Thanks for the kind words guys.
Yes, I did them by hand. I was at my local shop going over the feeding problem with my "smith", when he remarked that the clear acrylic panels that were on them, "looked like shit". Well.....I had to agree. After a while of rummiging through some drawers, he came up with a pair of cherry blanks and said "do something about itI asked him how much he wanted for them, and he told me not to embarass him with what I came up with...... :rockin:
The hardest part was figuring out how I wanted the grain to run with the lines of the gun and finger grooves once I was done. I then marked my holes for the screws and started to rough them out for the raised areas on the grip like the mag release.
Once I had the rough dimensions to the frame, I used a flat file to round off the squared edges along the frame.I then traced the outline of my fingers with a pencil, just for referance marks while I carved the grooves into them.
I then took the grips off and started shaping the grooves with a combination of files, some rattail and some half round, till I got close to the final shape I wanted. This took some time as I kept refitting the panels to test them for feel. Once I had them close, I started using sandpaper in finer grits until I finished with some 0000 steel wool.
Once they were to the point I liked them and the way they felt, I wanted to finish them off somehow. Well, not having any stain I went with what I figured might be the next best thing.....Gun oil.... :dunno: Why not??
So I filled my mitts with some of my favorite and started massaging it in. I let them soak for a while and repeated the process a couple times.
I'm still unsure how to finish them as I really don't want the glossy look of professional finishes. I'd like to keep the satin look and have a preservative on them. I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone might have.