Permanent carbide grips (not skateboard tape)

[80seriesaddict]

Are there any disadvantages to epoxying carbide on a grip versus skateboard tape? Minus cost of course.

[Boomstick303]

Resale of the gun.  It may not be everyone's jam to want silicone carbide, so that would affect the number of available customers on resale.    

 

Depending on the quality of the job performed installing the carbide could also affect resale price.  

[Tampa-XD45]

I buy some cheap plastic or wood grips for my silicon carbide treatments and keep the original grips in original condition.

[80seriesaddict]

I thought about resale. It’ll be on an old STI. If I do it I’m definitely getting a backup grip to do it on.

 

I’m wondering if it does like sandpaper and the abrasives wear down over time to the point where it’s not very grippy. Then you’re stuck with a minimally aggressive grip.

 

[80seriesaddict]

I’ve had a talon grip on a work gun but I’ve only had it installed for a few months so the durability is still unknown at this point. I expected it to tear my clothing up but I’ve been lucky so far.

 

I have the treebark grip on the 2011 now but the carbide is really calling out to me. 

[Don_B]

Unless there is a new method to install the carbide yes it will wear down and lose the grip. At least that was my experience in the past. It did take several years tho. 

[80seriesaddict]

34 minutes ago, Don_B said:

Unless there is a new method to install the carbide yes it will wear down and lose the grip. At least that was my experience in the past. It did take several years tho. 

Thank you. My other question is then what? I’m too incompetent to attempt this myself. I’m going with people that do this for a living. Do they grind the old stuff off and reapply? Is it a one and done application?

[ddc]

1 hour ago, Don_B said:

Unless there is a new method to install the carbide yes it will wear down and lose the grip. At least that was my experience in the past. It did take several years tho. 

 

That is my experience also. It doesn't last forever.

 

That is one of the reasons I went back to skateboard tape.

[80seriesaddict]

Good to know. I appreciate the wisdom.

[CZsandSigs]

I've silicon carbided mine a few times. It wears off but can be sanded down and reapplied. Also, on a different gun, I painted over the silicon carbide with primer and spray paint and it seems to keep it from wearing -almost no noticeable wear of the silicon carbide thru about 5k rounds on my shadow 2.

[80seriesaddict]

50 minutes ago, CZsandSigs said:

I've silicon carbided mine a few times. It wears off but can be sanded down and reapplied. Also, on a different gun, I painted over the silicon carbide with primer and spray paint and it seems to keep it from wearing -almost no noticeable wear of the silicon carbide thru about 5k rounds on my shadow 2.

Interesting. Did the paint drastically reduce the grippiness (I couldn’t think of a grownup word for that)?

[CZsandSigs]

16 minutes ago, 80seriesaddict said:

Interesting. Did the paint drastically reduce the grippiness (I couldn’t think of a grownup word for that)?

No, not really. But I start with it really aggressive (it's either 30 or 60 grit, I can't recall without going to look at my supplies) so it could probably use some reduction in grippiness.  It's almost too grippy since the SC pieces don't rub off, they just stay there and bite into my skin.  But I'll take that tradeoff over having to redo it over and over. 

[80seriesaddict]

Good information. Thank you.

[LHshooter]

I used to use skateboard tape but found the "grippiness" would wear fairly quickly and sometimes the tape just wouldn't stick well to the grip. After reading/viewing people applying silicon carbide I decided to try it for myself. I had a spare Sig P320 grip module that I decided to practice on before committing. I used a Dremel tool to grind off the grip texture and anyplace else I wanted to apply the carbide and then using 15 minute epoxy I brushed it on with a sponge brush and then spooned the carbide on over a plastic bag to catch the excess. I have to admit it came out pretty damn good, so good that I did the same to my G34. After about 18 months I've noticed little if any wear/reduction in grippiness. If it happens in the future, I'll just sand down and reapply.

There are a bunch of videos online showing how to do it - some are amateurish and others are really good.

I'm not worried about resale, when I die my firearms will be disposed of in my estate plan, I won't be around to worry about.

[80seriesaddict]

I stopped selling guns a decade ago so I don’t know why I am worried about it. I have a weird mental block about ruining collectibility and sale ability even when most of the stuff I have is produced in fair quantities and I don’t sell. Also rare doesn’t always mean collectible and even if something is fairly valuable it doesn’t mean there’s a large market for it. Anyway… Obtaining a gen 1 STI grip and either doing it myself or having it done is a fairly low risk endeavor.

I find humor in the idea of sanding off sand paper media with sandpaper. 

[392heminut]

53 minutes ago, 80seriesaddict said:

 

I find humor in the idea of sanding off sand paper media with sandpaper. 

 

So, I'm not the only one!

[Chills1994]

On 1/4/2024 at 1:33 PM, Tampa-XD45 said:

I buy some cheap plastic or wood grips for my silicon carbide treatments and keep the original grips in original condition.

I had dabbled in making my ow 1911 grip panels years ago:

 

 

So I wouldn’t mind taking a bland hardwood  like poplar and giving it the epoxy carbide grip treatment.

 

1911 grips are relatively fast and easy to make.  Three sides of them are straight cuts, so I have a jig for the tablesaw.

 

The only tricky part is the top radius (and under notch) and the radius across the face.  But that is what the 12” diameter sanding disc is for followed by the 6X48 belt.

