Wood Grips ?

[Ucitykid]

I see several folks offering custom metal or CF grips for the pup that are quite nice.  Anyone know of someone making stippled wood grips for the pup??  If I missed an earlier post on the subject, please direct me. Thanks, Carlos

[tracker]

Something that basic must have appeared at some time but I don't recall seeing it.

[kanuist]

I don't recall anyone making/selling wood grips.

I have thought about making a set for my pup, but there are some problems.  Unlike 1911 grips, the right hand panel needs to be routed out for the trigger bar & spring.  This isn't too bad, but it will require very precise work on a fairly small scale.  The other problem is the wall thickness of this routed out area near the front and back straps.  It is very thin on the G10 factory grips.  This means even less room for error.  I've been thinking that stabilized wood would need to be used.  This is would that has basically been turned into a piece of plastic with glues added to the wood under pressure.

I'm still considering making a set, but I'm only in the thinking stage.  I don't have access to or experience with cnc machining.  I was planning on making them by hand.  This would be difficult, but doable.  However, this is more of a one off project.  Make a set for me and me alone.  

If there is someone out there that already had a cnc setup for making grips (like IDM) they could make wood grips using the same process as G10.

If I do get around to making a set, and they work properly...  I will post on the forum.

[birdman]

Didn't Corey have a pair? I saw some  once when I was surfing thru back posts. But, I don't remember anything else about them.

[ccoorreeyy]

I had ordered a set once but never got them.  K&D offered them at one time. I don't know if they still do or not. The pictures I've seen of them look very nice.

[tracker]

After reading back through some old posts there is very little likelihood of wood grips for the R9 as noted above; too difficult for a one-off and not economically feasible for limited production and market demand, in my opinion.

[Ucitykid]

Thanks to all for your replies.  I was so looking forward to giving my Stealth a holiday present of stippled bloodwood grips.  Oh well!  Perhaps a bit of gilding on the lily, eh.

Warmest Regards (from chilly Saint Louis) and a Merry Christmas to All, Carlos

[ccoorreeyy]

After reading back through some old posts there is very little likelihood of wood grips for the R9 as noted above; too difficult for a one-off and not economically feasible for limited production and market demand, in my opinion.

I know some were made. A set sold on gunbroker last week.

[DDGator]

Kevin at K&D Holsters made a just a few pairs.  I broke one experimental pair while shooting my R-9.  Then Kevin switched to a stabilized wood and that solved the strength issue.

He didn't make many.  I have a burlwood set on my R-9 Elite.

It was so involved, I don't think he has an interest in making more.  I am not aware of anyone else who has done it, although its certianly possible.  Normal wood is unlikely to be strong enough to handle the recoil forces unless its much thicker than the factory grips.

[K-Man]

To my knowledge, we were the first to offer wood grips that were successful in not cracking, etc., etc.  There were a few things that we did, in addition to the stabilized wood, in that respect.  The set that DDGator refers to that cracked were strictly plain wood with none of the added enhancements in place.  That set cracked right along the grain line, which was not a surprise to us.

We only made a few sets of grips.  At one juncture, we played around with making a set from genuine ivory.  But we have no intention of offering any more grips at this time.

[Jack Foulard]

That's too bad.  If I recall correctly you were going to have a patent on the process.  Did you complete the patent process?  Someone might want to get involved and make them using your methods.  Just a thought.

[kanuist]

K-Man,  Of the wood grips you made, were they the same thickness as the factory grips?

As I'm continuing to think about making a set for myself, I planned on making them thicker than factory.  Mostly because of the depth of route for the trigger mechanism.

As I don't plan on producing them, I thought you might pass on your lessons learned.

[K-Man]

kanuist:

The grips were slightly thicker than the standard factory grips.  Here's a couple of pics of the original set we made:



How do you plan on making the recessed area on the one panel?

[Richard S]

The problem with custom grips for the R9 is that the underside of the right panel is essential to the operation of the pistol, and the tolerances in the positioning of the two screw holes in each of the R9's two grip panels is zero -- zip -- nada -- ninguno. (Don't ask me how my local silversmith and I know this to be fact. ) If it were otherwise, you might see something such as the sterling silver grips produced by lost-wax casting for this G-380 (my former EDC but a "safe-queen" for the past five years) now gracing my R9, upon which the G-380 was placed (very, very gently) for this archived photograph taken some time ago:

[size=10]Note to self: Allow for editing when posting while drinking holiday spirits of advanced age.
[/size]

[kanuist]

K-man, Those grips look very sweet!

To answer your question, I have come up with a two options.  One is to use a Dremel router to remove the wood for the recess.  My second option is to make a layered grip panel with wood as the top layer.  

I think there are advantages to both options and I will most likely make both.  Once I get the time to do this.  The costs for supplies would be nothing as I already have them from other projects.  

For many years I have used a special process before attempting new projects.  I run the process through my head 10 or 20 times until I think I have worked out all the bugs, before I ever pickup a tool.  This process has served me well.