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Large frame palm swell grips


mikekerr

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3 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

More info on working with micarta...?

Basically it is any permeable material that can absorb a resin. So you can use paper, linen, rope, paracord, stuff like that. Cut it into uniform strips or whatever. Then you slather them in fiberglass resin, think clear bondo from like home depot. After you get them slathered in resin and stacked up really thick, like half inch minimum for grips, you then smash them in together in a mold (mould if you are British) and let them sit for a day or two. After you remove it, the compound is hard as a rock, impervious to solvents, weather, heat, sweat, pretty much anything a gun would be subjected to. You then have to sand them down to shape. I might experiment with some soon. But its hard to be able to just shape something and send them out to someone perfectly fit for their hands.

A work of caution... if you ever work with fiberglass or any resin for that matter... you MUST use a very very good respirator. Not a little paper 3m mask you get for like 50 cents. I'm talking like real deal canister respirator, with replaceable filters. The fiberglass will totally f*ck your lungs up. DO NOT overlook safety in this.

The cool thing to do is mix colors so you can have sweet grips that have different patterns and stuff. Paper micarta looks like pearl or ivory handles. Canvas micarta grips so hard it will remove skin. Linens (think old shirts, bedsheets, stuff like that) is still grippy but it doesn't rip your hands up. I used denim once, turned out decent for a set of knife scales.

Not trying to take anything away from Joe with Patriot Defense stuff. I think you all know how I stand on that stuff and his products.

Edited by ryridesmotox
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Ahh so it's a process not a material. I never knew this about micarta knife grips.

I'll likely wait for Patriot to come out with theirs, but if not I'm certain YouTube has dozens of tutorials on something knife-related like that.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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49 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

Ahh so it's a process not a material. I never knew this about micarta knife grips.

I'll likely wait for Patriot to come out with theirs, but if not I'm certain YouTube has dozens of tutorials on something knife-related like that.

Yea it's the same thing as the knife grips. Think boat hull or surf board you'll get the idea. Fiberglass resin is gnarly. It pretty much is impervious to anything. Doesn't particularly like UV rays of you just let it bake in the sun for 10 years. That's why surfboards yellow... But for shooting purposes, it's solid stuff. I'll do a set soon and see how it turns out.

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1 hour ago, MemphisMechanic said:

Ahh so it's a process not a material. I never knew this about micarta knife grips.

I'll likely wait for Patriot to come out with theirs, but if not I'm certain YouTube has dozens of tutorials on something knife-related like that.

You can buy slabs or scales. https://www.amazon.com/Micarta-Canvas-Scales-Premium-Handles/dp/B017HQKZIG

 

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I think I'd want to cast the back of the factory grips in plaster or similar, and make a mold to cast the micarta grips with.

Otherwise I have no idea how you'd get the backs & contour right.



You're going to be better of with having someone scan or scale the grips. You won't be able to make something work with using a mold, it's much more difficult than you'd imagine.


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7 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

I think I'd want to cast the back of the factory grips in plaster or similar, and make a mold to cast the micarta grips with.

Otherwise I have no idea how you'd get the backs & contour right.

Trace paper the opening. Mark and whittle, whittle and fit, fit and sand.

After 3 days and a mountain of dust, call Joe at PD and order a set!

Or just save time and order a set.

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