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Post by MLB on May 18, 2004 23:39:35 GMT -5
$80 for checkered exotic wood grips from Hogue. Ouch. I'll probably order them anyway. 10 week delevery time too. Bother.
But in the mean time, I stopped into the local woodworker store. They have all manner of odd woods in there. Picked up a scrap of some odd wood that looks like a dark kingwood for $5. They had a bunch of ebony on sale too. Couldn't help myself. I did manage to turn down the purple wood though (yes, there is such a thing.)
So, when the time presents itself, it's down in the basement to see what I can do with it. They will have to be smooth grips as I don't have the skill or equipment to do the checkering right. Maybe they will end up as high-dollar firewood. Who knows. It will be fun anyway. Anyone else tried such a fool thing?
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Post by metalman on May 19, 2004 7:26:47 GMT -5
Well, I've never tried to make any wood grips but I did finish making an aluminum magazine floorplate yesterday. I didn't have any particular reason to make it other than I wanted to see if I could.  I'll see if I can get some pics uploaded. |
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Post by MLB on May 19, 2004 7:36:21 GMT -5
An aluminum magazine floorplate.... That would be a godsend for us poor Walther P99 owners. Anodize it black and we'd be good to go.
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Post by 5ontarget on May 19, 2004 10:58:06 GMT -5
MLB,
This can be done, My favorite tools were a scroll or a coping saw for the initial shaping, a belt sander a strong wood vise for more shaping, a few chisel points for shaping, and a dremel tool with various bur bits for final detailing. I'd started with the old grips as rough template, keeping in mind what I wanted to change, if anything. (like the thickness, thumb rest, depth of thumb rest, bigger palm portion etc.) Before you put any finish on it, make sure you have sanded, and sanded, and sanded it smooth.
You may not have the checking tools, but you can do some other custom work with the dremel and various bits. Depending on how handy you are you can do anyting from engraving to inlays, or both. Or something as simple as stippling (like a golf ball) (I've never seen a stippled wood grip, but it could work.)
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Post by tptplayer on May 19, 2004 11:14:09 GMT -5
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Post by MLB on May 19, 2004 13:10:25 GMT -5
Those aluminum floorplates look professional. Nice work! Did it take you much time to make them?
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Post by 5ontarget on May 19, 2004 17:14:54 GMT -5
metalman, you picked a good handle for the forum... good looking metal work!!
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Fobos
Gold Member
Posts: 202
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Post by Fobos on May 19, 2004 20:41:35 GMT -5
 Nice work MM!
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Post by metalman on May 20, 2004 10:12:58 GMT -5
Ok, trying the picture thing again.   |
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Post by Arclightstrike on May 20, 2004 21:58:55 GMT -5
Re: DIY grips--I worked on a set for a guy I owed; he didn't want checkering, rather engraving. Like 5ontarget I used a high speed die-grinder (one of the flexible shaft variety by Foredom) and various little "burrs" similar to what the "pain merchants" use on your teeth. I did fill in areas with something akin to stippling, but unless you have metal grips (I got a nice pair in pewter that were on the Ugly Gun before I got the Lasergrips) don't try to punch the stippling in. That ends up making the wood look like excrement. The way I stumbled onto was to take a tiny high-speed burr with a ball tip maybe a leetle bit larger than a poppy seed and used it to make indentations very close to each other, to a depth of about half the diameter of the ball tip. Hard, close-grained wood takes this well. Oiling or urethaning doesn't make it look worse, either, because the burr is running at high rpm (15,000 or so) and, when examined with a loupe, the indentations are very smooth. This technique does require the burr to be cleaned frequently, as it can "load up".
As for Metalman's replacement floorplates, you do *NICE* work, bro. Are you a professional machinist or is it a hobby?
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Post by "DoubleAction" on May 20, 2004 22:19:09 GMT -5
Looks like some real passion went into that work; Great contribution.
