# How about a wood grip help thread



## Sarge43

I'm new to the forum, but have been working with exotic woods for years in things ranging from pens to furniture and everythign in between. I thought it would be nice to have a thread in which to let members help each other in their efforts to make their own wood grips, and to show off the ones that they have already made. If you agree, let's see some pics of your weapon dressed up. If you have questions about getting started in grip making, post them and lets see if someone here can help to answer them.
My personal favorites to work with are the exotics that most people don't see very often. I've got many pics, but will only post a couple to get things started.
Sarge43


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## Sarge43

Here's my Kimber CDPII Pro with a set of Maple Burl grips that I made without the MSH pin cutout. Nice full coverage and beautiful wood.


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## Sarge43

My photography skill are lacking.
Here's the same weapon in a set of crosscut pheasantwood, from Hawaii.








Okay, now let's see some of yours!


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## MLB

Nice work Sarge. I made these finger grip stocks for my ppk/s mainly because I didn't like the plastic ones that came with it, and they didn't extend to the backstrap.

I'm not experienced in woodworking, but with a bandsaw, dremmel, sandpaper, and a bunch of time; even a tinkerer can make a halfway presentable set:


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## Sarge43

Those look great MLB! It's great how a nice set of grips always improves the aesthetics of a handgun, whether it's a $4,000 safe queen or a $200 pawn shop scraper. 
Thanks for posting the pic!
Sarge


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## JeffWard

I'd just like a nice set of walnuts for my Buckmark URX. There's a few availible for the old Buckmark, but nothing for the URX...

Never though of carving my own... but then I have ADD... Carving and ADD don't mix...

LOL

JW


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## Sarge43

You should give it a try JW, it's VERY addictive. :smt023

Here's a couple of sets that I put the first rough coat of finish on last night. They are from a large package of Box elder Burl that I received early this week. Beautiful wood!


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## Steve M1911A1

*Sarge43*;
Is the red inclusion (lower pair of grips) natural to the box elder wood?
These "book matched" sets are very lovely. Nice work!


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## Dsig1

Even though they're on a wheel gun, I'd like to include this rosewood beauty.


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## Sarge43

Steve,
Yes, the red is natural. I NEVER stain wood as there's no way I can improve on what's already there. The red is beautiful isn't it? Box Elder Burl comes in 3 "variations" - fire (with the red), yellow, and white. There are SO many woods out there that most have never seen or heard of. Tomorrow I hope to post a set I'm finishing right now that are Snakewood over a thin layer of Wenge. They are gorgeous! But that's tomorrow.

Dsig1 - Yes, those are some very nice grips! The rosewoods cover such a large range from light to dark, colorful to subdued. Tough woods also which make them ideal for grip work. Thanks for post the pic!

Here's a set in Beeswing Narra that came out last night. Sorry for my lack of photography skills, but the wood is still beautiful. 
Sarge


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## Steve M1911A1

Sarge43;
Here are a couple of photos, not very good, of the "mystery wood" that smelled like cinnamon when I held it to a sander:


(click on the image for a larger view)
Do you have any idea about what this wood could be?


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## Sarge43

It's a little hard to tell, the only wood I've ever worked with that smelled just like cinnamon is cinnamon burl. It's a little light, but woods do vary and that could have been cut near or in the sapwood portion of the burl. It looks more like a light colored camphor burl, but that would smell like camphophenique and flowers, not cinnamon, so it's probably not. Here's a pic of cinnamon burl (wax coated). 








Yours has more the look of an Afzelia Burl with it's golden colors and swirl. 
Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Hopefully someone else can pinpoint it. 
Sarge


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## Steve M1911A1

Sarge43;
Thanks. I think you hit it.
The grip wood is very lightweight, but not flimsy, and does smell of cinnamon when abraded.
From your note, I have to assume that this wood actually comes from the tree from which the spice cinnamon (its bark) is taken.

Thank you for your help.


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## Sarge43

Yup. Same tree. Glad we may have figured it out. They ARE awfully light for cinnamon though.
Heres a set that I just finished up in the shop last night. These babies are going on my personal Kimber CDPII and not coming off. I drool over these things.


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## Sarge43

I went a little overboard with the pics, but I'm a proud Papa, I have an excuse. 
By the way, they are Snakewood over a thin layer of Wenge. Gorgeous wood......
Sarge


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## Sarge43

Here's a set that I did just to see how they'd look when they were done. The base wood is maple but the cross pieces are bubinga, cherry, wenge, and padauk. I call them "Frankengrips". :mrgreen:


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## Sarge43

Many lookers but few posters eh? :watching:
In making grips, we can't overlook the beauty of certain domestic woods like these grips in Ambrosia Maple and Maple Burl. Unique and beautiful!


