CLC American Holley grips, update.

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caryc

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KWYJIBO said:
caryc said:
I don't think it has anything to do with oxygen on my grips since they are sealed with many coats of Tru Oil.


So maybe something in the oil is reacting with the wood to change the color?

No, bare holly with no finish will age also. As I said it is the UV light that causes it. It's the same reason one can get a sunburn on an overcast day.
 

RUFFBIRD

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northern ontario, CANADA
I have one of those heating rods in my safe to control the humidity levels & I wonder if the slight increase in temperature might be a factor in darkening these Holly wood grips....

I think my grips are about 6-7 yrs old now.

This is how light the color was when I first got them from Cary....
 

Frank V

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J Miller, Cary, & others who have posted pictures of the American Holly stocks. They are beautiful & I really like them after they have aged.
American Holly AKA American Ivory???? :lol:
 

caryc

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Frank V said:
J Miller, Cary, & others who have posted pictures of the American Holly stocks. They are beautiful & I really like them after they have aged.
American Holly AKA American Ivory???? :lol:

Yes, it's also known as American Ivory. It is used a lot for inlays on boxes, pool ques and the like.
 

gak

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I am back yard experimenting on one set, using 80% (20% transmission) shade cloth (nursery sun screening)--to avoid overheating/damaging...which it might not @ full anyway, but don't want to chance...for a few hours for a few-to-several days to accelerate the more direct UV exposure. About 85 degs, 20% humidity. Will report in!
 

KWYJIBO

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caryc said:
No, bare holly with no finish will age also. As I said it is the UV light that causes it. It's the same reason one can get a sunburn on an overcast day.

Ahh, I just went back and re-read the whole thread, and I saw where you mentioned the UV the first time. I noticed your mention of oxidation before, and I think of that as a chemical reaction, so I was wondering if this would occur even in a dark storage location.

If you say you've had a supply of holly stored for years, exposed to air but not to sunlight, and it is not darkening, I guess that answers it. I guess holly behaves similar to cherry in this respect.
 

caryc

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KWYJIBO said:
caryc said:
No, bare holly with no finish will age also. As I said it is the UV light that causes it. It's the same reason one can get a sunburn on an overcast day.

Ahh, I just went back and re-read the whole thread, and I saw where you mentioned the UV the first time. I noticed your mention of oxidation before, and I think of that as a chemical reaction, so I was wondering if this would occur even in a dark storage location.

If you say you've had a supply of holly stored for years, exposed to air but not to sunlight, and it is not darkening, I guess that answers it. I guess holly behaves similar to cherry in this respect.

The only thing I could find after doing quite a lot of research on the net is that UV rays cause woods to age and darken. They also state that the UV light causes oxidation. But, I can't find anyplace that will explain exactly how the process works.

If you look up oxidation in the dictionary it says it works with oxygen. Ok, but how does it work when a grip panel has been sealed with many coats of Tru Oil. There is no oxygen getting to it then, right?
 

CraigC

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I have one pair on a sixgun that gets used often and one pair on a sixgun that pretty much stays in storage. Both have yellowed.
 

gak

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CraigC said:
I have one pair on a sixgun that gets used often and one pair on a sixgun that pretty much stays in storage. Both have yellowed.

Craig, you my have said but I didn't see - how old are your hollys?
 

CraigC

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Best I can figure, around 7-8yrs old. I had the last pair on a hog hunt in October of `05 but had two others before that.
 

buckeyeshooter

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Actually you do have air getting to the wood covered with Tru oil. At a microscopic level there are some pores in the long oil of the Tru oil. To totally seal the wood you would need to use a urethane or epoxy finish. The drawback there is that the clear would be more brittle and prone to peeling.
 

caryc

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Actually you do have air getting to the wood covered with Tru oil. At a microscopic level there are some pores in the long oil of the Tru oil. To totally seal the wood you would need to use a urethane or epoxy finish. The drawback there is that the clear would be more brittle and prone to peeling.
Ran across this thread today 11/22/22 and read the whole thread. About oxygen getting to my holly grips, I did not mention that my Tru Oil finishes consist of about 24 coats of Tru Oil. I apply light coats with my finger to the grips then put them in a dust proof box. There after I apply another coat of Tru Oil every two hours sometimes with a slight sanding in between coats if any flaws show up in the Tru Oil coats.

After 24 coats, I remove them from the dust box and let them cure and harden for a full 72 hours. Then I give them a light sanding with 1200 grit paper and buff on a bench buffer with two different buffing coumpounds. First is a cut and color compound for plastic and the final is a buffing with Brownells 555 white compound for polishing stainless to a mirror finish. The buffing takes a very light and steady hand. It's easy to get too heavy handed and heat up the finish and burn right through it.
 

rmc25

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I got my XR3 holly grips years ago. Finest workmanship you could ever ask for. I have to question the UV aging though. I live in an area where ANY firearms discharge outside a closed range will attract a large amount of law enforcement interest. Mine only travel from my safe to my range bag to the range and back home to be cleaned and back into the safe. Mine have aged exactly as the ones in the pictures. So mine have virtually no exposure to UV light. Beautiful grips and aged exactly as I had hoped when I bought them.
 

DGW1949

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FWIW, the set of Holly grips that I've had on my Blackhawk for about 10 years have gradually turned an (almost) orange color. While I can't say what may have caused the change, I can say that I don't much care for it....Tried sanding it off but that seemed to make it turn quicker...oh well, live and learn.
 
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yes, often the darkening is the in the outer coatings just from age, handling , dirty hands, oily clothes, RIG rags and on and on...... they will discolor like said much earlier the true "sealing" is with the polyurethanes , etc. like on the Browning stocks of years ago.............hard to do, and even harder to REDO or touch up. to get it right...Carys' grips do hold up and last longer than most all of the others we have dealt with , and his "holly" woods are my favorites, even have grain to them.........
here is the last one I got from him next to an original 'ivory' set....please do not ask me which is which we sold BOTH guns LONG ago........got $1500 extra for the ivory, which in turn SOLD both guns , they really liked them.......
only thing even close in looks many years ago we dealt with I believe it was "tru Ivory" up in Evergreen ,Washington...........long gone we hear.....
Thank you again Cary !! ;)

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