Homemade grips

[jtscuba02]

I have some poplar wood with some really nice purple in it and I would like to make some grips out of it. Has anybody made grips before? It seems like it might take a little time to fit them, but not too bad. Post up some pics and any advice please. Thanks in advance.

 

[dwwright]

I made some for my Phoenix HP 22 a while back. I'd probably suggest stabilizing the wood first or at least seal both the inside as well as the outside on the finished pieces to keep them from warping. Stabilizing would probably be the preferred method.

If you have any recesses to do, do those first, then cut out the pieces. I did my recesses using a plunge router with a 1/4" spiral bit, then cleaned them up with a chisel.

After cutting out the pieces, I used my oscillating sander to shape them to final shape.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=522808&highlight=hp22+grips

Good luck, post some pics, would love to see what you come up with.

 

[arcticap]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=483443&highlight=grips

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=5739733&postcount=5

 

[jtscuba02]

Thanks for the info. I am going to cut them with a band saw and rough shape them with my bench belt sander. I should be able to get them close and finish with a dremel and elbow grease. I can't believe the color in this wood. I was strolling thru my second home, Lowes, and they had some boards in there with yellow, purple, and olive green all in the same plank. I bought a hundred bucks worth of it for future use. I think these grips will be beautiful when finished.

 

[alienbogey]

I can't believe the color in this wood. I was strolling thru my second home, Lowes, and they had some boards in there with yellow, purple, and olive green all in the same plank. I bought a hundred bucks worth of it for future use.

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[jtscuba02]

No problem. Here is one piece. The camera doesn't do the colors justice. The second picture is my roughed out grips. If I can shape them up properly, I will use the purple wood.

 

[Danriffle]

I hope the color stays, but that lovely purple tends to fade to brown in poplar.

Dan

 

[BCRider]

I hate to tell you know that you've gone so far on this project. Poplar is a VERY soft wood and it's going to mark up and wear in use badly just from normal handling. If you want to have a go at some new grips you're far better off to find some style of hardwood that you like.

And another wood working hint. The grain direction of the wood is imporant. The first picture showing the grips drawn on the purple part has the shapes angled poorly. What you want to do is run something like hand gun grips so the rain runs more or less parallel to the rear back strap side of the grips or right up the center between back and front just as you did with the cut out blank on the right side of that picture. Making the grips with the grain oriented in that manner puts the tougher and more difficult to ding end grain at the butt end of the grips which is good.

 

[jtscuba02]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I researched Poplar and even though it is classified as hardwood, it is softer than Pine. I'm going to roll with it and see how it turns out. I will make sure to try and keep the grain going with the back strap after I get done practicing on these ones. Thanks again!

 

[junkman_01]

From the internet.....

There are two types of wood, Hardwood and Softwood. Now the terms have absolutely nothing to do with whether a wood is soft or hard, nor it's density. It all has to do with pores and fibrosity.

Hardwoods are technically and scientifically non-monocot angiosperm trees (there, bet you wish you'd had never asked !). In short in Northern Europe these are virtually all broadleaf deciduous trees (that is they lose their leaves in Autumn). Tropical hardwoods on the other hand are largely evergreens. Some hardwoods are actually quite soft, the most extreme example being Balsa wood.

So what defines a hardwood ?

Hardwood trees when examined under the microscope have a porous structure these pores act as natural gaps in the fibre of the tree, making them easier to cut through. The sorts of hardwoods you will likely encounter in your garden include oak, beech, ash, cherry, and a couple of hardwoods that are evergreens namely boxwood and holly. In firewood terms hardwoods make the best logs, burn better,spark less etc. Now European softwoods (which generally come from evergreen or coniferous trees) are devoid of the pores found in hardwoods (the pores transport water throughout the tree, think veins if you like). Typical softwoods are fir, pine, larch and spruce. The wood is more fibrous, lacking the natural gaps in the structure created by the pores in hardwood.

http://reviews.ebay.ie/The-Different-Chain-Types-Styles_W0QQugidZ10000000009826673

 

[Malamute]

I did some one piece rosewoods on my Ruger Vaquero.

