I have an old 9mm, 1911 copy that I would like to put some wood grips on. As it stands the pistol has some ugly plastic grips and I think its appearence could be greatly enhanced by some nice wood grips. Has anyone ever made thier own? Or have a link to how to do this yourself? Thanks.
Has anyone ever made their own grips before?
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C.R.Sam
Moderator Emeritus
I have, over the years, made a few grips.
More for 1911 than otherwise cause they kinda simple...flat on back.
Can't really explain it cep to say take nice piece of wood and cut away everything that doesn't look like a grip.
There are some good grip makers here that can explain it far better than I.
But...tis quite doable, with patience.
Sam
More for 1911 than otherwise cause they kinda simple...flat on back.
Can't really explain it cep to say take nice piece of wood and cut away everything that doesn't look like a grip.
There are some good grip makers here that can explain it far better than I.
But...tis quite doable, with patience.
Sam
sm
member
Over the years ...
Boys Club had a wood shop, old feller running it helped me with a set of 1911 grips,8 y/o. Just used the cracked ones as a guide and fit fine Thinking this is easy...
I hitch-hike in the snow and show up 2wks later with a K frame , wanted to surprise my Uncle.He'd bought a beater and the grips were cracked Shop fella liked guns, plenty of wood, but he had some 'special stock" set back. Here I am a kid-No money, had heart, and an old shop fella with patience and time. I think about a kid trying that today and the troubles he'd be in. Uncle sure was surprised when he picked me up , asked if I had behaved myself with him loaning me his gun for a week...naturally he wanted to see the gun...
Boys Club had a wood shop, old feller running it helped me with a set of 1911 grips,8 y/o. Just used the cracked ones as a guide and fit fine Thinking this is easy...
I hitch-hike in the snow and show up 2wks later with a K frame , wanted to surprise my Uncle.He'd bought a beater and the grips were cracked Shop fella liked guns, plenty of wood, but he had some 'special stock" set back. Here I am a kid-No money, had heart, and an old shop fella with patience and time. I think about a kid trying that today and the troubles he'd be in. Uncle sure was surprised when he picked me up , asked if I had behaved myself with him loaning me his gun for a week...naturally he wanted to see the gun...
I've made grips for the 1911, BHP and revolvers. The 1911 is the easiest. The only problem I ever had is with warping but today you can get stabilized wood (impregnated with acylic resin) which won't warp or crack. If you use a fancy piece of wood don't mess it up with checkering, the proper place for checkering is on the front and back straps.
Pappy John
Member
Go to a wood working shop and get two pieces of 4" wide by 1/4" thick....one good grain hard wood and one of cheap stuff. Practice the whole process once with the cheap piece before you work on the good stuff. Use the grips you already have as your pattern. I used a piece of bocote for these.
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
P95Carry
Moderator Emeritus
Used to make quite a few ... mainly for revos which is way more fiddly!! used to usually take two pieces of 1" thick mahogany and plane them up ........ clamp together and cut main profile with band saw.
Then ..... set each piece up for routing ... using gun frame as template. Took out all material I had to and then hand finished outer surfaces with various chisels and gouges etc.
Finally get the halves to fit on gun and make further adjustments followed by finishing the halves as one unit ... the S&W27 below .. my old one .... I added finger profiles and this was fiddly indeed. Lot of sanding etc to finsh off then varnish or oil.
Redhawk was also mahogany too but smooth all over.
Doubt I have the patience now to do more!!
Then ..... set each piece up for routing ... using gun frame as template. Took out all material I had to and then hand finished outer surfaces with various chisels and gouges etc.
Finally get the halves to fit on gun and make further adjustments followed by finishing the halves as one unit ... the S&W27 below .. my old one .... I added finger profiles and this was fiddly indeed. Lot of sanding etc to finsh off then varnish or oil.
Redhawk was also mahogany too but smooth all over.
Doubt I have the patience now to do more!!
Cacique500
Member
Grips
I have a detailed section on how to make grips on my website:
http://www.1911pistolgrips.com - then click on 'The Process' tab.
If you have any specific questions please let me know and I'll help out best I can.
I have a detailed section on how to make grips on my website:
http://www.1911pistolgrips.com - then click on 'The Process' tab.
If you have any specific questions please let me know and I'll help out best I can.
I made a pair of pine grips for my 1911, as a practice run before making a pair of grips from a chunk of cherry my dad said I could have. I didnt like the pine grips (I hadnt rounded them off enough, so they were flat on the side for about 2/3s of the front-to-back distance), so I never made the cherry ones. Also the pine grips were super, super slick due to the varnish that was applied without any sand or other substance added to increase grip-ability. (The pistol basically was impossible to grip when my hands were slick with CLP or other oils, due to the perfectly smooth varnish)
I ended up taking them off and replacing them with a pair of Hogues, but I do intend to make the cherry grips some day.
Kharn
I ended up taking them off and replacing them with a pair of Hogues, but I do intend to make the cherry grips some day.
Kharn
George Hill
Member
I made some for 1911, and some for a S&W M10.
Don't have the tools to work wood any more, or I would still make them.
Use original grips as patterns, measure twice, cut once.
Don't have the tools to work wood any more, or I would still make them.
Use original grips as patterns, measure twice, cut once.
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