unique grip materials... what have you got???

[magnumwheelman]

I'll start with the statement that every once in a while I get to thinking about a set of Olive wood grips... can't say if I've ever seen a set ( maybe too soft or??? ) there can be some really nice figure to Olive...

got on a website that sells wood for turning or pens & knives, & literally has 100's of different woods available...

then I had that new Case knife ( that I misplaced now ) but had the blue pearl plastic that is kind of "grippy" thinking there is someone out there making gun grips from that material...

so... what are some of your favorite unique grips that you have??? got pics??? for example I have one pair of bone, several sets of horn, & several exotic wood, so far, even several sets of old Mother of Pearl... ( always thought Abalone... butt )

I do have a nice piece of figured KOA that has been aging, oiled & wrapped in plastic for several years, & just picked up this flamed maple board... just thinking into the future...

[45MAN]

HAD SOME WOOD OFF AN AVOCADO TREE THAT WAS 70 OR MORE YEARS OLD. LOOKING AT PICTURES IT LOOKED LIKE IT WOULD MAKE DYNAMITE LOOKING GRIP MATERIAL. I LET IT AGE FOR A YEAR OR SO AND THEN HAD SOME CUT UP. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT, NO FIGURE, NO GRAIN, NO COLOR, NO NOTHING, JUST DULLER THAN A BLANK SHEET OUT OF A BIG CHIEF TABLET.

HAVE BEEN "CURING" (SITTING IN MY GARAGE) FOR SEVERAL YEARS A BIG SLICE OF A LARGE DIAMETER PECAN TREE, WHICH MAY MAKE FOR SOME NICE GRIP MATERIAL.

HAVE SOME HIPPO IVORY BUT I HEAR THAT ITS ENAMEL IS EXTREMELY HARD MAKING THE IVORY DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH.

HAVE A DECENT SIZED KUDU HORN BUT I READ SOMEWHERE, MAYBE HERE ON SINGLE ACTIONS, THAT IT DOES NOT MAKE GOOD GRIP MATERIAL.

ALSO HAVE A CAPE BUFFALO SKULL, THE HORNS OF WHICH WOULD PROBABLY MAKE GOOD GRIP MATERIAL.

I WOULD BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE SOME OF THE HIPPO IVORY TO BE GROUND UP TO MAKE SOME BONDED IVORY GRIPS, BUT WONDER IF YOU COULDN'T JUST USE GROUND UP HOG TUSKS TO GET THE SAME LOOK AND AGING.

[caryc]

Olive wood does indeed make some beautiful grips. Below you see some grips I've made for customers. I used to get my olive wood from a company in Israel. It's a little costly but well worth it.

[gene]

Man, those are PURDY! Very nice.

[magnumwheelman]

see if this link works... this is a piece of Olive wood similar to what I'm looking for... thinking they would look particularly nice on a blued gun... though they also look nice on stainless that Cary posted

www.bellforestproducts.com/_includes/product-photos/1621.jpg

[caryc]

Jan 5, 2021 15:03:39 GMT -5 magnumwheelman said:

see if this link works... this is a piece of Olive wood similar to what I'm looking for... thinking they would look particularly nice on a blued gun... though they also look nice on stainless that Cary posted

www.bellforestproducts.com/_includes/product-photos/1621.jpg

Oh yeah, my guess is that would make some beautiful grips. Here's some olive grips on a blued gun. These are a satin finish.

www.clccustomgrips.com/652.html

[tinkerpearce]

OK, we'll start with antler-

  

...and on to Bolivian Rosewood
 

Then finish with Desert Ironwood:
 

[needsmostuff]

Long a fan of odd woods these are two I enjoy working.

Lacewood .
Got to be real careful orienting the grain or you can end up with two completely unrelated grip panels.



Some times it can come out looking quite snake skinish.



Chechen.
Not a fancy bling wood but a quiet ,classic look . Can come out a couple of different colors but can look quite a lot like Ironwood when done . Quite hard and oily so no finish necessary, just polish and bolt em on.

[caryc]

Speaking of snakewood...this is the most expensive wood you can find anywhere. It's very hard to find it in pieces large enough to make grips out of without cracks in it.

[needsmostuff]

And I almost forgot about the fun of recycled stuff for grips
These are dog bones pretty much stolen from a neighbors big ugly dog at different times.
That dog still gives me stinkeye when I come around.




Then I found out you can just buy them in like a grocery store , go figure . Not as exciting but they don't have dog spit on them,,,so that's a plus . And they are bigger so you can squeeze out a bearcat sized grip.

This is cow hoof from a feed store. Also a dog chew thing.
Hard to get a piece bigger than Derringer sized.



Looks like horn and smells like it when sanding.

Cow horn is pretty much too thin so you have to back it with something or put on a tiny gun.



Ironwood I salvage from carvings in thrift stores.

[z1r]

Jan 5, 2021 14:46:32 GMT -5 gene said:

Man, those are PURDY! Very nice.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[Lee Martin]

Red elm on a prototype .414 SuperMag Seville:



-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"

[needsmostuff]

Look to the firewood pile.

Round here lots of mesquite gets burnt . This was literally pulled outta the wood pile .
No rhyme or reason to Mesquite grain it changes direction any time it feels like it. You have no Idea what your gonna get till your done . It literally changes while you are sanding it.



Done mostly for fun this wood was salvaged from a wildfire area and is maybe scrub or live oak.
The gun was a crusty ole Official Police so shiny finished grips would not do . It needed rustic grips.
They actually looked right at home and better than you would think.

[pacecars]

I am having a set of Ironwood for my 10mm/.38-40 build. It will match my knife scales

[drycreek]

This thread needs to be longer. It ran out too soon.......