I think Roy would understand

[kings6]

One of the people I miss visiting with on the phone is Roy Fishpaw. We would talk about grip materials, choices of style and just guns in general. He did one set of one piece snakewood grips for me on a Freedom Arms 97, which Tim now owns, that he warned me I would never be able to get off the gun because they fit so tight. Sometime last year I saw a set of N frame combat grips that Roy had built come up for sale and I jumped on them. They appeared to be rosewood and when they arrived I notices the bedding material Roy had used to fit them tightly to the original gun. No wonder his grips fit tight, these were bedded just like a precision rifle stock is bedded!

I hung on to those grips in anticipation of a project where they could be used. Knowing my affinity for model 58s with Bowen Combat sights and the 41 Special round I finally rounded up the parts to send to Alan Harton for a Model 58 41 Special. Included in the parts I sent were the Fishpaw combat grips in hopes that Alan could round butt the 58 to be able to use these grips. Alan called me and said that he was not comfortable trying to make these fit the project simply because they had been bedded to another gun and where the bedding would have made them sit was too close to the toe of the grips. I told him no problem, finish the gun and sent the grips back with the gun and I would go from there. I got home from San Diego last night and there was the box from Alan with the gun, the test ammo I had sent and the grips. I laid the grip over the grip frame and it was obvious what Alan was talking about and I fully understood his reluctance to try and make the grips work.

Before going further, let me step back for a minute. When Roy pasted away I was able to buy his old model 41 Blackhawk he used for deer hunting from his wife Glenda, thank you Rob Rowan for the help on this. When the gun arrived it had the coolest set of grips Roy had made but he had definitely mad the gun his own in other ways as well. He had the transfer bar retrofit done and had installed a large scope base that was drilled and tapped into both the top strap and the barrel! No sacred cows in that mans hunting guns! While I have having a good friend put my twist on the gun itself since I always felt that Roy made his stuff to be used whether they are grips or as shown with his old model 41, his working guns.

It was with this in mind that I decided to do the unthinkable, cut and whittle on a set of Roy Fishpaw grips! I have some rosewood that matches pretty close and I have a set of sharp chisels and a dremel so Acra-glass is getting removed, the front of the grips cut off at the toe and new rosewood glued and pinned in place and I'm going to try and make these things fit this gun! As they stand now, they only fit one gun and I don't own it so I figure nothing is lost and I don't think Roy would object. Shoot, if it does not work, I guess I will try making my first set of S&W grips!

[blacktailslayer]

Get after it Robb!


Don D.

[bushog]

They might fit an actual round butt N-Frame without fooling with them.

[kings6]

Not now they won’t!😆

[kings6]

Not now they won’t!😆 I have a hunch they were originally made for a N frame then bedding material addd to make them fit a smaller frame.

[kings6]

Since I went off the deep end and decided to modify these combat grip made by Roy, I thought I'd let you guys see how the debacle is going. The first thing I had to do was carefully remove the bedding material Roy had applied to fit the grips to the original gun they were made for. For this I used a small grinding burr on the dremel tool and carefully worked through the material until I could just see the wood showing through. Once the wood was becoming visible I slowed the machine down and made very light passes until the wood was exposed but not changed.

Next I laid the grips onto the gun and saw where the existing wood needed relieved to clear the back strap and trigger guard. I slowly worked these areas down with the same burr then followed up with a small sanding drum on the same tool. The issue Alan had with the grips was that there was not enough room on the toe of the grips to accept the front of the grip frame. This meant that I would have to add material to this section of the grip but rather than just add a small thin piece I wanted a bigger contact surface for the interface between the original wood and the grafted on piece. This meant finding two good ending spots for the cut, lining this line with a marker then heading to the bandsaw. I have to admit to having a moment of hesitation before I fed the first piece into the moving blade but figured I might as well go for it. After removing this piece it was over to the belt sander to straighten and flatten the cut section so the new graft piece had a good surface to attach to.

Next was laying the new piece of rosewood in place and tracing a line for the depth of the relief that matched the depth of the relief on Roy's grip and laying the gun on the two pieces and tracing the tow of the grip frame so I could see how far into the new piece the grip frame relief had to extend. Once this was done I went back and looked at Zane's pictures of the walnut grips he made and saw how he had used a forstner or brad point bit to hog out most of the wood on his relief area. I figured if it was good enough for Zane, use the method and don't reinvent the wheel. Once the drill press was set to drill down to the depth mark I copied off the original grips I simply made a series of holes to remove most of the wood then cleaned the area and edges up with a sharp chisel. Once that was done it was a fairly simple matter of gluing the new piece onto the front of the original grip, clamping the pieces up and walking away for the day. Due to the curve on the heel portion of the grips I traced the shape onto a 1/2" thick piece of maple then cut and sanded the piece to fit the outside contour of the grip so I had a straight surface to clamp to.

Once it has set up overnight I used the bandsaw to remove as much of the excess wood as possible then I switched to the oscillating sander with various diameter sanding shafts to bring the wood down to close to the original contours and shape. Once the second grip is to the same stage I will bolt them together and do the final shaping and sanding then apply an oil finish. Last year I was fortunate to be able to visit Rob Rowan at his shop and home and he mentioned that he used the oscillating sander quite a bit in his grip making work so when I got home I looked around and found this one for sale locally and it is surprising how much I use it in the shop on all sorts of projects.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the process so you can see how crazy I am to be cutting up a set of Fishpaw grips!

[contender]

A braver man than I!

I truly hope they turn out as nice as I've seen some of your other woodwork art. Looks like they are on the way to doing just that.

[potatojudge]

That is terrifying, but having seen your work I think they’ll turn out great. Doing refitting without this sort of major surgery on Rowen FA97 grips was enough for me.

Once they’ve been removed from the gun they were made for, they’ll inevitably become a Roy/XXX collaboration. Becoming a Roy/Rob/Hamilton package is a solid combo.

[blacktailslayer]

Looking good so far!


Don D.

[kings6]

Visual update

[bigbrowndog]

The FishHamBarn collaboration looks pretty good.

Trapr

[steve]

That turned out nice Robb! When are you going to start making grips for the rest of us? 😁

[kings6]

Actually Steve, I hope to start making grips later this winter. I hope to get to spend a few days with a guy who has been making grips for years and pay him gif his time and instruction. Just need to work the schedule out. I have one more piece of equipment to find then I should have all the tools I need,

[contender]

They did turn out quite nice! I don't think Roy would mind. He'd likely applaud you for the work!

I tinker for myself in making SA grips for my Rugers. I'm SURE you can do quite well at it. As for equipment,, it's not complicated as you've already mentioned having the oscillating sander & a dremel. I have a 1" belt sander I use a lot for initial shaping too. Having the small tool to drill & countersink the screw escutcheons is needed. After that,, a few hand tools & it's all I use. BUT,, a few jigs & such,, well, that's where you may want to make them yourself.

[longoval]

There is always room for more grip makers!