Grip fashion advice

[Guest mosinon]

When you see grips online going for a hundy for a set and you have some wood laying around your natural inclination is to think "Wow, I can do it myself!"

If you are very stupid and your screen name is mosinon you decide to do it with hand tools. The idea being that you'll be forced to go slow and not make as many mistakes. This turns out not to be the case. You still make just as many mistakes as you would if you used power tools but the mistakes just take A LOT longer.

After an absurd amount of time attempting to make grips for a beretta 92fs I think I've got the right combination of puncture wounds, scrapes and cuts to turn out a usable pair.

Here's the dilemma: I wanted some contrast in the grips, a little light and a little dark wood. Someone, the member name escapes me, suggested gluing strips of maple and walnut together. Sounded like a great idea but making thin laminate by hand is too much too ask.

Luckily I had some walnut with white streaks in it. Here's the problem, do I put the light part of the grip towards the front of the 92fs or the back? Here's my, um, blanks:

Someday these will be grips.... I hope. Tomorrow they would be grips if I had a router table and a band saw....Wait, that would break the hand tool rule.

I hear you doubting the mosinon, I hear you saying that no human would invest this kind of time in such a meanigless project and if they did there is no way they could screw it up more than once. Friends, I present you with photographic evidence of my ineptitude:

And those are the ones who haven't been burned or thrown in the trash out of frustration.

AS a now experienced grip maker I am happy to offer advice to all who wish to make their own set of grips: FInd someone better than me to ask about the subject.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[kieefer]

I would put it the lighter shade on the back side.

When you get "real" good, price me a set out of Bull horn.

[Guest mosinon]

I would put it the lighter shade on the back side.

When you get "real" good, price me a set out of Bull horn.

I was leaning that way myself. But always interested in others opinions.

Bull horn grips, eh?

I can do that for you. First google it, find the price and send me a check for ten percent. Because the best I am ever going to be is good enough to get this project done!

I should've just bought some Esmerelda grips. But I am learning. I guess....

[Caster]

I've done it with moderate success but my scrap pile would keep the wood stove going all night in North Dakota.

The best pair I ever made was for piece of junk Rossi revolver. I fitted two blocks to the frame and went to the belt sander. I didn't care about the gun or if i messed up the finish, so I just held it by the frame and got busy. They turned out beautiful, fit the gun and my hand perfect and I didn't skin the frame once. Had it been one of my Rugers i would have ground the frame in two.

For my blackhawk, I have a set of CLC grips. Pricey, but they are works of art.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

As sculptors say, a grip is hiding in each of your walnut blocks. Just remove the material around the grip to set it free! Easier said than done.

I wanna make some grips some day. It will definitely be with power tools.

[Guest mosinon]

The best advice I ever got was "Don't kiss a whore" the second best advice I ever got was (something like) " I wouldn't have the patience to do that by hand" and I am pretty sure you said that.

Yes, Lester, you are right. There is really no tangible benefit I can see at this point by doing it by hand. If I would've listened when you said that I probably wouldn't still have grips but I would have learned as much and have a lot less time invested.

Now it has become me versus the wood. One of us is going to win. Sadly, it is likely going to be the wood.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Oh I don't know enough to give advice. I'm just not good with hand tools. If I had the money and time to learn, would just as soon like to get a CNC mill to make things like grips.

I remember farmers in my youth in rural AL that would whittle pretty marvelous things out of wood with a pocket knife. I bet those guys could have made really nice grips with little more than a pocket knife.