Sanding laminated grips--and the finish?

If I sand laminated grips (to remove sharp edges and/or to make them fit another grip frame) will I create a problem? Will exposing the edges of whatever glues the layers together create streaks? Or does the material sand in the same manner as homogeneous wood? I may be overly paranoid, but want to avoid an opportunity to ruin a pair of new grips.

I have only examined two sets of laminated grips. The first set, on a five year old revolver, have a bright (varnish?) finish. The second set, which I propose to sand, are from a new revolver and have a dull finish which I find pleasant. Are these like conventional unvarnished grips, in that after sanding I can simply rub in some linseed oil to restore their original appearance?

TIA

Sand with the grain/laminate lines. Never across. Practice on laminated scrap or a cheapo laminated stock.

Those grips are made of a laminate that is impregnated with resin that goes clear through the material. Sand with progressively finer grits,ending with about 400 grit and just polish with 0000 steel wool. Polish with any good furniture polish. No finish needed.

I have rounded a Blackhawk laminated grip gripframe recently, and although I re-polished the wood where I sanded it, it just did not match the unsanded area. Gave the grips a new coat of varathane and they look like the original finish.

And has been said, these laminations are tight with no voids. It's like working with very hard wood. I think they would accept any finish treatment you desire. Or none at all.

WAYNO said:

I have rounded a Blackhawk laminated grip gripframe recently, and although I re-polished the wood where I sanded it, it just did not match the unsanded area. Gave the grips a new coat of varathane and they look like the original finish.

And has been said, these laminations are tight with no voids. It's like working with very hard wood. I think they would accept any finish treatment you desire. Or none at all.

Click to expand...

Yes , the entire surface needs to be sanded to make the finish look right.

Chuck 100 yd said:

WAYNO said:

I have rounded a Blackhawk laminated grip gripframe recently, and although I re-polished the wood where I sanded it, it just did not match the unsanded area. Gave the grips a new coat of varathane and they look like the original finish.

And has been said, these laminations are tight with no voids. It's like working with very hard wood. I think they would accept any finish treatment you desire. Or none at all.

Click to expand...

Yes , the entire surface needs to be sanded to make the finish look right.

Click to expand...

Actually, that was not the issue. I brushed a light coat of varathane only on the sanded and polished area. The wood was fine. It was the seam between the new varathane on the sanded area and the untouched area that showed up, not the color or the finish of the wood. So I put another light coat of varathane on the entire grip to make it all match.