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Post by metalman on May 21, 2004 19:30:09 GMT -5
Thanks! I appreciate the comments ;D
I work in a machine shop where I go to school so I spend about 20 hours a week there. I definitely spent a fair amount of time on the floorplate....probably too much. Oh well, you have to spend lot of time for it to be right. Reminds me of something I read:
"There's three ways we can do it: fast, right, and cheap. You can only get two. We can do it fast and right, but it ain't gonna be cheap. We can do it fast and cheap, but ain't gonna be right."
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Post by MLB on May 31, 2004 21:24:50 GMT -5
Thought I'd post an update on the grips project. This is turning out to be a very enjoyable (if not terribly professonal) project. I started out with the slab of a hardwood called Bocote. I was looking for Kingwood, but since they didn't carry it, this looked about the same to me. Using the original grips as a template, I roughed them out with a coping saw and then went to work on them with a dremel and a drum sander bit. My original plan was to make smooth grips since I don't have the tools to checker them properly. As I was dremeling away (is that a word?), It occured to me that finger groove grips were doable with my limited experience and tooling, so away I went. I'm showing them here just placed on the frame for fit-up. I've run into a bit of a snag as the grips on the PPK/S aren't fastened to the frame, but to one another. The factory grips have a steel insert in the plastic on both sides, beveled on the right side and threaded on the left. I can't imagine where I'd get a set of these without buying another plastic set and hacking them out somehow. I don't think Walther would sell them directly, but I suppose it's worth a call. If anyone has any other ideas... After I get through this little hurdle, I'll do the final fitting and give them some sort of oil finish. They feel teriffic as I fit them to my hands as I went along. Sorry about the picture quality. My camera is lousy, and the photographer is worse ;D |
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Post by 5ontarget on Jun 1, 2004 15:37:04 GMT -5
MLB,
I like the way those look! The finger grooves are a nice touch, the grain accents them nicely. Truly a custom grip!! The $80 Hogues will probably not fit you as well. I agree with the oil finish on the grips. It won't make it slippery, it looks better with age, and it is easy to repair if it gets gouged or scratched. If you haven't picked out any finish yet, ask the people at the wood working store you bought the wood from. And please try it on some sanded scrap wood before putting it on the pieces you worked so hard on. I got a little too excited and hasty with some of my work and ended up with a weeks worth of work that I didn't like.
BTW, you mentioned you'd probably order the hogues. It looks like these will work great once you get the mounting things straightend out. Still thinking of getting the Houges?
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Post by MLB on Jun 1, 2004 17:49:16 GMT -5
Thanks five, I'm going to hold off on the Hogues for now. Assuming I don't wreck them trying to get the steel insert fitted, these will probably work better! So far, total investment = $5 plus about 4 hrs labor (I'm a bit slow at this ;D )
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Post by MLB on Jun 1, 2004 18:10:28 GMT -5
Hey, good news! they sell the little inserts! 2 sets on the way...
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Post by MLB on Jun 15, 2004 23:14:47 GMT -5
Well, it takes a bit of time, but far less than the $80 I would have had to shell out otherwise. My DIY grips are finally complete.  I decided to go with an oil finish (teak oil in this case) as I'll probably get gun oil on them anyway. A gloss finish would get some abuse as I carry it on occasion.  $5 for the slab of hardwood (I've got enough left over to make 2 more sets of grips), $7 for the threaded inserts, and a significant amount of dremel and sanding time is my total investment. |
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Post by BlackDog on Jun 16, 2004 17:02:38 GMT -5
Very nice work, MLB! One would never know those weren't the $80 variety. I'm sure they mean MUCH more to you having crafted them yourself, too. Since you have enough wood left over for 2 more, my Buckmark with ugly black plastic grips sure could use a facelift... ;D  |
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Post by 5ontarget on Jun 16, 2004 17:50:56 GMT -5
MLB,
They look great both separately and on with the gun. They make a nice looking walther look better.
Let me know if it shoots as good as it looks, now that you have custom grips on it.
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Post by Oregunner on Jun 16, 2004 23:24:45 GMT -5
MLB, those grips came out real nice and with the finger
grooves I bet they feel good too.
Last year I modified a GI M14 fiberglass stock for my
M1A with some bondo and paint. I fits me better and is
one of a kind.
There's something about being able to say, I made it myself.
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I'll see if I can get some pics uploaded.
