M1911 grips

[elcar903]

made some M1911 grips for my pistol.

wood is Cocobolo.

took about 2.5 hours in all to run both grips

[JimmyD]

They look great! Would you be willing to share the files?

Thanks

[myxpykalix]

Very nice Adam:D

[scottp55]

Adam, 60 degree for checkering? Came out beautiful. Finish?

[pappybaynes]

Scott,
We will have more to talk about when I finally get over there! These are beautiful!
Dick

[elcar903]

I'll try and get a project file for it and post it ,

and as for the finish I used Tru-Oil gun stock finish on the grips.
they have 3 coats of the tru-oil on them gives it a shine and protection only down side is that you have to wait around 12 hours between coats to make it come out right.

[terryjones]

Absolutely fantastic. Super nice work!

[MogulTx]

really nice work!!!

I would love to know a little about your tools and strategy. I want to do a custom set for my Dad's Dan Wesson Bob Tail Commander. I am willing to go over it with a fine tooth comb (and caliper!) and make a good cut file. But if you can share your thoughts and ideas, I would appreciate it! It will give me a good way forward to do some custom work for Dear Ol Dad!

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

Monty

[srwtlc]

Nicely done Adam! Good choice on the true oil too! I've made several myself this spring. They're a fun project, as there's so many different ways/things you can do for embellishment on them.

This is your thread Adam, but for the sake of furthering the conversation and keeping it in the same thread, would you mind a couple pics tagged on? I've got some files that may be of interest to others as well.

[elcar903]

Sure Scott go a head and post them

[srwtlc]

Thanks Adam.

A few test fit ones. Spalted maple and wenge. Had some worm holes in the maple and the wenge is quite brittle so I lost a little edge. Lacquer on the maple and Watco Danish oil on the wenge. Really like the looks of the spalted maple on the gun and need to make a new/good one.

Another test with some 60º v-grooves on some purple heart and a dragon with a scales background in bloodwood cut with a 0.040" ballnose. Both with lacquer. Don't really like the lacquer as it is a high build formula and it starts to fill in and is too glossy.

An eagle with diamonds on some walnut crotch, also cut with a 0.040" ballnose. Hard to see, but the eagle (and the dragon) is coming out of the frame a little bit. Finally got some Tru-Oil, 4 coats and buffed out between coats with 0000 steel wool and a final butting with a worn out sanding mop, much better.

Another dragon on jatoba. Again, with a 0.040" ballnose and Tru-Oil. The dragon scales were distorted to give it some twist and scale size variation.

First couple of coats of Tru-Oil is wiped on from a bottle and the last two were sprayed on from the 11oz spray can product. That gives a nice even coat.

If anyone would like the diamond or scales backgrounds to use, I can make them available. The eagle and dragon are VectorArt 3D files and if you have Aspire, you may already have them.

[elcar903]

beautiful grips,

[scottp55]

Spalted Absolutely worth another shot Scott. Can't stop looking at pic:)

[MogulTx]

What Scott said. I LOVE the personality that shows in that wood.

Monty

[Joe Porter]

You do beautiful work, Scott. You should show these on the Vectric forum also...joe

[shilala]

Scott, that spalted file would look stellar in quiled maple if you can find a nice, tight piece.

[scottp55]

Scott W., On second thought, you should throw that old worm eaten wood with the ugly black lines away, and go for true perfection with MDF where it's all identical! Of course you should throw it my way, and buy some of my Oregon Quilted (Tight 8/4)for a special price just for you of $42 bf- Hate to split up the 1/4 tree---But for You, Hey what are friends for? :):) Oops-used the F word:)
Like the scales But no Aspire.

[srwtlc]

I do have some nice quilted white hard maple boards I've been saving for something on a larger scale, but might have to cut out a nice 5" x 5" piece and make some more. ;)

Scott P., I got several spalted boards from my lumber supplier a while back for $4.20/bdft, should have bought it all. Need to try some cyanoacrylate on some. $42/bdft....Hmmm.....I could maybe get 8-10 pair from 1 bdft. A little steep, but not too bad of a deal. ;) What I'd really like is some highly figured/mineral streaked myrtle wood (https://www.google.com/search?q=myrtle+wood&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=NEB&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CKCjU6SYOMWfyATCqID4Cw&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=969) from Oregon/N Cal. Used up what I had years ago for some bowls. :(

Adam, I wonder if the long time to cure for the Tru-Oil was due to the oily nature of cocobolo? The spray stuff was good to rub out in about 4 hours.

