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Single Action Army Grip failure
#6237440
03/26/16 08:06 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,101
Colt W. Knight
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237443
03/26/16 08:10 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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I dug through my wood supply and settled on this curly maple I had laying around from some guitar builds. The wood is kinda special because it was grown, cut, an dried close to where I grew up in West Virginia So I start milling it down to size Curly maple like this has alternating grain patterns, and that is what gives it its stripes. Straight knife cutter heads on jointers and planers eat that stuff up! Real professionals use spiral cutterheads and drum sanders. Hillbillys like myself, take shallow passes, wet the grain with mineral spirits, and run the wood through the planer at an angle
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237446
03/26/16 08:15 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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I try to pick out the best figure, and cut out the rough shape This is the critical step on SAA grips, you have to fit the grip to the frame perfectly, or you get nasty looking gaps and nobody likes that. * Hard maple and sugar maple burn easily when you sand it, the sugars caramelize. Smells nice, but darkens the wood. Not a big deal on this because those areas will be hidden and I plan on dying the wood a darker color These old Colts with 2-piece grip configurations had index pins to hold the grips in place. I am just using a rubber mallet to precisely mark the holes and trace the perimeter
Last edited by Colt W. Knight; 03/26/16 08:16 PM.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237447
03/26/16 08:19 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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I have a lot of cool sanders because I build a lot of guitars that make shaping the perimeter easier. On 1911s and other pistols, I would actually make a router template and route out the grips using the template, double sided tape and bearing guided router bit. This old Colts were all hand polished and no two grips are the same so making templates won't do me much good. Layout
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237448
03/26/16 08:22 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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Drilling concentric holes in wood is bit more challenging than working with metal. First, I drill the 1/8" hole through both grips taped back to back to get the proper alignment. But I cant simply drill the 1/4" hole by centering the bit like you would with metal. I use the 1/8" drill bit to drill an 1/8" hole in the bottom material, then add an indexing pin. Now I can simply change out the 1/8" bit for a 1/4" bit and drill a perfectly concentric hole. Also, you have to use Forstner or Brad point bits on wood, or you get some nasty tear out.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237450
03/26/16 08:25 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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Then I went to carve the wood, and this is where the FAIL came to play. All the figure in the wood was superficial, and when I carved the grips I carved away all the figure. This happened to me one time before making a guitar neck. Heartbreaking really. Could be worse I suppose. I carved a figured maple guitar neck once, and the middle of the wood had a big old nasty knot/void which ended up being a total loss. I ended up with a workable set of grips that wont dig into my hand, but I am not happy with the look. These were finished with an old technique of hand rubbing the wood with brown paper sack and tung oil, then I gave it nice coat of bees wax. Once I saw that the figure was all gone, I didn't sand and shape as carefully as I should have and you can see a spot or two where I got a little aggressive.
Last edited by Colt W. Knight; 03/26/16 08:28 PM.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237478
03/26/16 09:30 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,560
Slow Drifter
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Couple spots where the metal is proud, but beautiful work, and congratulations sir! I'll address you as Doctor Colt from now on! Edited to add: you can call me Mr. Pig...lol
Last edited by Slow Drifter; 03/26/16 09:34 PM.
"I have no idea what WW-III will be fought with, but WW-IV will be fought with sticks and stones." A. Einstein
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237481
03/26/16 09:36 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 69,153
NORML as can be
^^Cut the Cord^^
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^^Cut the Cord^^
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I think you did a Great Job, Thanks for sharing!
(R-TX) .-- " TCNN CURL CRLB VFF VRNO AYR SNDL CGC TLRY MSOS "
_=====___=________==-
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Slow Drifter]
#6237486
03/26/16 09:41 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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Couple spots where the metal is proud, but beautiful work, and congratulations sir! I'll address you as Doctor Colt from now on! Edited to add: you can call me Mr. Pig...lol Yeah, once I lost the figure, I didn't take my time with the shaping. These won't be on the gun very long.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: NORML as can be]
#6237487
03/26/16 09:41 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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I think you did a Great Job, Thanks for sharing! Thanks
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237491
03/26/16 09:56 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,516
RiverRider
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Too bad about how the figure was lost, but I think they turned out pretty nice, myself...and you got yourself a little tuneup on technique. Hope you hit the jackpot on the next attempt!
