Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

DIY custom one-piece grips cast with resin.


Warden Callaway

Recommended Posts

Glad I could Help Warden.

 

You did a fantastic job. I'll be making a few more sets, using your technique. Thanks for another great DIY video.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job, very informative. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the compliments.   

 

I put far more work into the video than making the grips!  The whole project took a couple of weeks. I couldn't figure out how to make video of me actually in the the process with setting up camera for each step. So this turned out to be a slide show. 

 

What I didn't show was mixing and pouring the molds and resin.  There are hundreds of videro out there that process and it varies depending on products used.  The silicone rubber I used mixed 10 parts silicone to 1 part catalyst.   The resin is mixed 1 part A and 1 part B.  

 

I'd think if I started with the silicone mold kit Smokey used and had everything ready,  I could have a new set made in a couple of hours.  

 

Making the case head medallions took maybe 30 minutes total.  But you could use a lot of things for medallions like old coins,  old cufflinks,  or actual medallions.

 

The modeling of the steer head was an artistic challenge for me. I really didn't expect it to turn out. It was rough out of the mold but I worked it over some and improved it up.  Again,  you wouldn't have to model it. You could pick any trinket that was interesting to you and tack it onto the master.  Or embed if into the resin like I did with the medallions.  The hobby store has a dump truck load of trinkets in the jewellery making isle if you don't already have something to use.

 

You wouldn't have to make them one-piece grips.  In fact,  two piece grips would probably be easier to make.  But it would involve installing escutcheons. 

 

Colors could be anything as dies are available.  I wanted an aged ivory look so I added some amber tint.  Not knowing what to expect,  I didn't use nearly enough to make much of a change.  They could be stained afterwards also.

 

596a19d3b7415_CimarronLightningJuly2017.jpg.6974515bedefee8d20ec18c91f5fb7b9.jpg

 

What do you think?  Ivory with a lightning bolt cut out of Germany silver?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some transformation. 

 

932461369_GripsstainedDec2019.jpg.85c9e66eafa91bf27323eb174a987534.jpg477248385_GripstainstersideDec2019.jpg.26070efa64feca245bd956cf7cb8d949.jpg

 

I couple of days back I applied amber stain to get a more aged ivory look. 

 

2120365321_AgedivorysteersideDec2019.jpg.c47f3a3b759b825fe5964bc9c432c714.jpg

 

212767494_AgedivoryleftsideDec2019.jpg.c7c5adbed236018ea8e31611be56e683.jpg

 

Today I took a steak knife and "scrimshawed" crack lines.  I used thinned black paint and a toothpick to fill the cuts. Acetone to wash off the over run. Maybe should have used brown paint. 

 

If I keep going I'll make enough mess I'll start over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've made my own resin grips for my 58 conversions. Lots of fun. I still have quite a few things that I want to try. maybe i'll get all motivated and make a video someday lol. You can save a good bit of money on making the molds by using a tube of pure silicon caulking. bowl of water some dawn dish soap. you cant use to much. You want the water to be at least a healthy tint of the soap color. squeeze in the caulk and knead it like dough until it's not stringy and stays in a playdough type ball. spread that over your grip in the form you've made and let it dry. It does take about a day to fully cure. You can color the resin with acrylic paint of your choice when mixing it. keep in mind it doesnt take much. 4-6 drops in the mix for a set of grips seems to make it a solid color and not transparent. to much paint and it takes an eternity for the grips to fully cure. 

before and after pics of mine

IMG_20190130_160450129.jpg

grips.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Warden, those crack lines look fantastic! Now I gotta go make a new set for mine, and do exactly as you did! Thanks for showing that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Warden, those crack lines look fantastic! Now I gotta go make a new set for mine, and do exactly as you did! Thanks for showing that.

 

Since you're going to do as I did,  here is some detail of my process.  

 

I studied pictures of real aged grips that has cracks to dope out the direction and other characteristics.  

I used masking tape to establish a line from top to bottom trying to replicate the crack direction in real ivory grips.  

Then leaving the masking tape in place, I used it as a guide to make new cuts parallel to the tape on to the edge of one side.

Then move the tape to cover the side just done and cut the other side.

I tried to make some cuts shallow and some deeper.   

It may look like the cuts ran deep on the bottom edge but what I did was to "turn the corner" to extend the cut on the bottom flat.

 

 

At first I tried to fill in the cuts with a toothpick.  It worked but I was still getting a lot outside the cut. So just started dipping my fingertip in the thinned paint and rubbing it over the cuts. Then scrubbed it off with a rag damp with acetone.  One small area at a time. 

 

I should have uses a brown instead paint/stain instead of black.

