty good, start going with finer and finer grits and finally polish them out with 600 grit and buff them with a buffing wheel and some compound if they are bone/stag, or put a finish on them if you want to, if they are wood.

These are Moose antler, I made them for my birdshead Vaquero:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01517_zpsf2299cee.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01517_zpsf2299cee.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01513_zpsdee41d3f.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01513_zpsdee41d3f.jpg.html)

These are some Elk antler that I made for it also, I will post a series of pics you can see the steps:

In an effort to find affordable and workable alternatives to Sambar Stag, which isn't easy to get now because of the Indian government, I see some grip makers are turning to Elk, Giraffe, fossil Mammoth and Walrus ivory and very cool species of wood with striking grain. I'm not really a grip maker even though I have made a few sets, but I wanted to do something cool for this Vaquero so I collected a few different materials and started on the Elk.

It's difficult to find images of antler cut open so you can see how thick the bark is and how porous the inside is so the only way to find out about this stuff is to bite the bullet and go find some. I have worked with Sambar Stag before, and Moose, both of which are quite solid and they are much easier to work with than Elk because it is porous.

Apparently the Asians are over here buying up huge quantities of antler to take back around the other side of the planet and grind it up and make aphrodisiac and other medicinal stuff they do with it, and I just missed out on getting a few nice thick crowns so I had to buy a complete antler and cut that up.

Paper template taken off the grip frame:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01333_zps92d95546.jpg

Elk "crown" or lower part of the antler, split in half:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01334_zps06cd4b21.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01335_zps20c5e80e.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01336_zpsbdb84ca9.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01338_zps7f652b5d.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01339_zpsdcf43927.jpg

This one had one of them "gotchas" hiding in it that I didn't see until it was too late and it came out a little thin..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01340_zps23226217.jpg

[DougGuy]

The next point up seemed like a workable pair of panels could come from it:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01341_zpsb1340b88.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01343_zpsaec2392f.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01344_zps17975ce1.jpg

These have some pretty nice symmetry, I hope I can pull it off and have them come out okay but they have a natural shape to the antler that looks cool and kinda curves the exact same way the black micarta Ruger grips curve.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01345_zps3104b0ec.jpg

Elk antler is very porous, I have seen Giraffe bone stabilized by using polymer and a vacuum pot, and I think probably Elk needs some type of fill for the porous parts of it, I ended up flooding these with water thin super glue until they soaked up about as much as they could, hopefully it will come out looking okay even though bone turns gray when you fill it.

Before filling:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01346_zpsfdf8afa6.jpg

After filling:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01353_zps29132413.jpg

These are a really good bookmatch which is sorta uncommon:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01352_zpsf81f885e.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01349_zps157e5716.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01350_zps13cfd54f.jpg

[DougGuy]

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01351_zpsb56623d3.jpg

This is as far as I have gotten in making these, and like I said, Im really not a grip maker per se, and any of you guys that are makers want to add anything go for it, or tell me how badly I already messed up LOL :eek:

These won't be really hand filling like most grips are, and I actually like them a little thicker but they have some neat natural curves that might come out looking nice if I don't screw them up....

Ok, some updated photos, so the pics are stuck in one place instead of scattered, I will just edit them into the original post, if that's alright..

Inside of grip frame marked for sanding back to this line:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01353_zps29132413.jpg

This inside curve was sanded using a 1 1/2" drum sander mounted in a drill press with a medium grit sleeve.

Once the front (or the back, it doesn't matter which side you start from) is sanded to fit the frame, locate and drill the dowel hole and reinstall the dowel in the frame. This will keep the grip panel steady in the location it will be in, then mark the back side and sand that to fit the frame. I did the outside of this with a big 6"x48" Craftsman belt sander and a worn slam out 80 grit belt. I switched to a new 50 grit belt for taking down the thickness from the back side, but did all the final sanding to the outside curve with the worn out belt. It cuts slower and smoother and doesn't grab and dig in and snatch work out of your hands and throw it across the shop..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01355_zps75a01b43.jpg

Now it is easy to see how much needs to be taken off and if they need to be still made thinner, or just where to carve to bring out the right fit:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01362_zpsaab7a56f.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01364_zpsbc22b26c.jpg

Let the rounding begin. I did these with a 4 1/2" Dewalt grinder, using an 80 grit flexible wheel, the kind with all the little squares of abrasive glued to the edge of it.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01365_zps41717a08.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01368_zps769fd911.jpg

When I got them to this stage, I switched to using 220, then 320, then 600 grit wet or dry paper on those rubber 3M sanding blocks.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01369_zps288a05f0.jpg

I wasn't planning on putting a clear coat on these but this Elk antler is some delicate stuff when you get around the color on the outside of the bark. It is thin as a single sheet of printer paper. The color doesn't fade down into the bone like Sambar Stag, and that part made it a little difficult to bring these to their final shape, I couldn't round them and shape them like a conventional pair of grips, or they would have ended up smooth creamy colored bone. What I wanted to do with these, was work the natural curves of the antler into the final shape of the grip and so you gotta sorta live with it being like it is and it's okay if they aren't dead on perfect, the beauty and shape of the antler is preserved and highlighted by applying a coat of poly.

[DougGuy]

Tomorrow I will drill and install the Ruger medallions and also the grip screw and it's escutcheons, but this is how far I got today, now letting the poly do it's thing and setup for a while..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01370_zpsce09c5c0.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01373_zps23e50502.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01374_zps1008a32e.jpg

These are finally finished..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01382_zpsee3df5b6.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01381_zps31b41107.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Birdshead%20Vaquero/DSC01393_zpsc0630c40.jpg

Hope you all like this, like I said I am not a professional grip maker, and these aren't perfect but they aren't too bad either, they fit better than the factory black micarta grips, and I can take the gun out shooting with them on it and not be embarrassed. The next ones I make will probably fit a little better, I will be able to better choose the placement of the grain, you learn some as you go..

[freebullet]

Dougguy
Those are freakin stunning! Very nice I really like the look.

1911 panels aren't tough with a bandsaw and Sanders, the revolvers are a different ballgame if its a one piece stock your after.

[oldred]

I don't have anything to contribute but I do want to thank DougGuy for taking the time and effort to make that truly awesome post!

[winelover]

103669 103670

Here are some, I made for my Model 60, patterned after a Bianchi rubber shrouded hammer design. I used a black & yellow laminated linen Micarta.

Winelover

[Shiloh]

Outstanding DougGuy!!

Shiloh

[msp2640]

DougGuy - Great post and even better work, especially for someone who is not in the business of making grips for a living. It was great to read AND see the step by step process, rather than just seeing a final product. I have a Ruger SS SBH, sitting in the back of the safe that's just waiting for some customizing and the first change would be to a nice set of grips like yours - kudos. Shiloh, good like in your pursuit of home made grips - Bill in MA

[JWFilips]

DougGuy,
You got the makings of a great tutorial there! Nice work

[Bren R.]

Here's a pair of TT-33 grips I made out of bookmatched and lacquered Lauro Preto.

103742

Bren R.

[Any Cal.]

I have done them for a Super Blackhawk, was pretty simple. Get the parts that meet the gun body right before you cut out the shape, that way you don't end up with gaps. Used Hickory backsplash material, so it was already about the right size and flat, then just a Dremel and sandpaper to finish.

The Ruger single actions only have a couple critical points,(top front corner and roll pin), other revos appear to be more complicated.