oldemagics

Carl, if i posted every set i make or experiment with like the one in the e-mail... i would live on the computer! here... happy now? lol but glad someone likes to see my work, yer a one man pep squad! to the rest of you, this is NOT finished work, just a single grip i was playing with to see how well an idea worked...

alright carl, here is the first ivory work to go out. first scrimshaw i have done since a crap load of powder horns back for the bi-centennial!

here ya go rt3, you wanted me to post the last order... top row L-R bobbed 1911 in birdseye maple another b-t in end cut ebony defender grips in cape buffalo horn (i only re-carved the design on these as the owner did not like them as shallow as they were originally done laser cut) bottom row L-R defender grips in wild cherry another b-t 1911 in walnut (owner actually made that set and sent them for checkering) colt mustang in walnut (only 3 inches top to bottom)

yes they are bent, but they gave fits for that! the plastic of the design cracked very quickly, had to keep it hot, but not enough to blister, then the backing tray EDGE was lower than all the rest. had ot make a wood jig and keep the outer shoe that it touched just the edge so as to not mess up the heated center plastic but till i inset deep enough for the tray, it was getting a bit thin for my likeing near the edges of the grip, especially with it being burl sent him a copy of the inlay i posted above, and hope if he wants any more like this he will let me do true inlay instead of the pins

well RT, finally finished them ended up putting the new pins in anyway, the first set got so thin the colored plastic rubbed through while i was rubbing out the oil! explained the whys and wherefors to him and he agreed to let them just a tad high in the wood rather than filw down the new set. because they wrapped so far around i didnt want to inlet any deeper that near the edge of a thin grip here is the test fit:

always enjoy seeing others work TR damn nice work and detail for "early" work those inlays were about 17 yrs ago when i first got off a walker and crutches, on a cane i made myself cause i hate the ugly ones the docs "prescribe" it was also the first work i did with wood in over 20 yrs except for construction and a few cabinets sorry was out of touch for a few, packed in the A.T. to get away from people and clear the head. found out i am now out of a job, and that the last week will probably not be paid since the co is bankrupt on the plus side, they guy who ordered the Bonnie grips also has sent a deposit for 3 more sets since he found out i will have a bit more time at my own shop!

like the french curve instead of the usual top treatment on that ivory RT3! And you are right, ivory must be FELT to appreciate it found some pics of actual inlay i did too many years ago on one of my canes, both are about 1 1/2" wide and they show the abuse they took lol red cedar, brass and mother of pearl brass blades and crown, mother of pearl cross and hilts on the swords, and walnut i cheated and just carved the lettering and filled with enamel

i have a 99A, one of the earliest models in .303 Sav just found dies, now searching for brass the spring should be fine, if it does get a bit weak, it can be loaded useing the tensioner at the front of the reciever behind the forstock guys sometimes laughed when i slid that old saddle rifle out of the sack at a shoot the laughter stopped when that open sighted relic out-shot their fancy scoped guns!

got lucky, he e-mailed this a.m. and said he would like to just take it a bit further down so the entire frame is silver. sure beats starting over with a new set of pins after that a dozen or so rubbed out coats of oil and they will be done

they did go just a bit higher, i also placed them just a bit forward of center. just a habit i have whenever it is a standard, either the Stars and Stripes or other legitimate U.S. or state emblem. just to signify going forward and never to be thought of as being in retreat. waiting on a reply from the cust now, must have been cheap pins (modern, so what else would they be) and in the process of trying to get the plastic "enamel", frames and wood to flush, some of the gilt rubbed through leaveing it silver i really miss the old badges/pins with solid brass backings and enamel instead of plastic... but they were worse to bend without breaking the design hope he doesnt mind the change, will be a bear of a job to remove and replace those things edit to add pic... still needs a few more coats of oil and lots of rubbing, some clean-up around pin edges. waiting to see if i am re-doing them before going further. right grip insert IS off level by about 1/32", but not noticeable unless they are side by side like in the pic

RT3, nice design work but i am a bit lost on "poured inlay". what exactly is that? cut the lines and pour a polimer or something in the recesses? all the inlay i have done was other wood/metal cut and fitted. worst one i think was 37 peices for a coat of arms with a finished size of 2 in square a set i am doing now is nice red maple burl w/"Bonnie Blue" pins inset in the centers, was almost a shame to interupt such nice grain with the flags, but... not inset here yet, but this is what he wants

I will prove my newbie status here... With only one match under the bridge, how do I figure out what the penalties were for so as to work on improveing (eliminateing) them? Also I know it is an average from 4 classifiers, 2 of which were shot at the match. I can only identify one of those so far going through the classifier lay-out list. Long Range Standards Problem is, what happens if I screw up next couple cassifiers like I did this one? Screwup defined; match Stg % was 44.86, but classifier Stg % was 96.59 % !? I sure dont need a master class card just getting started!

I know the feeling, I once spent 5 e-mails to some young pup trying to get him to understand how to get the multi-level relief on a vine carving... I have a couple peices going on the bench right now, pair of grips, damascus barrels and a rusted powder measure that i need to get working, but once things slow down a bit will have to give that a try. I like the look a lot! And I think my lack of conveying my thoughts in type is also digging me deep with one of the mods here at the moment...oh well, i tried.

nice RT3, have done stippling with a punch on frames, but not on wood what tool do you use for the effect?

all the work is by hand most modern tols in the shop are a bandsaw and belt sander, and some of my hand tools were my grandfathers except for some work for the local shop, i make maybe a half dozen sets a year on order anything from plain double diamond to one set i didnt get a pic of that had a total of 37 inlaid peices on each grip guess i will have to make a couple "fancy" sets just to have the photo op, even though with the economy these days there isnt much call for grips in the couple hundred dollar range like there used to be