I should have sharpened the steak knife. The teeth were sharp but the point was dull. 

I probably put too many cuts.  Maybe fewer but deeper?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Since you're going to do as I did,  here is some detail of my process.  

 

I studied pictures of real aged grips that has cracks to dope out the direction and other characteristics.  

I used masking tape to establish a line from top to bottom trying to replicate the crack direction in real ivory grips.  

Then leaving the masking tape in place, I used it as a guide to make new cuts parallel to the tape on to the edge of one side.

Then move the tape to cover the side just done and cut the other side.

I tried to make some cuts shallow and some deeper.   

It may look like the cuts ran deep on the bottom edge but what I did was to "turn the corner" to extend the cut on the bottom flat.

 

 

At first I tried to fill in the cuts with a toothpick.  It worked but I was still getting a lot outside the cut. So just started dipping my fingertip in the thinned paint and rubbing it over the cuts. Then scrubbed it off with a rag damp with acetone.  One small area at a time. 

 

I should have uses a brown instead paint/stain instead of black.

I should have sharpened the steak knife. The teeth were sharp but the point was dull. 

I probably put too many cuts.  Maybe fewer but deeper?

 

Thanks for the details Warden. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow.

 

I think they look great just as you've done them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's pretty impressive indeed, this coming from a guy that has spent a lot of money on after market grips and grip makers. I am not sure if any revolver I own wears the original grips. Keep at it and maybe you can start a side business. Your grips turned out better than the majority I have bought

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

That's pretty impressive indeed, this coming from a guy that has spent a lot of money on after market grips and grip makers. I am not sure if any revolver I own wears the original grips. Keep at it and maybe you can start a side business. Your grips turned out better than the majority I have bought

 

I'm seriously retired!  Some times I'm too lazy to work on my own projects! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the Warden inspired me to make my own set. He did such a great job, that I wanted to make a set for one of my 1860 Army's. He gave me a few pointers, and I jumped in.

 

Here's the results on one of my reject castings. Sometimes they have voids in them or some other defect. I just use them to practice stuff on.

 

I did like the Warden did, and cut lines into the resin using and Exacto knife and a straightedge. It worked pretty good. Then I rubbed them down with some brown leather dye. Once that dried, I rubbed black acrylic paint into the cuts, and let it dry. Then I sanded the paint off with 400 grit paper and dyed them one more time with the leather dye. While it was still wet, I buffed it off with a microfiber towel. I think it's a pretty good result. I may try rubbing some carnauba wax into it, to see if it mellows it out even more. 

 

I'll keep experimenting until I'm satisfied.

 

Thanks for all the help Warden!

 

 

IMG_0356.jpg

IMG_0357.jpg

IMG_0358.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Way to go!  

 

I've got even more ideas.  One thing I did that I wasn't real happy with is use modern Starline 38-40 brass for medallions.  I wanted to use the original 38 WCF headstamp.  This afternoon i dropped in on our Winchester collector.  He let me look through hundreds of loose 44WCF and 38WCF cartridges. 

 

552329189_Old38WCFand44WCFcartridges.jpg.35760f2b08b7ba1d78cd9605081f624e.jpg

 

Some real odd headstamps.  Out of hundreds from to chose, it was difficult to find pairs with same headstamp.  Some are 38 CFW.  Note, some of these have different primer size.  Others had primers larger than large. Some  have primers between large and small. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now those are cool Warden! That's really going to enhance the vintage vibe of the gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Way to go!  

 

I've got even more ideas.  One thing I did that I wasn't real happy with is use modern Starline 38-40 brass for medallions.  I wanted to use the original 38 WCF headstamp.  This afternoon i dropped in on our Winchester collector.  He let me look through hundreds of loose 44WCF and 38WCF cartridges. 

 

552329189_Old38WCFand44WCFcartridges.jpg.35760f2b08b7ba1d78cd9605081f624e.jpg

 

Some real odd headstamps.  Out of hundreds from to chose, it was difficult to find pairs with same headstamp.  Some are 38 CFW.  Note, some of these have different primer size.  Others had primers larger than large. Some  have primers between large and small. 

 

I had thought about seeing if any of them would fire before cutting them into medallions.  (Sure wouldn't want to cut into a loaded round.)  But then I got to thinking - most of them have old-timey dome shaped primers and look of odd size.  I better pull the bullets and dump the powder.  Use WD-40 to kill the primer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very impressive!  Nice job Warden and thanks for posting the “how to” video.  
 

The video was very well done.  You said what was was needed to be said without another 10 minutes of unnecessary crap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Please post update pictures of your latest set. 

 

 

Here you go Warden.

 

 

IMG_0366.jpg

IMG_0368.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.