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The official gripmakers showcase thread

877K views 3K replies 532 participants last post by  1911adix 
#1 · (Edited)
Rules are now gone since some posters tended to ignore them anyway.

Go for it.. :)
 
#2,138 ·
Thank you! Those Trooper grips were my first for that series gun...at the client's spec I reduced the grip circumference by about 3/4" by flaring them less than the factory target stocks, and raised the undercut behind the trigger guard to lower the gun in his hand a little. It feels great to me, and he says it makes the gun a lot more shootable for his small hands.
The hybrids...just wow. There's not a photographer in the world who can do that material justice unless they can do 3D. It doesn't take much light at all to bring out the depth. The black ones look like a night sky, and they're all translucent. The color of the frame actually changes how the resin looks. Polishing them is a bear, though...
 
#2,142 ·
Batch of PPK (Replica) grips that I did for a client. The client owns a company that specializes in custom replica firearms: for movie studios, tactical training, war re-enactors, etc.

These were fun to make, as I had to build a special jig with some interesting hold-down solutions. You'll notice that (unlike 1911 grips) the grips only have one screw, so there's a danger of the grip rotating in the jig if it's only pinned in with one screw. Solved that by having geometry on the backs of the grips that locked into the jig.

This should be self-explanatory, but I ought to add: neither I or my client are Nazis. These grips were reproduced to satisfy requests from war re-enactors.

Photo posted with customer's permission.

 
#2,144 ·
My favorite grip engineering trick: lay your pattern (grip) on a flatbed scanner next to a scale (some say "ruler"). Import the image into your favorite CAD program and scale such that one inch on your image matches one inch on your ruler.
Makes the geometry of grip making MUCH easier!
 
#2,156 ·
You know, it's funny that you should mention this topic.
I don't have a good answer for you, but I was just reading an on online article on exactly this subject. The author basically said that our beautiful purple and red woods will all fade with time. He did suggest using a film finish to delay the color fading or using a dye to gain a truly permanent color effect. I've never dyed wood before, but I imagine you'd have to start with a light wood. I'll bet some of the other guys on this forum are pros with dye!

Last week, I was working on a set for a customer who had sent me a small block of purpleheart. The wood had sentimental value for him as it had been owned by his father. The purple had faded with time; and to my surprise it wasn't just the surface: even the freshly exposed surfaces were brown-purple after I dimensioned the blanks. I snapped a picture of the customer's wood in my grip jig and a fresh block of purpleheart in my hand. What a difference, eh?



And just so I technically don't hijack the "showcase" thread; here's a pic of a set of paduak grips that I'm working at the moment. It'll take years, but I'm sure the bright red/orange on these grips will fade over time.

 
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