OT: Get A Grip - FINISHED Pics Added

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:41 pm

I've been enamoured of "stone" handgun grips, eversince I spotted the $29,000 Ruger that the Ruger Custom Shop put out a few years ago that had green jade grip panels on a blued/engraved Blackhawk.

Well, today my neighbor stopped by, and gave me a baker's dozen of different polished stone ovals, flat on one side, that he had hanging around from a deceased family member for many years.
They look like they were going to be made into ladies pins or brooches.

AHA ! I'm thinking.........GRIPS for my NAA Mini's !

So, I outlined the frame on the back of one, with a pencil

And ground away the "waste", down to the pencil mark, on a grinding wheel

After finishing grinding to the line, and tapering what would be the outer surface of the grips to a pleasing curve/contour, they're ready for final smoothing & polishing.

In a less harsh light (sans flash)

I'm still deciding how I want to attach them, since I don't have any lapidary drills, etc for the grip screw & estucheon - but I have two more pair to make before I have to come to that decision.

(EDIT: Last Night, I roughed out a 2nd set of panels, with the green-colored stones)

[EDIT: The finished pics are posted later in this thread]
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2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:43 pm

Neat!
A little super glue and you're all set

jb

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:46 pm

Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind !

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:57 pm

Ok.....I"m impressed!

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:02 pm

Very nice. How did you attach them to the grip frame?

Wind · Post by **Wind** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:43 pm

Wow!! I'm seriously impressed!! And the best part is you can always offer a "rock bottom" price is you ever go to sell one of them.... Wind

coyote nose · Post by **coyote nose** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:51 pm

NICE!!! I just love handcrafted items. With all the work you put into it, I would either go ahead and buy a couple of lapidary drill bits...cant be that much money, or maybe experiment with glass drilling bits from the big box store. Most glass is silicon dioxide or a variant, as is jade, onyx, and most of what you have there.

Grizz · Post by **Grizz** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:07 pm

nice. that's very attractive and customized... you could put a little led inside and have glow-in-the-dark grips!

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:14 pm

Nice job.

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:32 pm

If you wrap some rubber bands around them the rocks will stay in place and you will have somthing nice and grippy to hold on to...

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:02 pm

Pete44ru wrote: I'm still deciding how I want to attach them, since I don't have any lapidary drills, etc for the grip screw & estucheon - but I have two more pair to make before I have to come to that decision.
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Duct tape outta work just fine...

Seriously, I think you can get diamond bits for Dremel tools that are small but would make a decent place to put the grip screw & estucheon.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:20 pm

Very cool!

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:48 pm

Only thing better than custom grips are ones you did yourself! AWESOME!!!

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:17 pm

2ndovc wrote:Neat!
A little super glue and you're all set

jb

JB Weld...

Nice project!

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:30 pm

Try a woodworkers trick to mount those.

White glue a sheet of newspaper between the frame and grip.
Will stay put and can seperate with an exacto knife.

Post by **Old Savage** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:15 am

Very nice work!

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:36 am

Pics added - Thank you all, for the kind words.

Thanks bsaride, for the tip - I'll give it a try.

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Borregos · Post by **Borregos** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:45 am

Nice work

That trick of bsaride's sound good

1886 · Post by **1886** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:03 pm

Those look great. You are very handy. 1886.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 1:50 pm

A "Lapidary" (sp?) kind of guy or gal can easily drill holes for the grip screw in your new grips. Mark where you want the holes drilled, send em off, and get em drilled.

dkmlever · Post by **dkmlever** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:00 pm

Very creative and good looking!

DadsMod12 · Post by **DadsMod12** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:12 pm

I'm a lapidary, and I have to say NICE JOB! If you want to drill the holes get some diamond drills bits and a diamond carving point (to enlarge the hole). The secret to drilling the hole is to keep the bit cool. I take some of my girls playdough and make a little dam around the hole area and fill it with water. You want to start the drill bit in at an angle so the bit doesn’t skip across the top of the stone. Once you have the hole started straighten out the bit. Go easy when you get close to the other side as some stones can fracture (splinter). Use the carving point to enlarge the hole - keep it wet.

If you want to glue them on I would use a two part epoxy (5 minute or 2 hour type). If you want to remove them then just slowly heat the stone where you applied the glue. It doesn’t take a lot of heat to weaken the glue. I use an alcohol lamp.

Good luck.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:30 pm

Thank you - That's fine praise, indeed - coming from a lapidary.