 

[junkman_01]

Nice!

 

[jtscuba02]

Those rosewood grips look great. How much time did you end up having in them?

 

[BCRider]

Yep, "hardwood" and "softwood" are not related to their density at all. For example balsa is actually classified as a "hardwood". I sure wouldn't want to make any gun grips from it though.

On the other hand fir is a softwood but if you could old growth "tight" ringed quarter grain pieces with about 16 rings per inch I suspect it would make for very servicable grips that were almost as scuff and dent resistant as many of the classic domestic woods used for grips.

 

[Jaymo]

Tung oil, CA resin, or vacuum impregnating it with polyester resin would harden it up nicely.

 

[Tango2]

Colt 1860 Army grips

http://www.blackpowder.lt/attachments/Image/Colt1860grips.jpg

 

[Malamute]

Those rosewood grips look great. How much time did you end up having in them?

I don't recall how much time I had in the wood part. I didnt make them from scratch tho, they were oversize "one piece" blanks from Dixie meant for Colt SAA's. They were two pieces with a spacer in the center, so no grip screw. I had about 11 hours of metal work and some welding to get the grip frame ready to do one piece grips.

 

[Pulp]

There's a thread over in the SASS Saloon(ACS) about using American holly. It's white when cut, but turns yellow, just like old ivory.

 

[madcratebuilder]

There's a thread over in the SASS Saloon(ACS) about using American holly. It's white when cut, but turns yellow, just like old ivory.

Holly is a interesting color. I have a block I have aged for three years, ran it through the planer last fall. It's time to re-saw it to working size.

For the OP's poplar grips. Tung oil well harden the surface of the wood significantly. Give them a 24hr soak in some warm tung oil, then a few weeks to dry.

 

[Sniper X]

Not revolver grips, but I made these for my SA Defender.



I forget what kind of wood it was but it sure smelled good whilst I was sanding it and is pretty.

 

[BCRider]

There's a thread over in the SASS Saloon(ACS) about using American holly. It's white when cut, but turns yellow, just like old ivory.

I've got a small supply of Arbutus that is like this. A very fine and almost indistinct grain that would be in many ways similar to ivory. And it starts almost bone white and lightly yellows with age to a light honey color. And it's hella hard when dry. Almost like a metal.

Thanks for reminding me about it. It would be a great wood for some light contrast for dark coloured guns.

 

[Jaymo]

I have a piece of sweetgum I've been aging for the past 4 years. It's white like holly and has a tight interlocking grain.
I also have a piece of what appears to be myrtlewood that I've been aging for about the same amount of time.
Then there's the mahogany I was given by a cabinet shop.

 

[jtscuba02]

Thanks to all for the info and pictures. I had no idea that Tung oil would harden wood. I thought it just made it repel water. Beautiful grips!

 

[arcticap]

According to this company, tung oil doesn't harden wood.
But they claim that their oil is a special hardening oil which does.

From the 2nd box down on the right:

The 3 most commonly used
wood floor finishing systems are:


Penetrating and hardening wood floor oils

Oil finishes currently used in the U.S. are primarily tung oil based or similar. These oils, while they do penetrate and dry, do not harden and will not provide the best protection against wear and stains. The European style oil finish provided by WOCA of Denmark will both penetrate and harden to achieve a very wear resistant finish, which is easily applied and maintained. This type of oil finish has been manufactured in Europe for over 30 years and is currently used on almost a third of all wood floors sold in Europe.

What can I use to harden the [soft] wood so this doesn’t happen?"


Usually, a couple of thin coats of oil based polyurethane will do that, but the key is to avoid getting the finish too thick. Another alternative is to apply several coats of Danish oil, which is a more flexible finish than polyurethane.

http://www.staining123.com/QALibrary.asp?pid=2&page=347