Making grips

[Daver7]

After seeing the thread on making 1911 grips I thought it would be fun to show off homemade grips.
I'll start by sharing grips I made for a Herter's revolver.

[kir_kenix]

Those look really good! What type of wood? Hard to tell on my smart phone.

[mudygmc]

Well my wheels have been turning on my Bailey frame BFR since it was new. With finding nothing i liked or can see realistically spending on grips. I seen your post and decided to take the plunge and try my luck at making my own set of grips. Any pointers you'd pass on from your experience? I have access to most any wood working tool needed. I just ordered a Hawaiian spalted mango burl blank. So hopefully we will see what happens soon. Should be a fun project. Time is my problem. Might take me awhile. Free time is very lately.

Adam

[Love Life]

Go slow, measure everything at least 20 times, lol.

[kbstenberg]

Do you start first by getting the internals fitting tight? Look at what its present grips are like and duplicate them.

[Daver7]

Do you start first by getting the internals fitting tight? Look at what its present grips are like and duplicate them.

On this set the back side is flat so I started using the 90 degree corner at the top. Then drilled for the screw and escutcheon. then I mark about where the pin will hit the grip. Carefully drill oversize for the pin just make it .010 or .020 deeper than the pin is tall. Once the pin hole is oversize then wax the pin and frame. mix up a little epoxy, I like zpoxy finishing resin it has a long working time and stays a little flexible, put a blob in each pinhole put the grips on the frame use the screw to hold each half in place while the epoxy sets up. I let it set overnight. Now your blanks should be locked in place, from there it's a simple matter of marking the edge of the frame then working them down using a band saw, rasps, files, chisels, and sandpaper to what feels and looks like the grips you want, I go a lot by how they feel. Slap whatever finish you like on em. Then take a picture and post. Here's a picture of the back with an arrow pointing to the square edge I used as a reference and a circle around the pin hole.242598

[Shopdog]

Probably shouldn't respond but,it might help someone....


Use sheet metal "patterns" vs heavy paper stock. The OP is a "flat back" stock(grip)...and is pretty straightforward. It's when you get into double action stocks that it sees you doing stepped or multiple machining ops....and here is where the sheet metal patterns really come into their own. Good luck with your project.