New and Unusual Grip Maker

[mike101]

Well, he's new to me anyway. I stumbled across this place when I did a search on gun grips. When you keep the search words simple, more grip-makers come up.

He says he can make grips for any single action (they do auto grips too), turn around in shop is 4 days, and he will fit them to your gun FREE FOR NUTHIN'!!! They ain't cheap, but if you're going to have grips fitted, the price is comparable to Hogue, and a little cheaper than Eagle. And turn around is shorter by 1 to 2 months!

http://www.klamathriverwoodworks.com/wst_page2.php

I have a Colt Frontier Scout out at Fords being nickel plated. When it comes back, I think I'm grabbing a pair of these.

http://www.klamathriverwoodworks.com...pg&&ID2=fCDPAq

Some very beautiful and unusual woods. Check out American Holly (looks like Ivory).

__________________
The PEOPLE are the MILITIA, dammit.

"Gun-Free Zones" are only gun-free, until somebody brings a gun.

 

[K-Man]

Brian is a great craftsman. I have a set of his grips on my single action guns. He's also done some other things with us. Stand up guy, and very customer service oriented. I'm sure you'll enjoy your grips.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

My experience was quite different.

I had some 1911 grips designed with mosaic pins in a pattern and a damascus insert in the center. It was to feature a magwell cut and use materials I supplied (damascus, wood, mosaic pins). I noted that the damascus cannot be glued in because I had to heat treat to bring out the color.

-The holes for the mosaic pins weren't drilled in the right places. He said the wild grain in ironwood makes drills wander and difficult to drill straight.
-The grips came back with a bevel instead of magwell cut and the mag release cut on the right side was too big.
-The shouldered hole for recessing the grip screws was also too big, so there was a big ugly gap when the screws were in.
-The damascus was glued in solid
-I had him waterjet cut the damascus rounds out of a blank I purchased. Those turned out proper. They also had to be filed down with the roundish grip profile to blend in, which was why I can't have it glued in because you need to heat it in an oven to bring out the color again.

Had I known this, I'd have done it without the mosaic pins and make doubly clear on the magwell feature and damascus not being glued in. The pins being off just 1/16" of an inch made it look completely horrible because the pattern was spaced close, so I deleted the mosaic pin idea. I am forgiving, so I gave it a second chance.

The second time ultimately it didn't work out either as the features were off in location (the damascus insert was way too high, about 2/3 of the way up instead of center). I paid for the work and I requested a third go at it but he wasn't interested in trying again so that was that. I would say if you don't have anything super custom or exotic, then basic work is probably fine. If you want it done right, do it yourself.

I ended up doing a pair of grips myself and it turned out better than I expected and it was quite easy. Third time the charm I guess. I had no templates and no issues drilling holes in the right place. I only used a jigsaw, sandpaper (not even a power sander), and a drill press.

Nice guy as far as communication goes. But it took me $200 (plus materials) and many months to find out that 1911 grips didn't turn out properly and I was pretty upset about that. I personally wouldn't use his services ever again but there are happy customers too so I'm just one guy. The guy was never a jerk or anything, the product just didn't turn out properly and he gave up on wanting to try again. Neither of us were ever uncivil.

This is ultimately what I made by myself. I tossed out the Klamath grips.