bsparker
Member
I'm looking for inspiration for a single action .45 colt. Show off any grips you've made and any tips on selecting the wood, resources, instruction, lessons learned.
Who's making their own wood grips?
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gotboostvr
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Paging @Gumby0961 and @Michael Tinker Pearce
Sneakshot92
Member
Not completely relevant, but I made a couple sets of 1911 grip panels in shop class when I was in high school. One of my classmates made a set of grips for his dad's replica cap & ball black powder revolver the same year. Thankfully the teacher was a firearms enthusiast and outdoorsman or that wouldn't have gone very far..
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bsparker
Member
Seems like I got the short end of the stick in shop class. That's awesome.
Sneakshot92
Member
I went to school in a town of 1250 people and the shop teacher was actually a neighbor of mine a few miles away 'over the hill'. He kept those projects locked in his desk drawer for us to keep other teachers and staff from finding them. All hell would have broke loose if the other teachers would have found out.
Here's a set of four on Rugers, I've built since the lock-down began in early March. From the top:
A Ruger .44 Spl Flat Top with black & white ebony;
next down is a Single Six Convertible in .22 LR/Mag with fiddle back maple grips;
3rd down is a 50th Anniversary Flat Top .357 with spalted poplar grips, (wood came from some horse fencing here on our farm that had rotted at the nail holes.)
and the bottom one is a 3-screw Ruger Old Model in .41 Magnum with Jobilla wood grips. The lower pic is a .44 Spl Ruger Flat Top with circassian walnut.
All were finished with multiple coats of tung oil and shaped slightly over size for the center-fires to better handle the recoil.
Brownell's can supply the grip screws and escheons as well as the counter-sink drill that makes drilling the hole easy.
In construction, you fit the top ~90 degree angle after roughly shaping to the outline. Next you locate and drill the hole for the lower stock pin, and mortise if there's a lock in the grip as necessary. After that you contour the grips and lastly fine fit to match the frame. If wanted, the base can be chamfered as a last step before finish sanding.
I've done them with a coping saw and files plus sandpaper, but now use a sanding drum in a small shop drill press for much of the roughing out, then files and sandpaper. The drilled holes can best be done with a drill press, but a hand drill carefully kept perpendicular is an option too.
Wood is where you find it...just make sure it's really REALLY dry before you spend a day shaping it. It'll shrink if you don't. I've made some from walnut from our farm here, as well as the spalted poplar, and a couple from an apple tree with beautiful flame grain in the forked trunk. Just make sure it's DRY!! Woodcrafters has some pretty exotic wood for bowl turning that is fairly cheap. The Jobilla and some burl walnut (not shown) came from there.
I've done a dozen or more now, two Colts and the rest Rugers and figure about a day's work to get them to the finish application stage. Five coats of hand rubbed tung oil makes a nice durable finish that's easy to touch up when necessary and ages to a mellow yellow color that I particularly like.
HTH's & Best regards, Rod
A Ruger .44 Spl Flat Top with black & white ebony;
next down is a Single Six Convertible in .22 LR/Mag with fiddle back maple grips;
3rd down is a 50th Anniversary Flat Top .357 with spalted poplar grips, (wood came from some horse fencing here on our farm that had rotted at the nail holes.)
and the bottom one is a 3-screw Ruger Old Model in .41 Magnum with Jobilla wood grips. The lower pic is a .44 Spl Ruger Flat Top with circassian walnut.
All were finished with multiple coats of tung oil and shaped slightly over size for the center-fires to better handle the recoil.
Brownell's can supply the grip screws and escheons as well as the counter-sink drill that makes drilling the hole easy.
In construction, you fit the top ~90 degree angle after roughly shaping to the outline. Next you locate and drill the hole for the lower stock pin, and mortise if there's a lock in the grip as necessary. After that you contour the grips and lastly fine fit to match the frame. If wanted, the base can be chamfered as a last step before finish sanding.
I've done them with a coping saw and files plus sandpaper, but now use a sanding drum in a small shop drill press for much of the roughing out, then files and sandpaper. The drilled holes can best be done with a drill press, but a hand drill carefully kept perpendicular is an option too.
Wood is where you find it...just make sure it's really REALLY dry before you spend a day shaping it. It'll shrink if you don't. I've made some from walnut from our farm here, as well as the spalted poplar, and a couple from an apple tree with beautiful flame grain in the forked trunk. Just make sure it's DRY!! Woodcrafters has some pretty exotic wood for bowl turning that is fairly cheap. The Jobilla and some burl walnut (not shown) came from there.
I've done a dozen or more now, two Colts and the rest Rugers and figure about a day's work to get them to the finish application stage. Five coats of hand rubbed tung oil makes a nice durable finish that's easy to touch up when necessary and ages to a mellow yellow color that I particularly like.
HTH's & Best regards, Rod
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Michael Tinker Pearce
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Quilted Maple-
Bolivian Rosewood (this darkens with age)
Desert Ironwood
Bolivian Rosewood (this darkens with age)
Desert Ironwood
RetiredUSNChief
Member
I have a pair of walnut grips I need to size for mine. My intent, afterwards, is to inlay some silver rattlesnakes.
Just because!
I have some beautifully burled cocobolo I intend to make some grips for my 1991A1. If I have enough afterwards, perhaps I'll make a set for my SAA as well.
Just because!
