indiucky
Grandmaster
Many times we come across an older firearm that has seen some use but not abuse...Often times they have rubber grips on them or the wood grips are cracked or split.....You want to put "correct" grips on them but you don't want to turn that "pound puppy" (Snorko's excellent term..Not mine but I now use it..Thanks brother from another...) into NOT such a good deal by having to buy factory grips at ebay/gunbroker prices...So what to do????
At guns shows one can sometimes find old Ajax, Eagle, Jay Scott etc... white plastic imitation ivory grips for a very good price....Fake white ivory grips went out of style with the TV western so the grips can often be picked up for a song (or a dance if you're so inclined)...I grab them whenever I can if I can get them for around $20 or so...I have paid as little as $5...It's really hard to tell how white they are until you put them on the firearm and then they are glaring like a beacon at you and it just doesn't seem quite right...
I know Kirk (like myself) has picked up older Herrett Shooting Stars for not much money either and reshaped them into sort of a modified Roper grip, Jordan style or poor boy coke bottle's for a couple of his older Smith's, Ruger's, etc...Vintage factory grips by Smith and Wesson or Colt are going into the price stratosphere and it seems a shame to put them on a "beater" or "farm gun" where they are going to get whacked by door jambs, old man stumbles, and less than graceful exits from the Mule....
So what to do???? The other night myself and a glass of Buffalo Trace decided to age a couple...I had some 1911 Ajax grips that I was wanting to do this for and yesterday evening seemed perfect....So with Johnny Cash on the Smart Phone..(Yeah BBI...I got one...Happy now????) a glass of Kentucky's almost finest, and two pairs of grips the journey began...
Items needed..
Leather Dye-Antique Brown and Yellow
Wife's dish worshing gloves
Container for the dye
Cotton balls
Q-Tips
Old ratty towel
Medium grit sandpaper
*3 ice cubes
*3 fingers of bourbon
*Glass, preferably a fruit jar
Music
*The bourbon is to help you overcome the fear of taking sandpaper and dye to grips that were not made to have this done to them...Sip the bourbon...About half way through you'll just kind of go "Hell with it...I'm gonna do it.." (Note that beer can be used instead but it will take, depending on your weight, 2-3 to get you to that point of "I don't care..they were only $20..")
Sand the grips in the direction of where cracks would be...Top to bottom (I sometimes take a knife and scribe a little age crack around a grip screw escutcheon depending on the look I am going for). What you are doing here is giving the dye a place to get a little purchase...the plastic is highly polished and may even have a slight protective finish on it..In order for the dye to take you have to get that sheen off of there...I used to soak the grips in the dye but if you sandpaper well enough there is no need...
Here they are after sanding...
And here are some I wanted to add a little more age to..
After sanding and you are satisfied with the texture and there are NO smooth spots left apply the dye...WEAR THE YELLOW GLOVES!!!!!!
Leather dye is made for leather and guess what your hands are??? That's right...Leather...The first time I did this I thought if I was careful I could avoid the dye....It takes at least a week for it to wear off and after a couple of days of guys coming in the shop and making jokes about "cheap toilet paper" and refusing to shake my hand after a gun deal I learned my lesson..As my lovely wife said, "That's just looks gross honey.."
Wearing the gloves and using a cotton ball lightly soaked in the dye apply in even strokes the dye onto the grips...I do the back of the grips as well....When you are finished they should look a little like this....
Let them dry for a couple of hours..I put them on top of the garbage can in direct sun and they can be handled bare handed in about an hour or so..Sooner on a sunny day...
Don't let the darkness fool you...As you use them they will lighten up a little and the areas with the marks from the sandpaper or knife will maintain the darkness...If I think they are too dark a light buffing, just a couple of passes really with fine steel wool will provide a nice mellow sheen to the grips....
And that's all I got to say about that...Have fun...
At guns shows one can sometimes find old Ajax, Eagle, Jay Scott etc... white plastic imitation ivory grips for a very good price....Fake white ivory grips went out of style with the TV western so the grips can often be picked up for a song (or a dance if you're so inclined)...I grab them whenever I can if I can get them for around $20 or so...I have paid as little as $5...It's really hard to tell how white they are until you put them on the firearm and then they are glaring like a beacon at you and it just doesn't seem quite right...
I know Kirk (like myself) has picked up older Herrett Shooting Stars for not much money either and reshaped them into sort of a modified Roper grip, Jordan style or poor boy coke bottle's for a couple of his older Smith's, Ruger's, etc...Vintage factory grips by Smith and Wesson or Colt are going into the price stratosphere and it seems a shame to put them on a "beater" or "farm gun" where they are going to get whacked by door jambs, old man stumbles, and less than graceful exits from the Mule....
So what to do???? The other night myself and a glass of Buffalo Trace decided to age a couple...I had some 1911 Ajax grips that I was wanting to do this for and yesterday evening seemed perfect....So with Johnny Cash on the Smart Phone..(Yeah BBI...I got one...Happy now????) a glass of Kentucky's almost finest, and two pairs of grips the journey began...
Items needed..
Leather Dye-Antique Brown and Yellow
Wife's dish worshing gloves
Container for the dye
Cotton balls
Q-Tips
Old ratty towel
Medium grit sandpaper
*3 ice cubes
*3 fingers of bourbon
*Glass, preferably a fruit jar
Music
*The bourbon is to help you overcome the fear of taking sandpaper and dye to grips that were not made to have this done to them...Sip the bourbon...About half way through you'll just kind of go "Hell with it...I'm gonna do it.." (Note that beer can be used instead but it will take, depending on your weight, 2-3 to get you to that point of "I don't care..they were only $20..")
Sand the grips in the direction of where cracks would be...Top to bottom (I sometimes take a knife and scribe a little age crack around a grip screw escutcheon depending on the look I am going for). What you are doing here is giving the dye a place to get a little purchase...the plastic is highly polished and may even have a slight protective finish on it..In order for the dye to take you have to get that sheen off of there...I used to soak the grips in the dye but if you sandpaper well enough there is no need...
Here they are after sanding...
And here are some I wanted to add a little more age to..
After sanding and you are satisfied with the texture and there are NO smooth spots left apply the dye...WEAR THE YELLOW GLOVES!!!!!!
Leather dye is made for leather and guess what your hands are??? That's right...Leather...The first time I did this I thought if I was careful I could avoid the dye....It takes at least a week for it to wear off and after a couple of days of guys coming in the shop and making jokes about "cheap toilet paper" and refusing to shake my hand after a gun deal I learned my lesson..As my lovely wife said, "That's just looks gross honey.."
Wearing the gloves and using a cotton ball lightly soaked in the dye apply in even strokes the dye onto the grips...I do the back of the grips as well....When you are finished they should look a little like this....
Let them dry for a couple of hours..I put them on top of the garbage can in direct sun and they can be handled bare handed in about an hour or so..Sooner on a sunny day...
Don't let the darkness fool you...As you use them they will lighten up a little and the areas with the marks from the sandpaper or knife will maintain the darkness...If I think they are too dark a light buffing, just a couple of passes really with fine steel wool will provide a nice mellow sheen to the grips....
And that's all I got to say about that...Have fun...
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