Thinner

[b4uqzme]

I got it in my head somehow that my MK9 would carry better if the wood grips were thinner. So I broke out the sandpaper and some elbow grease and skinnied them up. I did my best to post a pic that will represent how thin they are. They are so thin that I needed to thin the screw heads and shorten them. If I had it to do again, I would start with grips that weren't checkered. :o I have the sneaking suspicion that Hogue selects the wood with the least grain to make the checkered ones.

[Alfonse]

How thick are the wood grips? I think the K9 grips are .550 inches each, so a total of 1.1 inches wide for the pistol. Are the wood grips similar?

[b4uqzme]

The wood grips are really thick. The sides are possibly twice as thick as the original plastic. I basically whittled these down to comparable to the plastic ones.

[Big Sexy]

Looks good, b4uqzme! I'm currently making some custom grips out of Koa wood for my K9, and I'm going the "thinner than Hogue wood" route myself. Mine are roughly splitting the difference between the OEM rubber grips and the Hogue wood grips in terms of thickness. I really don't want to go any thinner for fear they could split or warp, even though I'm using stabilized wood.

[Bawanna]

You should be fine if the wood is stabilized correctly. I've found that not all wood stabilization is equal.

If its good you can go wicked thin.

I doubt Hogue spends much time selecting grips by grain, they are pumping them out. I'd never make it there, I'd spend too much time setting the special ones off to the side.

b4, actually thinning the ones that are checkered is easier, the checkering gives you a good reference point and its much faster to just knock off the diamonds than removing solid wood. I've turned a couple factory checkered grips into smooth. I wasn't sure it could be done but it worked fine and you must have went even more as I didn't have to mess with the screws.

If there's enough wood left and you want some checkering put back on, I know a guy that knows a guys cousin who has a friend that can do that.

[ReManG]

Nice! I think they still look amazing even without much figure in the wood. You have some good patience....

[b4uqzme]

....b4, actually thinning the ones that are checkered is easier, the checkering gives you a good reference point and its much faster to just knock off the diamonds than removing solid wood. I've turned a couple factory checkered grips into smooth. I wasn't sure it could be done but it worked fine and you must have went even more as I didn't have to mess with the screws....
.

It went pretty fast. I screwed the grips onto a block of wood. That helped keep things square and I used the screw heads as a depth gauge. I find that nothing works better for rounded surfaces than sandpaper and your fingers.

Ask your cousin's friend to stay on standby. I'm gonna enjoy the feel of the smooth for a while but some custom checkering would really be special. Pondering that.

[berettabone]

It's one reason why I never tried very hard, to find wood grips..........I would have to do the same...............a bit too fat for my hands..................................you get some satisfaction from doing things yourself:)

[Big Sexy]

b4, one thing I've found works well for both wet and dry sanding is to use one of those rectangular "rubber like" erasers as a sanding block. Just wrap the sandpaper around it, and it's both flexible enough to go around corners, yet flat enough to help keep your flats flat. For inside radiuses, I use pieces of round wooden dowels as sanding blocks to keep everything nice and rounded. For flats where I want a sharp edge transition, I just use a wood block as my sanding block.

But, I'm a rookie at this. I've not done anywhere close to as much wood work as Mr. Bawanna has, that's for sure!

[Bawanna]

I never ever sand with fingers, I use a small wood block with thin felt attached as a backing. Makes the sandpaper work better, keeps the surface flat, the felt allow for working radius's and such.

Sometimes depending on how one carries a smooth grip is a plus, doesn't hang up on clothes etc.

My cousins friend quite often doesn't bring the checkering to a full point, partially cause he's lazy I suspect but it also allows a good grip without being sharp enough to grab fine fabrics for those rich mothers that wear silk shirts and such.

You done good work b4, you can hold your head up high on that project. Jocko would give it two thumbs up iffen he hadn't lost that one thumb in that combine / sheep incident. Still painful to think about.

[gb6491]

...
You done good work b4, you can hold your head up high on that project.....
+1 on that, well done b4uqzme!

[b4uqzme]

Thanks all. I gotta keep looking for possible projects. Keeps me outta the gun store! :o

[Big Sexy]

Hey, Bawanna --
How do you keep the little projections at the top rear of Kahr grips (with the radius right above the web of your thumb when you grip the gun) from flexing away from the pistol frame during temp changes (specifically when it gets hot)? I notice Hogue milled a little slot underneath that portion of the grip and glued in a little steel strip.

I've made 2 different sets of wood grips so far, and even though they sat flat when I finished, once they sat in a hot car, the little projections I'm referring to warped away from the frame slightly on both sets. The first set I made was unstabilized wood and warped badly and I ended up scrapping them. Even the second set with stabilized wood began warping a little bit, but not as severe, and I think I can fix the problem.

What say you?

[b4uqzme]

Hey, Bawanna --
How do you keep the little projections at the top rear of Kahr grips (with the radius right above the web of your thumb when you grip the gun) from flexing away from the pistol frame during temp changes (specifically when it gets hot)? I notice Hogue milled a little slot underneath that portion of the grip and glued in a little steel strip.
...
This doesn't answer your question but I believe that little strip of metal is there for a different purpose: it's for the trigger bar to slide against. However if it also helps stabilize those tabs, that's a bonus.

[berettabone]

Hey, Bawanna --
How do you keep the little projections at the top rear of Kahr grips (with the radius right above the web of your thumb when you grip the gun) from flexing away from the pistol frame during temp changes (specifically when it gets hot)? I notice Hogue milled a little slot underneath that portion of the grip and glued in a little steel strip.

I've made 2 different sets of wood grips so far, and even though they sat flat when I finished, once they sat in a hot car, the little projections I'm referring to warped away from the frame slightly on both sets. The first set I made was unstabilized wood and warped badly and I ended up scrapping them. Even the second set with stabilized wood began warping a little bit, but not as severe, and I think I can fix the problem.

What say you?

If you look at the insides of the grip, they seem to be a bit concave around the top inside edge.

[Bawanna]

This doesn't answer your question but I believe that little strip of metal is there for a different purpose: it's for the trigger bar to slide against. However if it also helps stabilize those tabs, that's a bonus.

This is what I thought all along too but the strip of steel is inlaid on both sides.

When the light finally came on that's what I now do also. I epoxy in a strip of steel just like Hogue does.

I didn't notice an issue with warping but I've made countless Beretta 92 grips with the same weak little ear and given time they almost without exception break off.

I think the steel is there to prevent breaking off but the trigger bar riding on it is a bonus and can benefit sometimes by smoothing it up some. Some factory grips I've seen were glued in rather hastily so the surface isn't very smooth. Easy fix with a little sandpaper.

[b4uqzme]

^^^ OK Colonel, now you are freaking me out. I just spent better than an hour yesterday with those grips off and didn't notice that the strips are on both sides....:der:

[Bawanna]

All the factory ones I've seen had strips on both sides. Yours don't or you didn't notice?

Maybe I'm the one freaking out, actually I'm sure I am, now that I ponder it some, been going on a long time too.

[b4uqzme]

No, they are on both sides. I just presumed the reason was for the trigger bar so hard that I blocked out the other side. :D

[Bawanna]

I think I did too for a long time. I was convinced it was for the trigger bar to slide on so it didn't hang up in wood or slip out of place.

Guess we could call it a multi tasking strip on that side. Work for you?

[b4uqzme]

A true diplomat. No wonder you're the Colonel. ;)