Tried my hand at Grip Making

[JSimpson65]

Hello All,

I finally got moving on my project to make a set of Blackhawk grips and thought I would share the results. I'm actually pretty please with them for my first try, especially since I had assumed that most likely I would throw out the first set and have to try again.

Wood is Chechen, finished with Watco Danish Oil. I tried to get a more natural, less glossy finish.

I made a few "learning mistakes", but I'm not telling what they are. Any critiques or suggestions are always appreciated.

 

[Snake45]

They look great, especially for a first effort. You should be very proud of them. :wink:

 

[Knuckles]

Heck' they look as good as factory... nice!

 

[Chance]

Nice job, they came out very nice.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Nice, very nice and welcome to the RugerForum.

By the way none of us have made any mistakes so your secret is safe with us.

...Jimbo

 

[Old Judge Creek]

Well done!

 

[GhosT]

WOW,

Those look GREAT!

Be proud...

 

[pvtschultz]

They look just as good as my first ones did. Do a few hundred more and you won't make any of those mistakes...or at least you can try not to. I still do, but don't tell anyone!

 

[JSimpson65]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

It was a fun learning project, but now I need a few more sets. This set is on a 50th Anniv .357, and I still have a 50th Anniv 44, two more 45's and a 41 that all have the factory plastic grips.

Making your own grips definately makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of guys like Carl and others who can do a much nicer job than I probably ever could.

Thanks again,

Joe

 

[btrumanj]

Nice job. You did good!

 

[Otony]

Excellent job. Never heard of chechen, it is a purty looking wood for sure!

 

[DGW1949]

I'm real picky about grips, but I tell ya what....if you made any "mistakes" there, I don't see what they were. I particularly like the way that both panels match as to grain structure.
All in all, I think you did a dern good job.

About all I'd want different would be blued hardware for a blued gun. Well that, and I like a traditional bevel on the bottom....but those are personal things.
The important thing about grips is that they actualy fit the grip frame and that the two screw holes line up when they are installed.....which your's seem to do.

If you do decide to throw them out, you are welcome to throw 'em at me.:lol: .

DGW

 

[Ruger1441]

Look much better than my first attempt.

 

[JSimpson65]

DGW,

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you on the hardware. The ones I have are brass ferrules with stainless screws purchased as a set from Brownells. I didn't think about the blued/stainless until you mentioned it, but I think I'll replace the screw w/ blued.

I'll also look a little closer at some of the custom grips to see about the bevel on the bottom. I had originally intended to put a bevel at the top, where the right angle meets the grip frame, but took too much material off and it wouldn't have been a consistent bevel. That's one of my mistakes and something I learned for the next try.

Thanks again,

Joe

 

[two bit okie]

only three things needed, they need to fit a super blackhawk, they need to be mine, and I would put medallians on them

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Congrats! I've been wanting to try my hand at grip making for a while. If I thought they'd come out that good I would have already tried it!

-- Sam

 

[Sonnytoo]

Very nice work!
Sonnytoo

 

[JSimpson65]

About all I'd want different would be blued hardware for a blued gun. Well that, and I like a traditional bevel on the bottom....but those are personal things.
DGW

OK, I just realized what you were telling me about the bevel on the bottom. I may not be the fastest car in the race, but eventually I get there. :wink: I actually did bevel them, but compared to the stock grips the angle I put is less than half the factory angle. Being my first attempt, I was paying more attention to the shape and fit and didn't even compare the bottom to the factory jobs. One more chalked up to a learning experience!

Sorry for the photo quality. All the photos in this thread were taken with my cellphone, which doesn't always do what I want it to do:

 

[Pal Val]

If that's your learning set, I'd like to see the next one!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[JTM47]

Mention was made to blued hardware for handgun grips.
Does anyone know where this can be obtained?
I'm getting ready to make a set of grips from some Holly and want to use blued in lieu of stainless/brass.