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## Steve M1911A1

Damn', you make gorgeous stuff!

Isn't spalted wood, as the Ambrosia Maple appears to be, somewhat weak for pistol grips?
Have you impregnated it with resin, as I used to do with manzanita burl when I used it for knife handles?

I have a pistol for which I'd like to make a book-matched pair of exotic grips. Trouble is, I have no way of "slabbing" wood down to the even, flat 1/8" thick that this gun requires.
Would you be interested in selling me a pair of smoothly-cut slabs, each 1/8" by 2 1/2" by 4", in some pretty wood that goes well with dull-finished stainless steel?


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## Sarge43

Steve,
First off, thanks for the kind words, but the wood makes my job easy.

Not all spalted woods are created equal. I'll get to that in a minute, but first, since you brought it up, let's go over the Ambrosia Maple. Ambrosia Maples coloring is not due to spalting at all - it's caused by the secretions of the Ambrosia Beetle as it eats it's way through the wood. The secretions stain the wood around the bore holes giving us the beautiful pattern and colors that the wood exhibits. 
Spalting is acutally a fungus that will weaken and render the wood useless if given enough time to work. It starts with the death fo the tree and _usually_ the more beautiful and dramatic the coloring/streaking the more the wood has been weakened. Certain woods like Tamarind are very hard to begin with and the spalting has to progress quite some ways to weaken it significantly. Others like Maple are relatively soft and the spalting will weakine it much quicker. I will usually impregnate the softer varieties with resins to toughen them up and make them suitable for use in grips. I also do that to the more open grained woods like Wenge simiply because they look better finished with the grain pits closed. 
You're working on a set of ultra thins huh? There are many woods that are beautiful and solid enough for that, what color did you have in mind. I'm sure I can share. :smt023
Sarge


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## Steve M1911A1

Sarge;
Thank you for your offer to help.
Since the pistol in question is dull-finished stainless steel ("silver"), my first choice would be some sort of striped or burled black-and-grey mix. (I think burl or "birdseye" looks best.)
Second choice would be a burl or birdseye of a very neutral brown, perhaps similar in color to the pheasantwood example you exhibited in this thread. (To me, "neutral" brown is a darkish, equal mix of red and green, neither particularly red nor particularly tan.)
There's no terrible hurry. My wife and I are about to go on a long-awaited, long vacation (May 10th through the 30th).
Please see what you have, and let me know at your leisure.

Ambrosia beetle: Does the living tree "fill-in" the bores that the beetle makes, or do you have to work around a series of darker-brown tunnels in the wood? In the photo, it looks as if the tunnels have been filled-in somehow.


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## Sarge43

Ambrosia Maple - Yes, you fill in the bore holes, but they are only about 1mm in diameter and not as prevalent as you would think. Not every piece will contain the holes.
As for the wood, how about a currugata burl from Australia? Beautiful wood is it not?


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## niadhf

So Sarge?
How do you shape them after you get the initial shape? I am a not unaccomplished woodworker, but haven't tried something like this before (rockers/martial arts weapons, a few simple knives). All have been rough cut,sand to shape, rout and sand to design, finish with lots of sanding to smooth . Usually a tung oil finish (i like it). Do you use rasps? chisels or scrapers?
Thanks.
p.s nice work.


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## Sarge43

I have a 4 x 24 oscillating blet sander that I use to get the shape. Usually hog it with a 60 grit belt then smooth it up with a 120 gri belt. After that, it's random orbital sander to get the smoothness. I sand them up to 400 grit. I like oil, but prefer polyurethane. I wet sand with 1500 grit and mineral spirits between coats. I'm sure there are a million ways to make these happen. I like hearing about ways that others do things. Glad to see someone else here, I was beginning to think Steve and I were the only ones alive......
Are you going to try some grips? If so, please post pics and any questions. That's why I started this - to share ideas and pics with others who are doing it. 
Sarge


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## kev74

Sarge, those grips are beautiful!

For those of us who are getting crafty ideas after seeing your work, can you recomend any suppliers of exotic wood blanks? Also, can you name any woods that are easier and/or harder to work with? 

Thanks!