I tend to look longer than I act - at least when it comes to crafting gun stuff - and the longer I look at them, the more I DON'T want to disturb the beautiful figure with a screw hole/head.

So. I'm definitely going to glue them on - with either bsaride's newsprint/whiteglue trick, or your epoxy suggestion DadsMod12 - But I've laid off, for a day or so, before starting the final fitting and shaping, then the polishing.

But - they're coming along

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Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:38 pm

OK Pete...

How about this:

Use a LH twist & a RH twist brass Female post epoxied opposite each other on each grip half, then screw a bit of brass all-thread into side A then spin side B into place.

In no way will it be shootable in that condition (it wouldn't using the paper/glue method either) but it WILL look pretty... and be more stable than the paper/glue method.

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:56 pm

Old Ironsights wrote:OK Pete...

How about this:

Use a LH twist & a RH twist brass Female post epoxied opposite each other on each grip half, then screw a bit of brass all-thread into side A then spin side B into place.

In no way will it be shootable in that condition (it wouldn't using the paper/glue method either) but it WILL look pretty... and be more stable than the paper/glue method.

BTW that paper/glue trick is used to hold large pieces of wood on a plate for woodturning.
Those things have to stay put and spin very fast before a gouge touches them (sideload).

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:26 pm

Thanks for the input, fellas.

The main problem, with any other method than glueing/epoxying, is that these grips will slide around on the frame, willy-nilly - since they're not inletted slightly into the perimeter of the gripframe, as the issue wood grips are.
The inner surface is flat/smooth, as can be seen in one of the first few pics in the OP.

And, while I like to look at my guns as much as the next guy, I shoot every single one of them - as often as I can !

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JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:43 am

Beautiful stuff!

don Tomás · Post by **don Tomás** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:34 pm

Very nice. Sir, you are a craftsman...

Tom

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:25 am

I think I'm as "done" as I'm gonna be (for now) with the mini grips.
I can always polish them further, if need be.

I decided to take advice from the horse's mouth (DadsMod12 - a lapidary) and epoxied them to the frames with three very small dots of a two-part epoxy on each side of the respective gripframe perimeter.
I paste-waxed the frames, prior to epoxying, then wiping the flat sides with acetone to clean off the wax for gluing.

Here's the three Mini frame sizes: Short/Long Rifle/Magnum

Here's how they compare to the factory grip width:

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Borregos · Post by **Borregos** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:44 am

Very, very nice

Well done

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:16 am

Thank you.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:22 am

Fine job. Look really good.

Post by **Hobie** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:23 am

Darn nice!

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:55 am

most excellent job!!!! well done. thanks for sharing

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:31 am

Very unique project with beautiful results - rock on!

Nate Kiowa Jones · Post by **Nate Kiowa Jones** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:15 pm

Nice work. You can drill those yourself. Go to a hardware store and buy a 3/16" and 1/8" masonrary drill bit. Use a battery drill because you will be drill under water. Fill a palstic container with water with the grip panel in the bottom and drill it. the water keeps it cool and removes the swarf. Counter sink with the 3/16" and drill through with the 1/8". Turn it over and drill before you go all the way though. To stablize them to the frame use some JB weld along the bottom inside but grease the frame as a releasing agent.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:47 pm

Thanks for the kudos, guys - and thank you for the scuba tip, Steve !

I may have to drill them, but so far the epoxy dots have held, through a few cylinders of shooting/handling, w/o any issues.

I enjoyed them before I regripped them, but now they're like a pair of little jewels !

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TedH · Post by **TedH** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:50 pm

Nicely done.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:07 pm

Pete,
Just when I thought I had seen everything, something new comes along. That is really neat! I never would have thought of stone but in the case of the Mini's, it makes perfect sense. It adds a bit of weight and width for easier handling. The colors are beautiful. I bet that scratching the inside surface a bit, then making your own "inletting" with PC-7 or something similar would help to keep 'em in place.

Plus, I learned a new word--lapidary---of course, I had to google it to see what it meant.

--------Sixgun

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:49 pm

Finished pictures look great - thanks for sharing this project with us!

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:58 pm

VERY nice.. Well done!

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:39 am

You folks are embarassing me with your kindness - Thank you !

If you thought stone revolver grips was "thinking outside the box", I wish digi cameras were around about 20 years ago, when I mounted a teensy Beeman SS-1 scope on the bolt of a .375 BB94 so it traveled with the bolt like a bolt peep sight !

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