[ByronF]

I have a set of smooth stocks in the works by Hogue. I'd like to have a stippled design applied to them. Any advice on how to do this myself? It's not that I'm cheap...well, yes it is. Does anyone do this for not too many bills?

Byron

 

[Jack London]

In some of the old gunsmithing books there is a shop made tool designed for stippling wood grips. It consists of a pin punch with a concavity ground into the end. This might be a bit hard to execute, but it could be done with a toolpost grinder or Dremel tool if you have a steady hand. The pattern produced is like half domes, and it is rather attractive. Some other shapes are not depth limiting and could result in very uneven looking patterns.

 

[ByronF]

Thanks Jack. I think I may try to make a punch w/ my Dremel, then attack an old walnut tree for practice. When I can climb the trunk with bare hands I'll know it's stippled enough.

Byron

 

[Yankee]

How about a nailset? Dirt cheap at your local Home Depot. Might be worth a try.

 

[Ned Christiansen]

What I've done a few times is just take the Dremel with a 3/32 or 1/8 ball carbide burr and just go to work sort of "woodpeckering" it. It does not appear as sharp as some stippling but actually gives a pretty good gripping surface. Also, it's pretty easy to either sketch lines or use tape as a guide to restrict it to certain areas, like if you wanted to leave diamonds around the screw holes. Pretty easy to practice a bit too, like in the middle of one of the kitchen cabinet doors. I've done this on both wood and plastic and like the results. A not-great pic of it on a Makarov can be seen at http://www.m-guns.com/picj.html

 

[JoeMc]

I left a set of stock grips on my bench one day. The next day my German Shorthair stippled them for me, they actually did't look that bad.

 

[gyp_c]

Here's one...Use the Dremel to practice on some of the same material. Try using the cut-off wheels at an angle...Not too fast, or it'll burn! Just think of a pattern and try to get a little consistency of just buffing a little at a time...If you turn it to 90degrees, you'll get a cut...That can be pretty interesting as well...In a softer wood, like Aspen, it makes the prettiest little patterns you can imagine...You can take a torch and just burn a little of the surface from an angle. Come back and sand with 220-400 on up to steel-wool if you get somethin' you like...You can use a lotta' wood practicin' on it, but once you find a nice pattern, it's definately one-of-a-kind!

Even the little brushes of different shapes make some neat patterns...

------------------
>>>>>>>>>>g2<<<<<<<<<<

I Like The Shade Too!

 

[T. Kanaley]

Byron,
To get a better fit for my hand, I have modified the Morini grips off my Walther GSP and 208s and the following is the method I used to blend the original stippling with the area of wood I had to remove. You cannot tell by looking at it, where it had been touched up.

I used a countersink bit like the kind you would chuck up in a drill and by pinching the bit on the shank with the thumb and index finger you drive the point down into the wood by snapping your wrist letting the weight of the tool dimple the surface. Once you get a rythym going you can cover a large area very quickly and it is surprising how much control you have over where the tool strikes. You can go over it as many times as you like till you get the look you want. For deeper impressions you would strike the wood with a little more gusto by putting more wrist into it. When finished, it looks just like the stippling you see on the expensive European target guns.

Hope that helps.

Tony

 

[Ned Christiansen]

Tony, I'm curious about the grips you described as Morini, as that is an old name in Italian motorcycles. Are they Italian?

Thanks
Ned

 

[T. Kanaley]

Ned,
Ceasar Morini manufactures anatomical target grips and target pistols for ISU and bullseye competition. They are manufactured in Switzerland.

Regards,
Tony