 

I never felt that motivated to learn how to checker them.  

I am ASSuming somebody has put out some sort of video tutorial on how to apply the epoxy and carbide grit???

[ddc]

3 hours ago, LHshooter said:

I used to use skateboard tape but found the "grippiness" would wear fairly quickly and sometimes the tape just wouldn't stick well to the grip. After reading/viewing people applying silicon carbide I decided to try it for myself. I had a spare Sig P320 grip module that I decided to practice on before committing. I used a Dremel tool to grind off the grip texture and anyplace else I wanted to apply the carbide and then using 15 minute epoxy I brushed it on with a sponge brush and then spooned the carbide on over a plastic bag to catch the excess. I have to admit it came out pretty damn good, so good that I did the same to my G34. After about 18 months I've noticed little if any wear/reduction in grippiness. If it happens in the future, I'll just sand down and reapply.

There are a bunch of videos online showing how to do it - some are amateurish and others are really good.

I'm not worried about resale, when I die my firearms will be disposed of in my estate plan, I won't be around to worry about.

 

Grip tape can be problematic I agree. 

 

A shooter friend recommended Vicious skateboard tape and it really works.

The grit is aggressive and the adhesive is tenacious.

Once applied it will not move until you are ready to peel it off. 

It is somewhat flexible and goes around single curves well.

It can deal with mild compound curves but definitely has it's limits as far as that is concerned.

[ddc]

1 hour ago, Chills1994 said:

I am ASSuming somebody has put out some sort of video tutorial on how to apply the epoxy and carbide grit???

 

There are numerous tutorials on YouTube.

After you've watched a couple you'll have a pretty good idea.

It is actually pretty straightforward.

 

Be sure to mask off anything you don't want compromised. That includes parts of the gun and grip that you think are probably far enough away from your work area so you don't need to be concerned. Be concerned.

[80seriesaddict]

3 hours ago, Chills1994 said:

I had dabbled in making my ow 1911 grip panels years ago:

 

 

So I wouldn’t mind taking a bland hardwood  like poplar and giving it the epoxy carbide grip treatment.

 

1911 grips are relatively fast and easy to make.  Three sides of them are straight cuts, so I have a jig for the tablesaw.

 

The only tricky part is the top radius (and under notch) and the radius across the face.  But that is what the 12” diameter sanding disc is for followed by the 6X48 belt.

 

I never felt that motivated to learn how to checker them.  

I am ASSuming somebody has put out some sort of video tutorial on how to apply the epoxy and carbide grit???

I tried making my own grips one time. I believe I started with Cocobolo… No prior research… I got to the belt sander part and quickly learned that cocobolo burns eyes, sweaty skin and the lungs like olio capsaicin (pepper spray).

 

That sucked a lot, but not as much as pepper spray.

[Chills1994]

9 hours ago, 80seriesaddict said:

I tried making my own grips one time. I believe I started with Cocobolo… No prior research… I got to the belt sander part and quickly learned that cocobolo burns eyes, sweaty skin and the lungs like olio capsaicin (pepper spray).

 

That sucked a lot, but not as much as pepper spray.

I had to do some digging, but Delta did make a dust collector fitting for their combo 12” disc and 6X48 stationary belt sander machine.  That helped alot….to keep the dust from swirling back around with the disc and being ejected back up into the air.

 

Now, I always wear a dust mask inside if I am sawing, sanding, routing.

 

Cedar, like for fences and decks…. If that dust gets trapped under my watch’s wristband or under my cuffs if wearing long sleeves, will have me itching like crazy in about 5 minutes.

[Chills1994]

11 hours ago, ddc said:

 

There are numerous tutorials on YouTube.

After you've watched a couple you'll have a pretty good idea.

It is actually pretty straightforward.

 

Be sure to mask off anything you don't want compromised. That includes parts of the gun and grip that you think are probably far enough away from your work area so you don't need to be concerned. Be concerned.

Yep!

 

I already watched a couple of videos.

 

I saw one guy just sprinkling it on with a spoon with a tub underneath to catch the extra grit that fell off.

 

 

[ddc]

5 hours ago, Chills1994 said:

Yep!

 

I already watched a couple of videos.

 

I saw one guy just sprinkling it on with a spoon with a tub underneath to catch the extra grit that fell off.

 

 

 

That's basically what I've done. Once you've accumulated enough gather it up and re-sprinkle.

[Tampa-XD45]

I used JB Weld as the adhesive, and 60/90 grit silicon carbide in the smallest amount I could purchase on Ebay or Amazon.

Wearing latex gloves, I also gently pushed the grit into the adhesive to make sure there were no high spots.

 

Don't worry about a perfect application ... there's always tiny amounts you scrape or sand away after drying.

[lroy]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:44 PM, ddc said:

 

Grip tape can be problematic I agree. 

 

A shooter friend recommended Vicious skateboard tape and it really works.

The grit is aggressive and the adhesive is tenacious.

Once applied it will not move until you are ready to peel it off. 

It is somewhat flexible and goes around single curves well.

It can deal with mild compound curves but definitely has it's limits as far as that is concerned.

 

This is the most aggressive grip tape ive ever felt. Its like grabbing barbed wire. Lol