# How to make gun grips?



## bofa

Alright... been looking for this on the site for a bit and no luck (although found some pretty spiffy pictures of others' work). How do I get started in making gun grips? I saw some pretty neat species at woodcraft today and have been thinking about my 1911 ever since. Do you bandsaw the raw material into blocks, then trace the design, bandsaw some more, and then simply sand down the contours?

edit: oh and what sizes of material should I start with? any pitfalls to lookout for?


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## Fishbucket

Just pull one of the scales off, measure it. find a good hardwood you like and go to town. Most 1911 furniture is less then 1/2 thick. 
Alot of file work and sanding will be most of it. maybe carve um up, or do some checkering... sky is the limit. 

I've got a couple pieces of wood I'm wanting to do this to also. 



[edit-on] 

found this on googly. pretty good read. 

http://www.1911pistolgrips.com/process.php


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## bofa

Thanks, yep stumbled upon that myself - good info for sure. I think the only part I'm unsure if now is getting the curvature right and even. Should probably grab a piece of wood and practice a bit.


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## fromthehills

I think I might go out to the shop right now, and give these a whirl. I like my grip, already, for shooting. It's just a molded piece of rubber with finger grips, and it works very well. I might tackle that design in wood one day, but that would be rough. I'll try a couple scales out of some scrap I have around, though. Let you know.


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## bofa

Was poking around Lowes tonight and picked up a piece of red oak... figured it will be good for practice and was pretty cheap. 

And apparently my wife laid on old shotgun I have on the floor in the garage at some point so the stock and forend are all all jacked up now. Might be tackling that as well here in a month or two.


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## fromthehills

I found the old scales. I went out to make some out of juniper, just for practice, but ended up having people show up before I could get to work on it.

May start after I eat some food.


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## bofa

If it wasn't 100 degrees in my garage I'd be right there with ya :smile:


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## fromthehills

Sorry, it took me a while to photo my first attempt, and since I made a second attempt. The first image is my first try with Juniper. The second is with a wood I don't know. I made the pairs, but I just put one on each side to show you guys.


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## fromthehills

Was going to try to make some grips for my .357, but it looks like I need to find a nice screw and nut to fit. Otherwise it would mean trashing the stock grip to get one.


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## bofa

Looks very nice. I picked up some wood but haven't gotten around to shaping yet. What process did you use?


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## fromthehills

I cut some blanks @ 3/8, on the table saw.

I traced some existing grips, once I picked which way I wanted it.

I cut, leaving the line, on the bandsaw.

I sanded to the line on my disk/belt sander.

I lined them up with existing grips and drilled 1/4 inch holes with the drill press.

I sanded the back flat, then sanded the faces.

I free-handed the grip's arch by holding half of the grip on the belt sander, and lifting it to curve from the center of the grip to the edge. Spin and repeat.

I put a Dremmel drum sanding bit in my drill press to sand out the pin notches, and the mag release notch.

There's a back cut, that you'll see, that I cut with a sharp bench chisel.

A minute of 220 hand sanding, and some tung oil.


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## fromthehills

Next, I think I'll try to whittle some, to have the gripping surface. Then to be more adventurous, I might try to make a wrap around grip like my Hogue rubber grip. Trying to get that one in my head.http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=image&resnum=7&ved=0CD4Q8gIwBg#


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## bofa

Sound like you are well on your way. 

Yeah see I was thinking a band saw and disk/belt sander are almost required for these. Unfortunately I have not been able to get either yet. I cut the oak out using jigsaw but I'm quite a bit from the line I traced. Really need to get some new toys for this project I think.


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## fromthehills

What about whittling? It's obviously the method of patience, but when I get a little time I'm going to try it. I think you could come up with some stylish grips with a pocket knife. Oak wouldn't be my first choice for this method, though.


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## bofa

Not a bad idea really.. might have to go pick up some cuts. I still want to get a set on there in the meantime. I bet my 357 would look nice with whittled grips.


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## fromthehills

Just wondering. Any guesses on the species of wood, in my second photo?


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