"Arguing with you always makes me thirsty." -Augustus McRae
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237505
03/26/16 10:25 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
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603Country
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Nice job! You're a real woodworker. I need one of those Ridgid sanders. I have some fairly fancy looking spalted Pecan, which is almost white, with the spalting lines in it. Also spalted Ash. I can send you some if you'd like. Just let me know.
Or, Woodcraft will sell you Rosewood, Bocote, Satine, or others.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: 603Country]
#6237528
03/26/16 10:56 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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Nice job! You're a real woodworker. I need one of those Ridgid sanders. I have some fairly fancy looking spalted Pecan, which is almost white, with the spalting lines in it. Also spalted Ash. I can send you some if you'd like. Just let me know.
Or, Woodcraft will sell you Rosewood, Bocote, Satine, or others. The Rigid Oscilating belt and spindle sanders are amazing little tools. They are not super powerful, so they won't remove a lot of material - but that is also what makes them nice. Thank you very much for the offer, that spalted pecan sounds amazing. I have a bunch of lumber in my shop, I should be able to find something suitable.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237529
03/26/16 10:57 PM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,389
BassCat'99
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I have a strong feeling that your next run will be a winner! Frustrating but that will temper your next try. GL
22 Creedmoor
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: RiverRider]
#6237530
03/26/16 10:57 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Colt W. Knight
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Too bad about how the figure was lost, but I think they turned out pretty nice, myself...and you got yourself a little tuneup on technique. Hope you hit the jackpot on the next attempt! Seriously, SAA grips were much more difficult than I anticipated.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237601
03/27/16 12:27 AM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273
blackcoal
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Too bad about how the figure was lost, but I think they turned out pretty nice, myself...and you got yourself a little tuneup on technique. Hope you hit the jackpot on the next attempt! Seriously, SAA grips were much more difficult than I anticipated. Yes, they can be very frustrating. And trying to work on matched figure or grain can be even more trying. Heck, I worry as much about my fingers as I do cutting/sanding correctly. I would whack the grips with a small rod and maybe beat them with a link dog collar to give them a distressed look and call it quits and look at them for a couple of months to see if they didn't get better. JMO
The Greatest Enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.--Stephen Hawking
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237620
03/27/16 12:51 AM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 5,560
Slow Drifter
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I apologize, I re-read my post and most certainly did not intend to critique your work. If I tried something like that I'd end up with bloody nubs for fingers, so I wouldn't even need grips, anyway! I was sincere when I said beatiful work.
"I have no idea what WW-III will be fought with, but WW-IV will be fought with sticks and stones." A. Einstein
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237652
03/27/16 01:44 AM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 31,055
HWY_MAN
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What happen to the original factory grips?
Yes! A Weatherby does kill them deader.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: HWY_MAN]
#6237764
03/27/16 04:19 AM
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,101
Colt W. Knight
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Tucked away safely in the safe.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237795
03/27/16 09:59 AM
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Joined: Dec 2013
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GasGuzzler
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Will you make me some "failures" for a Blackhawk? I would use those "failures" proudly.
Pass the gravy.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237805
03/27/16 11:09 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 19,649
Pitchfork Predator
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I think they look much better than the ones that came on it. Congrats on your PH.D.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Colt W. Knight]
#6237941
03/27/16 02:07 PM
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Joined: Sep 2008
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KC
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That's real craftsmanship at work.
What's your PhD in?
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: GasGuzzler]
#6237966
03/27/16 02:29 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
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Colt W. Knight
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Will you make me some "failures" for a Blackhawk? I would use those "failures" proudly. [quote][/quote] If I had a black hawk to work from, I wouldn't mind at all.
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: Pitchfork Predator]
#6237967
03/27/16 02:29 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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I think they look much better than the ones that came on it. Congrats on your PH.D. Thanks
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Re: Single Action Army Grip failure
[Re: KC]
#6237968
03/27/16 02:30 PM
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Colt W. Knight
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That's real craftsmanship at work.
What's your PhD in? Thanks, my PhD is in Animal Science, I am a beef cattle scientist. I work mainly in beef cattle production, range animals and nutrition.
Last edited by Colt W. Knight; 03/27/16 02:31 PM.
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