Tried my hand at Grip Making

[deac45]

Nice work! I happen to prefer little or no bevel on the bottom.

deac45

 

[Juan Largo]

Nice work--you are off to a good start!

 

[Shoot44]

Hey, that's great work! Especially for your first try!!!
I also prefer no bevel on mine, and that is how I make them. All of my SA's now wear grips I have made, and they are all of walnut; (easiest to get, and nice to work with.) (See my avatar; 44, 357, and SS.)

On my 44 Mag, I have built in a 'palm swell' sort of on the right grip. Helps to fit my hand and gives a bigger recoil pad to spread it out, too.

I also use a 'hidden screw' method on the right panel, so there is no hardware showing when the gun is in the holster. Not hard at all to do, once you know how.

Keep up the good work; your grips are beautiful!

 

[JSimpson65]

Thought I would post an update with version 2 on a 45Colt. Things went a bit better this time, and I'm very happy with the results. Still a mistake or two, but again I'm not telling what they are. The wood is rosewood, and from a board that should give me 3 or 4 more sets. Finished with wipe-on polyurethane satin finish. As you can tell, I don't like the glossy finish and prefer a more subtle finish that highlights the wood itself:

 

[Dale53]

Those are NICE looking grips.

Dale53

 

[Otony]

:shock: WOW! Are you ready to take any orders?

Those are gorgeous. Both sets are quite nicely done.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Those are some great looking grips.

Looks like your next step may be double action revolvers.

 

[Shoot44]

W O W !!!

 

[rhatimi]

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

I don't think that was his intention :lol:

 

[Sonnytoo]

Not to worry about factory bevels on the bottom. The whole idea is to make your grips so they fit you and to heck with the factory. Who cares?
Sonnytoo

 

[29 Wheelgunner]

Excellent job, are you sure that they are your first?

 

[Rodfac]

I like the coca bolo ones...lots of color...but the walnut are great as well for a more traditional look. Here are some of mine. The blond pair are crab apple from a NY friend's wood pile...gotta love the blonds, donchaknow. The last pr are very dark rosewood...all business on a .357 50th. Yep...had to trim the front sight to keep the rear sight at a reasonable height...still have to bevel the rear slope. Regards, Rodfac

 

[JSimpson65]

Excellent job, are you sure that they are your first?

Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. Yes, these are my first attempts. There was actually one set between #1 and #2, but I stopped when I realized I had drilled the hole for the grip pin slightly offset, which allowed the grips to shift around. I put those aside and then made the second pair shown here from the same wood. I went back and finished the "mistake" set and now I think I'll fill the hole with epoxy and try to re-drill in the correct place. Don't know if it will work, but I'll give it a try. I'll post pics of that attempt if it works out.

Rodfac: those are nice grips! Like the different woods. Gives me some ideas for the next attempt.

Thanks again to all for the compliments.

Joe

 

[JSimpson65]

Pics of the third attempt
(actually the second, but quit when I realized I had mis-drilled the roll pin hole). I'm going to try to salvage this set by filling the holes with epoxy and re-drilling. Hopefully that works because I like this set. Wood is the same rosewood as grip set #2, but these are finished with oil rather than poly.

 

[JSimpson65]

In case anyone might be interested in how I made these, I thought I might include a couple of shop pics.

Rough cutting to shape is done with a bandsaw:

Disc sander is used to shape the profile. I use a shopmade sanding disc attached to a wood lathe since I already had the lathe:

Inexpensive Harbor Freight 1" belt sander is used for shaping inside surfaces that the disc sander can't do. It removes a lot of material in a hurry, so is only used to rough out the shape:

This photo shows Dust Collector (Grizzly 2hp model) plumbed with 6" PVC to all machines. Large drill press is on the left, plus another small drill press on the floor. You can also see a bench grinder, which has a thin cutoff wheel on the left used to cut grip screws to length, plus standard grinding disk on right that I use to smooth cutoff grip screw.

You might notice that I like old tools. I'm hoping to swap out the bandsaw for something older, but it works well for what I do.

 

[29 Wheelgunner]

Excellent job, are you sure that they are your first?

Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment.

It was meant to be. I know how tricky the hole alignment can be.
I've made a few knives and your set-up is very similar to mine.

Again, well done.

 

[Rodfac]

JSsimpson...great work; they are addictive once you get started, eh? I can't go by a woodpile without looking at wonderiing if there isn't some burl wood lucking in there somewhere.

CLC grips gave me a suggestion on how to drill the roll pin hole that really works. I rough shape the outline of the grip panels, leaving maybe 1/8" all around the outline, then lay them on the grip, tapping the roll pin to get a rough location. I drill the hole on the press then tap the roll pin flush from the other side. This allows me to then fit the 90 degree angle using the roll pin in the hole to accurately position the grip. Works every time and fitting the 90 degree angle is a 5 minute proposition.

On the new model grips with the lock in them, I smoke the lock with a candle to get an impression, then route the recess using a 1/4" router straight bit in the drill press.

Last thing....wood pile wood is seldom dry and I've found that my grips shrank a bit from the perfect fit I worked so hard to get.

Regards, Rodfac