David LaPell
Blackhawk
I want to inlay something into a pair of aftermarket wood grips on one of my revolvers (A Mercury dime for the year of the gun's manufacture on either side). Would this be hard to do? Any ideas?
Inlaying something into grips
- Thread starter David LaPell
- Start date
41 mag fan
Single-Sixer
The easiest way to do that for a dime is find a good wood working store in your area see if they have a forstner bit that is sized for a dime.I know the one around here does. I have seen people make clocks using coins as the numbers. Once you drill the hole use a little 2 part epoxy to hold it in place.
powder smoke
Hawkeye
A drill bit is they way to go, a forstner bit will drill a flat bottom hole is wha you need as mentioned above. I'm not sure of the exact diameter of a dime but if you can't find one the exact size you need, buy one slightly larger and put it in a drill press, turn it at a slow speed and carefully use stone and wear it down as square to the bit as possible. This will make it smaller Make sure you try a test haloe in similar wood to check size and make sure it IS sharp enough so you won't get any tear out of wood around the hole. It's easier than it sounds. I have done ot many time fitting round tapered ballesters in hand rails. When you cut em they always seem to be an in between size lol ps
I agree about the bit being the best choice. However, if you have a Dremel tool and the Dremel router base-steady hands help too- you can do a nice job. I used this method to install some brass inlays in a ukulele and a guitar I recently built. I do not know what kind of grip material you have, I assume wood, but here's a couple of tips that I picked up that helped me.
Make your cuts a little at a time, being cognizant of the correct direction to feed the router into the work. Check your fit often, and make the diameter a bit shy of the diameter needed. You can finish it off by hand with either a scraper or sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. Since you want to install something-coin?-and keep the face then you have to get the depth just right so that any sanding you do won't erase the face of the inlay.
If you happen to get the diameter a little too big, you can fill the gap with sanding dust mixed with your choice of glue. I've used Tite-Bond, and thin super glue. Once the dust-glue mixture is dry, you can carefully sand it and the filler will be invisible. One other thing that helps,especially if you have a snug fit, is to taper the edge of the inlay and the cut a slight amount. This will help seat the inlay without mashing the cut.
This probably sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't too bad. I would practice on some scrap material first.
Make your cuts a little at a time, being cognizant of the correct direction to feed the router into the work. Check your fit often, and make the diameter a bit shy of the diameter needed. You can finish it off by hand with either a scraper or sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. Since you want to install something-coin?-and keep the face then you have to get the depth just right so that any sanding you do won't erase the face of the inlay.
If you happen to get the diameter a little too big, you can fill the gap with sanding dust mixed with your choice of glue. I've used Tite-Bond, and thin super glue. Once the dust-glue mixture is dry, you can carefully sand it and the filler will be invisible. One other thing that helps,especially if you have a snug fit, is to taper the edge of the inlay and the cut a slight amount. This will help seat the inlay without mashing the cut.
This probably sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't too bad. I would practice on some scrap material first.
A dime is specced at 17.9 mm in diameter, or .7047".
An 11/16 (.6875)" would therefore be slightly undersized and a 23/32 (.7187)" just oversized, but likely a nice fit.
Not sure if forstner bits come in these sizes.
I'd get the holes properly sized and all the surface finishing done first, and then place the dimes as the last step to avoid damaging the coins as mentioned above.
Neat project. We's like to see pics when you're done.
:)
An 11/16 (.6875)" would therefore be slightly undersized and a 23/32 (.7187)" just oversized, but likely a nice fit.
Not sure if forstner bits come in these sizes.
I'd get the holes properly sized and all the surface finishing done first, and then place the dimes as the last step to avoid damaging the coins as mentioned above.
Neat project. We's like to see pics when you're done.
:)
