TDean Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 What's the deal on getting stippled grips, whether they be "roupe" style or the more traditional cratering technique. I wonder if anyone has attempted to do this themselves? I've heard that a soldering-iron is the tool of choice for the home stippler, but I haven't seen the results. Anyone do this, pictures...opinions...comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 TDean, i've done several grips using a wood burning tool. it's not very hard, just try not to be too aggressive. i took a dremel tool with a sanding drum to the corners of the the grip on the front edges and under cut the trigger guard for a better feel. the stippling will be very ruff on the hands for awhile. if you just burn a little, you can deepen the holes later. lynn jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted March 24, 2003 Author Share Posted March 24, 2003 Thanks Lynn, something like this? Does the melting plastic stick to the tip? Do you need wax/pam as a release agent or anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Boit Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 I did it on all of my grips with a soldering iron. It's completely up to you to find the ideal design . I use to dremelize under the trigger guard, around the mag catch and the side panels where they meet the front checkering. I just have a question for the pros (Benny and Bob) : How do you maintain the orginial color of the grip ? Black grips stays black, blue become lightly white, gray become black, I haven't done (not yet) one in red but it's planned. BTW Tdean, yes it has a tendency to stick to the tip, I use a copper brush to remove it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 yep, that's what you need. the tip gets a little plastic on it, no big deal. one note, the burning does produce a little smoke, that smells and can get in your eyes. wear eye protection, and get a little fan to blow the smoke away from you. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2alpha Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Two things to consider, burning plastic creates toxic fumes, be careful with the dremel you can weaken the grip too much and have problems trapping the magazine instead of ejecting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 2a, true.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I'll second that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I stippled one of my grips and later decided that the stippling was too coarse and increased the diameter of the grip too much. I used the side of the soldering iron (the chrome barrel part) and slowly rubbed it over the specific areas and it slowly flattened the stipples and resolved the problem areas. It was not nearly as sharp and it decreased the size too. There is more than one way to use a soldering iron! Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I have done several Glock grip reductions and textured the grip with a round punch. Just heat the punch up with a propane torch and press it into the plastic. Looks like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 How about making a sandpaper grip? It is very cheap/easy and doesn't add the bulk to the grip that stipiling does, and it is very grippy. SVI's "Scott" is the ticket, but if you don't want to pop out $200 you can do it for less than $5 in materials. If you want more info on how to do it e-mail me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Dont look to bad Ron. Have you tried it on an S-I grip yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 L2S, Basically all of the techniques increase the grip to some extent. I tried several techniques (sandpaper, stipple, Scotts) and finally decided on the "do it yourself" Scotts grip. To keep the grip from growing, I re-contoured and reduced the grip size on a belt sander and then applied the adhesive and abrasive materials. The end result was still smaller than a stock grip. If you do not reduce the grip prior to adding the adhesive and abrasive, you will notice that the grip will be noticeably larger. As you metioned, it is very inexpensive and not terribly difficult to do. The biggest hint is to use small amounts of adhesive to reduce sagging or running. The materials are so inexpesive that you can and should practice on non-valuable items and perfect your technique before attacking the blaster. There are various colors and grit textures available. I recommend the smaller grits as the larger particles can be very hard on the hands and are very difficult to remove or smooth. Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus The Bum Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 For the price of a soldering iron, you could have Jim Shannahan do it for you, there is none better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 jim will even stipple your rudy project glasses. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I had a post about doing them myself, can't find it, seems lost. Anyway, I used files, sandpaper, and soldering iron, in that order. I'm very happy with the results on three different guns. Somebody replied to thank me for the post because it encouraged him to do it himself and he's happy with his. It does take a lot of patient work. Try working on similar material first for practice. If you're going to give it a try, let me know and I'll give you full details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Jon: I have performed the texture on two STI grips, but I sanded it off and added skate board tape. L9X25: What adhesive do you use and what do you use for the texture when you make a do-it-yourself Scott grip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris40 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Erik Warren I would like to try it email me how it 's done if you don't mind Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Here is an example of what I prefer. Note: It is very aggressive. Simple to do: 1. Remove the grip (optional) make sure you do remove the mainspring housing so you don't glue it to the grip. 2. Sand or dremel the grip down smooth. 3. Tape off the areas you do not want to texture 4. Use a quick drying clear auto epoxy (I liked the 5 minute set, but you have to work fast) and a flat small hobby brush (Like BE's dedicated brush for slide glide) to coat the grip with the epoxy. 5. Pour aluminum oxide (or sand blasting type material) of your desired agressiveness/color (note: a more aggressive material with make the grip larger) on the entire grip. Test this process before you try it on your grip, if you don't get enough epoxy on your grip it will have bare spots, too much it make the grip too big. Make sure the grip is well coated. 6. Let the grip sit for a couple of minutes then remove the masking tape and scrape any unwanted texture from the screw holes and wherever else it ended up. 7. Let it cure overnight and there you go. You can get the grit at any sandbloasting supply store (I got mine free, it doesn't take a whole lot to cover the grip) and the epoxy at any auto parts store. The grip pictured is very aggressive, I have a SV Scott Grip and it is well made also, I just didn't have $200 per gun to put them on all of my guns. Good luck ~ L2S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Ron, Look in your local yellow pages under abrasives and you will likely find a few dealers that sells the abrasive media that is used in the production of sandpaper, grinding wheels and other industrial abrasives. You can buy the suff by the pound (looks a lot like gunpowder) and a small amount goes a LONG way. There are diferent types which result in different colors. Silicon carbide is usually very black (and heavy) and aluminum oxide is often brown. The last time I was there they also had blue and a reddish color too. Each type (color) is available in different "grit" just like sandpaper. The smaller the number the larger the particle size. I initially tried 80-100 grit and found it too coarse on my tender hands. Smaller particles felt much better. For the adhesive I have used polyester fiberglass resin & hardner and I have also used epoxy. While both gave me acceptable results, I prefer the polyester because of the liquidity for easy application and control and the fact that it is very sticky and retains the particles very well. It is usually the consistency of maple syrup and about as sticky. Others have told me that certain brands of epoxy were even better than my polyester. Be sure to apply the adhesive as thin as possible to stop runs and sags. You can use masking tape to protect areas from runs. I would experiment with a worthless piece of plastic, to perfect your technique, before attacking a $100 grip. L2S beat me to the punch but what he said agrees with my beliefs. I would estimate that his grit is in the 50-80 range and lookes great but might be too harsh on many hands. That is the esame grit that I initially chose and then changed to a much smaller particle. It works well, is smaller in diameter and MUCH easier on the skin. Try it before you install it! Good luck, Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiserb Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Here is an example of what I prefer. Note: It is very aggressive. Very cool looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris40 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Thanks for the info nice pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Loves2Shoot, Thanks for the e-mail reply. Your grips look very cool. Did anyone ever try masking off the diamonds, and putting the grit around them, or would that look too cheesy? Thanks, Ray C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted March 26, 2003 Author Share Posted March 26, 2003 Wow, cool L2S. Great stuff. This opens up a whole new area of tinkering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 Julien, The grips turn color because the heat is too hot. The way that you keep that from happening is with a rheostat (sp?) like they use one wood burning tools. You want to use just enough heat to melt but not burn/oxidize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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