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## Sarge43

Kevin,
a good small block site to start with is Griffin woods.
http://www.exoticwood.biz/woodchart.htm
If you can remember, please tell him that Ryan sent you over. He's a good supplier and you can call him about which woods you're buying if you have questions. Good guy to deal with.
As far as wood questions, it would probably be easier if you told me which woods you were interested in after looking around. Otherwise, if I started with the A's and started typing a blurb for each wood, I'd be here for years. :mrgreen:
I'd be happy to help with information on any woods that you are interested in though if I can. 
Finishes are the hard part, as some woods are oily and won't take polyurethane. Lacquer works well on most woods, but doesn't make the figure pop as well as poly. Oils are universal, but you lose even more of the figure in using them. I'll be around to help if I can! 
Good luck!
Sarge


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## niadhf

Sarge43 said:


> I have a 4 x 24 oscillating blet sander that I use to get the shape. Usually hog it with a 60 grit belt then smooth it up with a 120 gri belt. After that, it's random orbital sander to get the smoothness. I sand them up to 400 grit. I like oil, but prefer polyurethane. I wet sand with 1500 grit and mineral spirits between coats. I'm sure there are a million ways to make these happen. I like hearing about ways that others do things. Glad to see someone else here, I was beginning to think Steve and I were the only ones alive......
> Are you going to try some grips? If so, please post pics and any questions. That's why I started this - to share ideas and pics with others who are doing it.
> Sarge


YEah a set of stocks are also on my list of things to do in the shop. course so far the others might bring in some money for me, lol. I just got a new set for my FEG PA-63. Thinking i might make a set of Purple heart or Black walnut. Course then the wieght on my nice light gun goes back up.


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## Sarge43

Purpleheart is dense and heavy, but walnut isn't bad. Are you familiar with Bubinga? It's a beautiful wood and makes great grips in either a rich brown veined color or a more reddish with shimmer. Beautiful stuff!
Purpleheart (stippled pattern)








Purpleheart with Moradillo strip








Bubinga (brown variety)


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## Sarge43

Got home last night to a pleasant surprise - my Afzelia Xylay blocks had arrived. Very unique and beuatiful wood. Hopefully, I'll have pics to post by monday. I also ordered a large spalted Black Ash Burl slab that should be in late next week. So many woods to get too! It's a good problem to have. 
Sarge


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## niadhf

Sarge43 said:


> Purpleheart is dense and heavy, but walnut isn't bad. Are you familiar with Bubinga? It's a beautiful wood and makes great grips in either a rich brown veined color or a more reddish with shimmer. Beautiful stuff!


Yeah I Have worked with Purple heart and with ipe (pau lope, whatever else it may have been called). Both are dense and tough, but produce a beautiful finished product (usually a martial arts weapon if I am using them:mrgreen. I like walnut and such for good stocks. Would love the ipe or purple heart, but they are heavier lol. I have some nice walnut and maple (both nice to work with i know) to start with. I have not yet worked with bubinga, but many people I talk with have......


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## niadhf

Sarge, Check out this guys site.
http://marschalgrips.com/


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## Sarge43

niadhf,
Ipe is also called leadwood and for good reason. 

That guy has some very nice grips. I would like to get into checkering, but haven't yet. 
Maple and walnut are very good woods to start with if you want to try making grips. You will, like everyone does, screw up on the first one or two or even three, but you will learn something valuable from each attempt and the next one will be better. You really should give it a whirl. Walnut will shape easier than the maple will. 
Sarge


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## niadhf

I love working with maple. The Bokken in the pic below (the shorter sword shaped thing) is maple. The jo staff is ipe. Leadwood i had not heard, although have had people call it brazilian ironwood. You gotta love a wood that sinks in water lol. I gave a piece about 1-1/2 x 5-1/2 x 24 to a guy to so he could make nunchucks tih it. very carefully grapped it at the end (in a hard grip) and handed it to him extended (ever try to do that with a 5lb sledge) just to see the look on his face when I let go and he realized what that peice weighed lol. i know, not very nice. but fun.
I have a 1911 to be FFL transfered to me, and the FEG to try another set on. Dennis grips are beautiful, he is who i got the new ash ones for my FEG from.

ok problem hosting, pic to follow later
here is another one for a "filler" lol (purpleheart scales on these matching knives. one to my father and one to my brother)


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## Sarge43

Very nice!


