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Post by magnumwheelman on Apr 17, 2019 11:29:56 GMT -5
like the brass grip frame too... thinking on my gun, the Grip frame will also be case colored, trigger, hammer, & cylinder will be blued
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Post by CraigC on Apr 19, 2019 9:47:49 GMT -5
While I like "white" grips on "white" guns, blued or blued and CCH can go either way. Ivory is always good. Fancy walnut or other woods are great. I just don't like real dark grips on them.
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Post by kings6 on Apr 19, 2019 10:10:03 GMT -5
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Post by magnumwheelman on Apr 19, 2019 10:18:05 GMT -5
case coloring is really nice on that one... like the look of the case colored ejector housing too...
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Post by kings6 on Apr 19, 2019 10:21:16 GMT -5
Another neat thing is the cylinder and barrel are browned rather than blued.
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caryc
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,055
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Post by caryc on Apr 19, 2019 10:55:01 GMT -5
Well, let's see now.............grips on case colored revolvers. There's mesquite, as from CaryC:  You can't hardly go wrong. Ivory, holly, or other white grips look good with a matte finish. Stags look good- that is real Sambar stag and not elk. Walnut looks good if you get a feathered/crotch piece that's on the lighter side for color. Lighter walnut allows for better appreciation of the grain. Maple isn't my favorite for this style of gun, and birds-eye tends to take stain weirdly and it's less common to find birds-eye with tight enough figure to make interesting grips. Tightly flamed maple is an attractive option, but it depends on the finish chosen. Some finishes destroy the lenticular nature of the figure and leave it looking muddy and lifeless. For maple, a light golden stain or tinted topcoat is best with whatever clear coat on top that you prefer. Ebony is best reserved for stainless or nickel guns, but is never out of place on any nice gun. My preference for ebony is with checkered panels; essentially a classy upgrade in the spirit of gutta percha grips. I'd focus more on the specific piece of wood rather than a species. The above gun, my favorite shown so far, is mesquite but could as easily be another species given the color and grain. Lightly figured, a nice amber color, and well fit and finished. I have a NMFT 44 special with walnut grips that look nearly identical, and it's a favorite. I've had the best luck finding special woods on eBay. Lumber yards rarely cater to this sort of work and don't carry prime specimens. Knife and pen supply companies sell blanks that are too small. If you took a board like this and had just the crotch portion re-sawn and stabilized for two sets of grips, you'd be in it for less money than a lot of grip makers charge using their wood supply and would know exactly what you were looking at for your gun. www.ebay.com/itm/Live-Edge-Hard-Wood-Slab-Spalted-Crotch-Mesquite-Table-Craft-Board-Lumber-836/333029789460?hash=item4d8a1f4f14:g:MWQAAOSwxFVcR4eIOne last thing that's a lesson from custom woodworkers: the great strength of craftsmen's work over that of a factory often isn't the quality of the finished product, but the time and attention that can be paid to material utilization. Make the effort to find the exact blank that will make the grips that in your mind are perfect for the gun. I made the above Mesquite grips for Bob. I had a lot of different suppliers for wood. I got the mesquite from a guy that only sold mesquite. I think Bob originally found the supplier since I'd never used mesquite before. Over the years, I purchased a whole lot of wood from Ebay. I had some other hardwood dealers on line that I used to deal with. I also had a hardwood dealer right in my area where I often purchased a four foot board just to get one pair of grips out of it. I've often given this hint to people looking to make grips. Take a 3" X 5" index card and trace out one of your grip panels on it. Then carefully cut out the grip shape leaving the outside of the card intact. If you are looking at an actual piece of wood you can place this card on the wood to get an idea of what a grip cut from it would look like. Another good idea for dealing with wood in person is to use a plastic spray bottle full of alcohol to spray on the wood. This will give you an idea of what the wood will look like when finish is applied to it. The alcohol will evaporate quickly and not harm the wood. Never do this with water. You never want to introduce water to an already dried piece of wood. The ideal moisture content for wood when making grips is about 3%-6%. I have an extremely accurate 14" band saw, so I often purchased chunks of wood up to 3" or 4" in thickness and was able to cut it up for grips without screwing up a lot of wood. If you purchase wood, just make sure it is dried first. A moisture content meter is a good idea to have. You can get one for around forty bucks or so. All the online hardwood dealers I dealt with showed pictures of the actual boards. I would never buy any wood without at least seeing pictures of it. |
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Post by CraigC on Apr 19, 2019 10:55:41 GMT -5
Browning is something I'd like to see more of. I bought a custom flintlock 2yrs ago with a lovely aged, brown finish that would look great on an octagon barreled sixgun. Like the Seyfried/Bowen #13.
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Post by Burnston on Apr 19, 2019 19:55:00 GMT -5
Well, let's see now.............grips on case colored revolvers. There's mesquite, as from CaryC: Walnut:  Elk stag ain't bad, either:  And maybe a little more walnut:  And a touch of ebony:  Guess I'm sorter partial to stag:  Stag looks good above a holster:  Bob Wright I wholly endorse any post that gives bobwright a chance to post pictures of his rigs. |
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Aggie01
.375 Atomic
max
Posts: 1,780
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Post by Aggie01 on Apr 20, 2019 8:04:25 GMT -5
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ncdave
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 83
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Post by ncdave on Apr 21, 2019 18:36:03 GMT -5
This is just a great thread! Mr. Wright, who did your elk grips?
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Post by bushog on Apr 21, 2019 18:58:03 GMT -5
Another neat thing is the cylinder and barrel are browned rather than blued. I never noticed it was brown..... |
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Post by DiamondD on Apr 21, 2019 19:17:43 GMT -5
I really like ivory or stag/bone on blued or color cased guns.
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Post by 500fksjr on Apr 21, 2019 19:52:11 GMT -5
Well, let's see now.............grips on case colored revolvers. There's mesquite, as from CaryC: Walnut: Elk stag ain't bad, either: And maybe a little more walnut: And a touch of ebony: Mr Wright what a beautiful library of single actions....Thanks for sharing! Guess I'm sorter partial to stag: Stag looks good above a holster: Bob Wright |
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Post by 500fksjr on Apr 21, 2019 19:53:19 GMT -5
What a Great Library of single actions!
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Post by bobwright on Apr 22, 2019 20:28:26 GMT -5
This is just a great thread! Mr. Wright, who did your elk grips? From left to right: 7 1/2" Blackhawk .45, Eagle Grips; next is a 4 5/8" .45, by Patrick Grashorn; center, 4 5/8" .44 Special Flat Top, maker unknown*; .45 Colt New Frontier, Patrick Grashorn; last on right, .45 Colt New Frontier, Sack Peterson. *These grips came on a Vaquero that I bought for the grips. Replaced the stag grips with black plastic, sold the Vaquero and bought the Flat Top .44 Special to fit the grips. And this .45 which did not make the family photo: These by Grashorn also. Thanks for asking! Bob Wright |
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