Been in a grip making mood.

[mrcabinet]

I call the grips I make my fith of whiskey and bottle of Xanax these days. It's great to just zone out and focus on something other than work and other stress inducing incidents. A new management group came in at work, so I've been making a lot of grips, lol. Anyway, thought I'd share a few that I've made - some Hi Power, Tanfoglio and 1911.

 

[warnerwh]

Those are very nice and look to be done by a professional. I wish I could do that.

 

[Valkman]

Very nice work, they're beautiful!

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Very nice!
Is the last picture "Birdseye" Maple?

What's the third one made of? Marble looking...

 

[wayneinFL]

Nice.

Do you cut these with some kind of a jig, or do you do it all by hand?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Impressive work for sure.

What are the grips in the 3rd picture made of?

 

[Old Dog]

Great hobby, for sure. Very nice work. Pretty grips.

Do you cut these with some kind of a jig, or do you do it all by hand?

Yes, please, inquiring minds want to know...

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Gorgeous!

 

[Gork10]

Looks great. Especially like the third one.

 

[kje54]

Very nice! Now all ya need to do is make me a set for my Taurus 856.........

 

[Uffdaphil]

That’s some exquisite eye candy!

 

[mrcabinet]

Well, I can't deny inquiring minds. The woods are, in order from left to right:
Cherry. These were my first Hi Power grips. I do all the prototyping with "normal" wood, saving the "good" wood for ones I want to keep/gift/sell.
Peruvian Rosewood
Dyed and stabilized Spalted Birdseye Ukranian Poplar.
Tiger striped / Flamed Maple
Birdseye Maple on the top and dyed/stabilized Spalted Maple on the bottom
Birdseye Maple

 

[mrcabinet]

The grips that aren't stabilized have a Super Glue finish. That's four or five layers, lightly sanded in between coats, then sanded to 600 grit and finished off on a buffing wheel.
The stabilized wood does not have a finish. Essentially, stabilizing "plasticizes" the wood, so these are just sanded to 600 and then hit the buffing wheel.

 

[mrcabinet]

Here's a couple more more to compare - stabilized Spalted Hackberry and Wenge. Stabilized/Superglue.

 

[mrcabinet]

Years ago I made everything by hand with jigs for cutting and routing. I'm older and wiser now, with much less patience, so I use a small cnc router to do the machining, then do the shaping by hand. This is a set of Hi Power grips made out of Chechen wood. I went old school on the finish and used wiping varnish on them.

 

[gudaki]

Very nice work you do!

 

[Pat Riot]

@mrcabinet
Beautiful work!
Unless it’s a problem disclosing, how do you coat wood or anything else with Super Glue? I have not heard of using that glue this way.

The only thing I have managed to coat with super glue is my fingers when a tube ruptured.

 

[mrcabinet]

@mrcabinet
Beautiful work!
Unless it’s a problem disclosing, how do you coat wood or anything else with Super Glue? I have not heard of using that glue this way.

The only thing I have managed to coat with super glue is my fingers when a tube ruptured.

I am happy to share - no secrets here. Just don't ask for my CAD or CNC files.....

To start with, I always wear vinyl gloves when working with Super Glue. I learned that lesson the hard way. Secondly, I attach a small block on the back of the grips with double sided tape. That way I can hang on to it without actually holding the grip. Application is pretty easy - just squeeze a few lines of glue on it then wipe it on/even it out with the edge of a piece of paper. I've found that Post It notes work well. And yes, you have to work fast, otherwise you'll be sanding pieces of glued paper off. Follow that with some 220 grit sandpaper to knock down the high spots, then do it again. This is a great way to fill in grainy wood. Please do this in a well ventilated area. The fumes from this much glue can burn your sinuses. That's another lesson I learned the hard way.....

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Most excellent craftsmanship.

 

[Pat Riot]

I am happy to share - no secrets here. Just don't ask for my CAD or CNC files.....

To start with, I always wear vinyl gloves when working with Super Glue. I learned that lesson the hard way. Secondly, I attach a small block on the back of the grips with double sided tape. That way I can hang on to it without actually holding the grip. Application is pretty easy - just squeeze a few lines of glue on it then wipe it on/even it out with the edge of a piece of paper. I've found that Post It notes work well. And yes, you have to work fast, otherwise you'll be sanding pieces of glued paper off. Follow that with some 220 grit sandpaper to knock down the high spots, then do it again. This is a great way to fill in grainy wood. Please do this in a well ventilated area. The fumes from this much glue can burn your sinuses. That's another lesson I learned the hard way.....

Thanks very much. I probably won’t try it but you never know. I appreciate it.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

so I use a small cnc router to do the machining,

We have two Sons who are machinists.

One does the same thing.

His last pair turned out gorgeous.

I told him he was cheating using all the tools he has access to use.

 

[mrcabinet]

Thanks all for the compliments.

Yeah, at first I thought I was cheating, but then I looked at the time spent just getting a first pass to run good, and realized that wasn't the case at all. I usually have a couple hours into the cad/cnc process before I even run a piece of wood. Then there's what my grandfather called the cut 'n fit process, where the programs have to be tweaked until it's just right. For example, it took seven different tweaks to get the HP grips to where I was happy with them. The biggest advantage is repeatability. I can come back to a grip design a year later and exactly repeat what I did before.

But that's only part of the process. It's the hand work that transforms a block of wood into a functional pistol grip. That part, and the finishing, is what really gets my creative juices flowing.

 

[lightman]

Those look really nice! You Sir are a real Craftsman!

 

[whatnickname]

That is fantastic work! Some of the nicest work I’ve ever seen. Do you make grips for S&W revolvers?

 

[doubleh]

I run sound forwarders on mine. Im waiting for the one for my 223 Wlyde to come in. I like to courteous to the shooter next to me. AR 10's are really annoying.

We have two Sons who are machinists.

One does the same thing.

His last pair turned out gorgeous.

I told him he was cheating using all the tools he has access to use.

Tools do make a difference. I have a 12" Craftsman/Atlas lathe and 16" Jet milling/drilling machine that I bought back in the '70's along with a bunch of attachments for each and have attempted to teach myself something about machining by reading books and trial and error. No way have I become a real machinest but have learned to put them to pretty good use. 1911 grips with the Jet is a breeze compared to all by hand. Throw in a belt sander and things get really easy.