I have some beautifully burled cocobolo I intend to make some grips for my 1991A1. If I have enough afterwards, perhaps I'll make a set for my SAA as well.
BobWright
Member
A step-by-step process, if I may be so bold:
These from scrap walnut.
Bob Wright
These from scrap walnut.
Bob Wright
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bsparker
Member
Those are some good looking grips (and guns). Really the like the circassian walnut. The dark wood is a good look. Great job on those and thanks for some pointers.
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bsparker
Member
"Bold" is what I need. Thanks for sharing your process and the grips look great. I plan on finding some walnut and hickory next time I'm out at my hunting property. I know where a few trees have fallen but don't know the quality of the wood. The grain in that walnut looks great.
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bsparker
Member
"Wood is where you get it". I had a stack of maple that I cut down about 2 years ago, had several pieces sitting inside for the past 6 months that never got burned. After trying to pair down the first two pieces (bug holes and size issues), I came out of the third with this one. Seeing the grain on this and the coloring has me questioning whether it's maple though. For now I'll try this piece to start with and be on the look out for walnut or hickory up at the hunting property.
Couldn't get a piece thick enough to have grips match grain but from what I've read the first one is more of a trial and error process anyway, so I'm not completely confident this one will be the final one to sit on the revolver.
for pistol, go to a McMansion subdivision under construction and ask for scraps from the hardwood floor, and finishers. Most of my walnut, and birch came from there. Most floors are laminate, even on "high end" developments, but some do real stuff. The handrails are usually good, but so much of that is made off sight because few no how to do it, but you can still try. You won't look to crazy asking, its fairly common for people looking for electrical scraps to come by. Just don't act shifty, or people get hostile, tool theft is a real problem.
BobWright
Member
Another note: For a Single Action, that upper corner where wood meets the frame must be fitted before removing any wood from elsewhere. Fit that first or all else is wasted.
Note too, that I used a sanding drum in a drill press. If you have a spindle sander, so much the better. You are really "sculpting" the wood rather than carving.
Bob Wright
Note too, that I used a sanding drum in a drill press. If you have a spindle sander, so much the better. You are really "sculpting" the wood rather than carving.
Bob Wright
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bsparker
Member
you’re the man. Thanks for the important tip. I’ve jumped in with a coping saw, belt sander (in a vice) and hand files. Have to wait for new grip screws before I go much further.
It’s the patient man’s game from here on out.
BobWright
Member
Beware of the belt sander, it can make flat spots where you don't want them before you know it! Best to shape by hand to maintain the flowing lines of a Single Action's grips.
Bob Wright
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bsparker
Member
Noted, thanks! Think it’s alright to get the angle from the top to the bottom of the grip started with the belt sander? then go drum sander (plan to purchase for drill, or try Drexel with small drum sander) and hand sanding from there?
Forget the Dremel, too small. I did all the shaping of my stocks with a 4-1 rasp and files. Finished with sand paper on a chalk board eraser. Same for stag and wood.
I have also used apple wood and holly. Both are fantastic!!!
Kevin
I have also used apple wood and holly. Both are fantastic!!!
Kevin
Insignificant bill
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Working on a set right now. English Walnut. You can get blanks of different wood from places like Rockler, Woodcraft. Etc
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bsparker
Member
@BobWright, @StrawHat, At what stage should the holes for the grip screw and brass escutcheons be made?
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bsparker
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oh man. I think you just upped the ante. I’m gonna have to do some research on one piece grips. Now that you mention it, your revolvers look so much better not having that screw. The grips on my SA had a screw so I was just planning off of that, but may change course now. Did you file and finish the grips as a single piece?
how did you secure the grip panels to the center support?
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Tallball
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I have nowhere near the patience and skill that some of you have shown... not even close.
When I was younger and healthier I used to make grips for knives pretty often. I even started making knives, before my breathing got bad.
My favorite was purpleheart. I also liked pecan a lot, "osage orange" (AKA bois d arc and/or "horse apple"), and zebrawood. All are very hard woods.
You can see the purpleheart on some of these pieces. I made grips for the tomahawk out of pecan for a friend. The dark brown is some kind of so-called brazilwood, and the one piece is obviously oak.
The poor-quality picture below gives you a better idea of how nice the pecan looks (on the chef's knife). I wish I had a decent picture of an osage orange grip.
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When I was younger and healthier I used to make grips for knives pretty often. I even started making knives, before my breathing got bad.
My favorite was purpleheart. I also liked pecan a lot, "osage orange" (AKA bois d arc and/or "horse apple"), and zebrawood. All are very hard woods.
You can see the purpleheart on some of these pieces. I made grips for the tomahawk out of pecan for a friend. The dark brown is some kind of so-called brazilwood, and the one piece is obviously oak.
The poor-quality picture below gives you a better idea of how nice the pecan looks (on the chef's knife). I wish I had a decent picture of an osage orange grip.
View media item 3115
View media item 3116
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BobWright
Member
As to the grip screw, if you desire to install it, drill and counter bore while the panels are still "flat" and before any tapering. This to be sure the hole is at 90* to the flat surface. The pair I made I measured the depth of the counterbore and drilled while both surfaces were still parallel to each other.
For a Smith& Wesson:
These grips were to change a round butt to a square butt configuration.
Bob Wright
For a Smith& Wesson:
These grips were to change a round butt to a square butt configuration.
Bob Wright
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