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## Crestliner

*Herrett's*

Here's a couple of pictures of the stocks I have on my S&W K-22 Combat Masterpiece (vin. 1971). The stocks were made by Herrett's back then in "fine grade" American Walnut. The _Bill Jordan_ combat style shape completes the near perfect match up to a M-19 .357 Mag., which I no longer have. :smt022 Like the old Ranger once said, ...."She'll do to ride the river."


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## Sarge43

thanks for posting the pics, those are very nice! I always enjoy all different wood grips of all shapes, makes and sizes. :smt023
Sarge


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## Sarge43

Afzelia Xylay which no picture can do justice. The figure is very 3D and appears like tree roots on top of sand if you can imagine that. Very unique and cool wood!


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## niadhf

Very Pretty Sarge. What are you using for a finish?


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## Sarge43

Those are in gloss polyurethane, but I use oil and other matte finishes as well. Depends on the wood.


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## Sarge43

Here's a new style that came about after making the snakewood/wenge grips for my personal carry weapon (they get much attention at the range every time they are out:smt023 ). These are gloss (glass like) finished in polyurethane and are fabricated from Wenge and Maple. :ayering it like this gives the wenge a "framed in" look that is very unique and cool. 
Check it out!
Sarge


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## niadhf

thats a sweet look sarge.


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## Sarge43

Here's a set using Bloodwood underneath Spotted Pecan. The Pecan has some red in it to begin with, so the Bloodwood really brings things together nicely. The oil finish is nice on this look, with it's low luster. Combinations like this can be really cool if you take a few extra minutes to find the right woods. 
Sarge


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## Blkhawk73

Have a gripmaker but am wondering where to find the material, the wood. Online places and ebay don't seem to have the needed sizes unless I'm needing a huge block. Specifically I'm looking for some nice figured olive and maybe some apple, be better if the later was spalted.


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## Sarge43

blkhwk - Ebay is usually a great place to find smaller blocks in the 2 x 5 x 5 size range. Also, you can check Griffin exotic woods (sorry, you'll have to google it for the addy). He's a nice guy and is very up to the task of finding the right wood for you. Tell him Ryan sent you will ya?

Here's a set of grips that I gave my security team co-chairman this morning as a "thank you" for his help in getting things set up. He's ecstatic, and we're hitting the range tomorrow to show them off. :smt023
Sarge


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## Sarge43

Here's a very cool combination of colors and woods. Black (wenge) and red (bloodwood) has always made me think of "alpha" males. I guess this started back in the day of the pirate movies when the flags were black, and red with white. Well, it stuck. I really like this set of grips and they look even better on the weapon!
Anyway, enjoy the pics and the beauty of the woods.
Sarge


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## Bob Wright

Here's a set of one-piece style I made for my Colt Single Action Army:










These are walnut, and are actually two-piece with a filler glued in between.

Making grips is easy. Just get a piece of handsome wood and cut away everything that doesn't look like a grip!

Bob Wright


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## Sarge43

Very nice Bob! Thanks for posting those up. They look great!


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## niadhf

very nice work bob. And a nice set of psitols to work with.


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## Sarge43

Another beautiful wood that many never see is crosscut Marblewood. It can be a booger to work with, but the results are worth it!


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## veovius

I saw Lignum Vitae on that guys website of exotic woods....Wasn't that the vampire stake wood or something? Sounds like an appropriate grip material to me..


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## Blkhawk73

Thanx sarge! I sent off an email to see what they can do with my needs. (mentioned your name) Also got to see some new exotics that really interested me. That figured zebrawood is awesome!


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## Sarge43

He's a good guy to work with and will help you if he can at all. Look forward to seeing some pics of the new woods!
Sarge


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## Sarge43

Sometimes Fire Boxs Elder Burl just has random red throughout instead of rays running center out. You just can't beat nature for beauty. 
Sarge


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## Sarge43

Here's a new set that combines three woods together - Wenge, Bloodwood, and Maple. Done in a mirror finish high gloss polyurethane. I think they came out well. :smt083
Anyway, enjoy the beauty of the wood!
Sarge


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## IntegraGSR

You guys are some aweome craftsmen! Beautiful work, on everyone's part! Makes me wish I had taken up wood work in high school. I was more of a machining/welding/ automotive guy. Now I'm a mechanic by trade, but I can't find my ass with both hands as far as wood goes... But if I still had my old high school's machine shop at my disposal , I could probably churn out some badass aluminum or titanium grips! But they still wouldn't hold a candle to nature's beauty. Good work guys, makes me want a gun with wood grips, so I could get one of you to make me a set!


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