[scottp55]

Adam, It mentioned Linseed Oil "and other natural oils", Under comments I read that it Gelled in a week or so(to much air) so it sounds like Tung. Only 12 hours between coats sounds short for both of those. May have to pic some up and try-Thanks. Scott W you have a PM.

[bleeth]

When living out there I did a lot of specialty wood buying at Crosscut Hardwoods. I'm pretty sure they are glad to ship as well. Check out their site:

http://www.crosscuthardwoods.com/hardwood-lumber.html

Nobody has a yard like this is South Florida.

[scottp55]

Wow, They have a spalted curly slab to die for:)

[POPS 64]

Adam , Scott , very nice work by both of you. Would it be possible to get file info ? My son just bought his first pistol and I'd like to suprise him with custom grips for his birthday and at the same time dad should have a set.

[elcar903]

Jeff here is a link to download the 3D models I used to make the grips and pictures of my bits, endmills feeds/speeds setting I used as well.

3D models may have to be rotated on the import screen,
the software I use to make them X,Y,Z, coordinates don't export right for some reason

just unzip to get the files.
http://www.mechlinkv3.net/downloads/M1911_grip_project.zip

I run a 1/8 endmill to roughing tool path,
then I run a 1/8 ballnose under the 3D finish tool path,
next I run the 1/8 vbit on the finish 3D tool path.

I use the same 1/8 endmill to cut out the part, don't forget
to add tabs to the cut so it doesn't mess the grips up.


hope this helps.


you can use whatever setting ans feeds/speeds you wish these
are just what I run.

[POPS 64]

Adam thank you for your time and your info , looking forward to trying this out
jeff

[srwtlc]

Here's the base grip files for the ones I did. I've removed all the copyrighted material. The textures for the diamonds and dragon scales are in it. If you don't have Aspire, then there are a couple of stl's for use in PW3d/Cut 3d and a crv file for the placement of the screw holes and countersinks. These were designed for a Ruger SR1911, but should fit any standard 1911.

I used a 0.25" downcut endmill for the screw holes, countersinks, and 3d roughing, a 0.125" ballnose for just the plain grip with or without the thumb notch, and a 0.040" ballnose for the diamonds or scales (a 0.0625 ballnose might work, but won't give as good a detail, or a sharp pointed v-bit may work too, much like Adam did with his for the 3d finish path). If you add any models to it like I did the dragon and eagle, you'll likely want a small ballnose like the 0.040". You'll also have to pay attention to the combine mode and placement in the component list. They need to be above the grip bases and set to merge and some base adjustment may be needed. There are a few different outlines of the grip and these were used as boundary vectors and also for trimming the textures to the grip shape as desired. The very outer outline is the outline of the grip models with the 10% draft. This draft gives a bit better edge cut and some relief for the small ballnose I used. The stl files were made from the draft models. The other left/right grip models don't have a draft applied.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Grip files on my SkyDrive (http://1drv.ms/1qrpQJY) (now OneDrive). Choose to download folder under folder actions.

[srwtlc]

Forgot to mention, that if you have Aspire, you can turn off the diamond and scales and then turn on the larger diamonds or scales and trim them to the whole grip or all but the bevel or make your own boundary to trim with. You can also take the large scales model and transform it to put your own twist on it.

The top back edge of the left grip needs to have a relief ground in it for the plunger tube. I just use a sanding drum on a dremel or a small spindle sander drum.

[pappybaynes]

This is great! Thank you all for the files, and the information. Is there a specific place that one would look for files of other pistol / revolver makes and models?? Thanks, Dick

[srwtlc]

Here's another try at the spalted maple grips. These turned out real nice. Also, a couple pair of quilted maple ones (;) @ Scott P). They were book matched, but due to the way the grain changed or faded off as the model was revealed, they would have looked better if the pairs were swapped.

A couple of coats of Danish oil to soak in and give them some depth, followed by 6 coats of Tru-Oil with a final rub out with 0000 steel wool loaded with some carnauba wax and then buffed out. The pictures really don't do them justice, as the chatoyance really goes deep and moves when tilted.

[scottp55]

Spalted turned out GREAT:) See what you mean, the 2 darkers should be together. Photographing that stuff is as hard as opal.:) Looks great finished!

