I make grips for my pistols SAA'S and S&W N frames mostly.
I like the magna grips on all my N frames and they are hard to come by (cheap)
So I make my own, they are the exact same size as the factory grips only without the checkering.
I also made a few grips for my single actions.
Made a set for a Ruger out of cherry and put the nut for the screw on the inside of the rt grip panel not going all the way through.
It looks like a one piece grip like the old colts (till you look at the left grip panel)
The cherry I used for the Ruger was from a gun rack I made back in high school.
The S&W grips were made from walnut I cut from a tree in my back yard.
I let the wood sit for 2 years. It dried and cracked .(but it was dry) no problem with any grips I made from this wood
I made a set of grips from maple from a tree I cut down once and let sit for just short of a year.
The grips looked great
BUT!!!
the wood wasn't dried enough.
The grips shrunk and warped
(PULLED AWAY FROM FRAME)-( LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE MADE TO SMALL)
Alot of work down the drain.
So if I were you I would split the logs you cut and let them dry and warp split and what ever else they want to do before you start putting time into making anything out of em.
A quick run down of the steps I take to make grips is
1.- MAKE SURE WOOD IS DRIED!
2-. pick out a piece big and thick enough for your grips that is free of cracks ,knots or any other blemish
3-.split or cut this piece so both panels of your grips match.
4-.plane the wood down to size of widest part of finnished grip size leaving at least 1/8"over.
5-.lay old grips on wood for pattern, and trace outline of grips
6.-cut grips out
7.- look at old grips how they fit to frame(SAA and their clones need some wood cut out on the inside of the grips at the top to fit)take a little off at a time,,, JUST A LITTLE!!,,,keep checking till they fit .)
Also it's a good idea to press grip panels on frame at this point to mark where the pin on bottom frame fits in to them.
drill hole just big enough and deep enough for a tight fit.
once the grips fit like you want they should be tight enough that they will stay on frame without a screw holding them.
8-. Now drill hole with grips on gun for grip screw.( just big enough for the screw but not the eschun? --eschoen?--THE NUT THAT THE BOLT GOES INTO-)(One of these days I 'm going to lern how ta spel)
9.-This is the hard part---put some masking tape on back strap and trigger to prevent scratching- then-- cut ,scrape, chisel and sand off everything that don't look like a grip.
This is easier to do with brass grip frame because you can buff out any scratches you might put on the frame.
10.-once you finnish shaping grips to shape ,drill hole in grip panels for eschun?-eschoen? (THE NUT FOR GRIP SCREW!)
ONLY drill deep enough for nut to fit flush with top of grip.
11. put screw in grips and tighten,finnish with final sanding
12.- put what ever finnish you want on them.
13.-Show em off.
BTW---------MAKE ---SURE WOOD IS COMPLETELY DRY------before starting
Hope this helps ,just take your time, because any hurrying along the way will ruin anything you did up to that point.
Good luck
Willy
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