Official Homemade 1911 Grip Thread

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Good Ol' Boy

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I don't know how much response this will get but I'm just starting on my first few pair.

Ipe in the final phases next to the Rosewood that came on the gun...


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I've got some Cherry on deck next and I'll probably do a pair of Maple after that. Then I'd like to get into some more eye catching exotics.

So, if you've made your own please share.


Also, any recommendations on final finishes would be appreciated. No staining here.
 
That looks good. I would go with BLO and see how that looks after about the first 5 coats. I would certainly not start on a finished grip though.
 
You can try several coats of Tru Oil with light sanding across the grain between them once it gets tacky - to fill the pores and get an even surface. After that you can build a gloss varnished finish, or leave only the Tru Oil that is soaked in the wood for satin looking "oiled finish". Heating slightly the grips and the finishing oil of your choice will help it penetrate the wood deeper. There are many options available depending on the desired results you want to achieve, but the basis for every good finish is filing the pores. If you fail to do that, no matter what you put as a coat, it will look rough and unpleasing. Boiled linseed oil is a traditional oil finish, but it takes longer to polymerize. One more thing about grain filling - with such small pieces as grips it's better to not use steel wool as it can easily round the edges and actually enhance the pores at the edges. Stick to fine sandpaper with backer.
 
Good Ol' Boy

Your 1911 grips are looking great! You do nice work and I'm looking forward to see what you'll be doing with your "exotic wood" selection.
 
Beautiful work! Wish I had your skills. What are your go to sources for wood?
Kcace
 
Good looking job.

I have not tried it yet but an old timer told me to use some bleach on the facing side to open the grain. Then seal with poly.
 
They look good to me. I've made quite a few sets over the years and experimented with different arrangements of finger and thumb grooves along with just plain grips. I've stippled a few but most are just smooth finish. I did some checkering many years ago but by the time I got good at it I was finding it boring and I finally quit and am not going to start over. I've used fancy walnut but mostly used local mesquite that I've found large enough stuff to cut blanks from. My last set was full coverage, smooth, grips made from some extra fancy mesquite blanks I found on ebay. I've had a pair of curly maple ones cut out for sometime now but i just can't make myself finish them. I'm not a fan of maple wood and really don't know why I started them in the first place. I just purchased a piece of bocote and will see how a set from that turns out pretty quick. I've also made quite a few sets of single action grips from fancy walnut and mesquite. I try to cut blanks from local mesquite where a limb grows off as I find some really nice grain patterns doing this.

I don't do anything fancy in the finishing department. I start with clear gloss MinWax polyurethane varnish in the rattle can and wet sand using a circular motion, let dry, sand, and if there are any pores not filled I repeat until I can't find any pores. I then spray another coat of clear gloss and let dry. Then I sand lightly to kill the gloss and spray again with the clear gloss if I want shiny grips and repeat until I'm satisfied with the depth of the finish. If not wanting a shiny finish I use either semi-gloss or matte MinWax depending on how dull I want for my finish coat. This method is quick and durable and the hotter the weather the quicker it is. Why use the gloss until the final coat. It contains nothing to hide the figure of the wood. Building up a finish with the others will result in toned down or muddy looking figure. I have some furniture as does my daughter that I made using this finish several years ago and it has held up and still looks pretty much new.
 
A few weeks ago a friend gave me a 1911 project he decided not to finish. I had everything to finish it except some officers model grips so I printed a few sets.

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If only we could print them from exotic woods and ivory... By the way, I would love to see a sandblasted set made from briar, or arbutus (strawberry tree), as those woods show some crazy wild patterns when sandblasted - google "sandblasted smoking pipe" for examples.
 
Beautiful work! Wish I had your skills. What are your go to sources for wood?
Kcace




I work in the mill at a lumberyard so my domestic hardwood scrap selections are pretty endless. That's my "go to".

There's a Wood Craft about an hour away that had a decent selection of small exotic chunks the last time I was there. And I may look into some online sources for that type of wood as well.
 
The Cherry that I'm STILL working on. Haven't had much time to work on anything in the shop the last couple months.

I'm taking my time with these. I may gift them to my FIL depending on how they turn out.


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Lookin' good. I have three sets of blanks, all from different woods, cut out and read to drill and they have just been collecting dust for several weeks. I always find another fish to fry or my wife interrupts me with honey-do projects. Colder weather's coming and I'll have more time shortly.
 
eBay is a great source for exotic wood and there are many that sell pistol grip sized matches pairs in many species. There are also a few wood traders on Facebook wood groups that sell some nice ones. I keep thinking about using some of my ebony and making a set, but I just haven’t gotten up the nerve yet.
 
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