[elcar903]

looks great

[cowboy1296]

I hope those are toys that you are putting those on. Every one knows that guns are evil. : ) Now if you believe that I have some swampland in Louisiana for sale, just call 1-800-whitewater. Those look great.

[khaos]

I love those spalted grips! The birds eye is beautiful. But the spalted really grab me. Great finish.

[Xray]

Made these from Scotts file [thanks for that], not bad for a start.
Didn't make the recess that I notice on most of the others, guess I can sand one in by hand if necessary.
No holes or countersink yet, will probably do that by hand too.,, But I did mark them out.

Wood is rosewood and light walnut, used a 1/32 bit no roughing necessary. Textured ones took about an hour, smooth ones with the off center skull half that.

I think this was another file, but what purpose are those tabs for ?

[myxpykalix]

Excellent looking and the finish is great.

[Xray]

Thanks, considering it is just a matte rattle can clear coat, does look pretty good.
I consider these prototypes, will likely get a bit more meticulous once I get serious about it. Am going for cocobola, bocote and corian next.

[srwtlc]

Cool Doug! Are you talking about the notch for the plunger on the back/top of the left side grip? I just sanded that in with a drum sander or Dremel. The file was for a Ruger SR1911, so you may need slight modifications for others.

The tabs were for keeping the part intact with the waste, as I screwed the blank down. You should be able to turn the tab component off if you don't need them.

Nice work! I need some time to make some again.

[Xray]

Come to think of it, first order will be for a Colt so I guess I'll see what I need when I have it in hand. I was talking about the thumb notch.

Is there any way to move the grips closer together ? Been bending my brain with no luck so far, they are locked together as 1 component. I have some real nice thin wood and all I need is .5 of slack and I'd be able to use it.

[srwtlc]

Oh yeah, that notch on the surface. I played with that and did run a few with a couple of different ones (should be a picture of one or two earlier in the thread). I never came up with a real good way of making that notch just right, it always took some playing and sculpting. Haven't taken the time to revisit it again.

On separating the two, us the split tool.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=27519&stc=1

[Xray]

As promised, bocote and wenge - Didn't have any cocobola to spare.
Wenge looks great, really like this stuff. It actually has subtle brownish grain but its hard to see with the clear coat.
Going to hold off on the corian until I'm sure the design is correct, which means I either need a pistol in hand or pair of grips, or both.

Next project is going to be mdf with iron patina, and I am thinking about gluing up say 6 1/16th various thin exotic boards and making grips with that.

[Tom Bachman]

These grips are freaking cool! Little brother was asking about grips for his Smith and Wesson revolver. The 1911's look awesome though.

[Xray]

Trying to think outside the box here since everyone + their grandmothers are making wood grips - Here is corian and plexi.

[srwtlc]

The plexi is cool! I've thought of that with carving on the backside and then if a guy could mod the mag well with a small LED/battery to edge light it somehow.

[Xray]

Yeah they light up stuff like yoyos all the time, grips would be doable for sure but probably more hassle than its worth.
I think the biggest drawback would be each grip would have to have its own battery and switch, no practical way to just run a wire from one to the other.

[myxpykalix]

You might want to check out "Crimson Trace" lasers that attach to the gun and are activated by a microswitch when you squeeze the handle. Possibly you can glean how its wired and apply it to lights for your grips.
Also do some research on Instructables.com to see if you can find some kind of microswitch lighting.

[Xray]

I'll leave lighting for someone else, interest level is just not there and I don't think the concept is workable for a weapon. Main obstacle I think is the battery. A pocket in the grip would have to be routed for it not to mention a switch, I think that alone would ruin the look of a see through grip.

This will likely be my last post on these, besides possibly using different woods, no more new ideas.
The clear grips I reworked, they were loaded with tiny machining lines which buffing only made more visible and left the whole surface hazy. So I sanded then down with fine grit sandpaper using a mouse sander, rebuffed them now they are crystal clear. Guys that don't work with plexi often, sanding might be the last thing they ever think of doing, but sometimes that is exactly what is needed.

Also tried plexi with texture, very nice. They aren't exactly see through, but wasn't expecting that with a texture. If I blasted them with flame I think that would clear off most of the haze, but I like them the way they are. Plexi used is 3/8, barely thick enough, 0 margin for Z error.

[bleeth]

Nice job on the sanding and polishing. If you do more try some oil (Like WD or even auto oil) with your wet sandpaper.
Way faster and easier than water.
I know you can flame polish them but I wouldn't want to use those pieces for practice.