Best Product to Build up Grips?

[Jon Math]

I have a set of walnut grips that just are not quite right and I’d like to build up a couple of places on them. I was going to use a plumber’s epoxy putty but was wondering if there is a better product available.

Thanks

Jon

[Rover]

I looked over the products at Home Depot. I decided on an epoxy stick that you kneaded the two parts together, cutting off as much as you might need.. There were several similar products, but I chose the cheapest called "Aqua Mend" to be used as an underwater pool repair. It worked very well, but needed a thin coat rubbed in hard with the thumb before putting on the rest. The color was a medium grey.

[Chia]

There are as many different answers as there are people on this forum, I think. Bondo's popular. If you want to figure it out before doing it for real, dollar-store playdough has worked well for me. I've had it on for three weeks and while it shrunk a bit as it dried, it hasn't shown any sign of cracking. I've done this twice over a period of three months while I work out how to properly fill in spaces.

[Jon Math]

Great suggestions.
Thanks

[TenMetrePeter]

Check out a British product called Sugru which sets to a silicone rubber. Not too bad to scrape off if you change your mind. 000's of other uses but being British they wont publish the gun related ideas in their ideas gallery- I tried!

[Jon Math]

Thank you I’ll look into that product.

I may not need to do anything with the grips after all. They came in yesterday and right out of their shipping box off the pistol they felt wrong; however once installed the frame of the pistol added a touch of thickness and a slightly different angle than when I was holding them free hand so now they seem to fit my hand like a glove now. In fact I may even need to remove rather than add material.

Jon

[SteveT]

I find Sugru slippery. Maybe you could embed some grit in it, I don't know.

I've had very good luck with these 2 part epoxy putties intended for wood repair. They feel, mold and sand similar to wood putty. Bondo, plumbers putty and other 2 part epoxy putties are too hard and it is difficult to sand.

PC Lumber

JB Kwik Wood (Thanks for the correction, I meant Kwik Wood)

[Chia]

Thank you I’ll look into that product.

I may not need to do anything with the grips after all. They came in yesterday and right out of their shipping box off the pistol they felt wrong; however once installed the frame of the pistol added a touch of thickness and a slightly different angle than when I was holding them free hand so now they seem to fit my hand like a glove now. In fact I may even need to remove rather than add material.

Jon

Welcome to the neverending quest for the perfect grip. It's kind of funny to say it but it's honestly true. I've been working on my grip for months and haven't found the right fit yet. I'm sticking with the current set until after the CMP competition, but I'm already contemplating changes...

[Gwhite]

I find Sugru slippery. Maybe you could embed some grit in it, I don't know.

I've had very good luck with these 2 part epoxy putties intended for wood repair. They feel, mold and sand similar to wood putty. Bondo, plumbers putty and other 2 part epoxy putties are too hard and it is difficult to sand.

PC Lumber

JB Quick Wood

In the US there is QuikWood, and KwikWood. Functionally, I think they are pretty similar. KwikWood is made by "JB", who makes a wide range of good epoxy products, and it is sold at hardware & home stores.

I just used KwikWood last night to build up a prototype 3D printed grip. The grip was printed with a wood fiber composite, and was a good color match to the standard KwikWood, which is a light tan.

If you want to try to match the color of your grip, there is at least one other brand that come in a range of colors:

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog ... ictNbr=113

I haven't tried KwikWood on a Rink grip, but Rinks (in particular) have a very oily finish that is usually far from fully dry when you get a new one. You may want to apply a solvent like alcohol to the area you are going to work on to remove as much oil as possible. Otherwise I suspect the epoxy won't adhere very well. Other materials like Sugru will probably also have issues with a lot of surface oil.

Besides Sugru, one or two people have posted good results with a low temperature meltable plastic. It melts in hot water, but is apparently stable at normal temperatures. It's sold under the brand name "InstaMorph" and I think it's also the same thing as "Friendly Plastic".

https://www.amazon.com/InstaMorph-Molda ... B003QKLJKQ

You can also buy the same material on eBay for less money. When it's melted, it can also be colored. I've got a bag of it in the basement, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

As usual, a lot of this has been discussed before. Here is a fairly complete discussion:

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39515

[TenMetrePeter]

I find Sugru slippery. Maybe you could embed some grit in it, I don't know.

Yes it is a bit slippery. going all over the surface with a no.1 Posidriver will stipple it, as with the other molding materials.

[Rune Kanstad]

Whenever my grips feel slippery I spray them with either PlastiDip which give a rubber-like surface, or with handball* spray which makes them sticky.



* Olympic handball, not the other kind.

[Linecutter]

I find Sugru slippery. Maybe you could embed some grit in it, I don't know.

Yes it is a bit slippery. going all over the surface with a no.1 Posidriver will stipple it, as with the other molding materials.

Or cover it in coarse salt when you grip it for the final time before letting it set. Then wash the salt off.

[v76]

I had good luck with kwikwood but prefer Bondo as it's much less "permanent" and more porous (so, less slippery). Sugru is good also but you gotta use it in a few months or it just make clumps. Funnily, nobody mentionned the Morini compound, any good?

IIRC Gerard used violin rosin with Sugru to make it grippy. But don't quote me on that!

[mikeyj]

I like epoxy wood putty. Doesn't matter which brand. But... ALWAYS wear disposable gloves when mixing the putty and applying it. Repeated exposure to epoxy resins WILL eventually result in sensitization and developing an allergy, and if that happens to you, you won't even be able to be in the same room with the stuff.

[jmdavis]

JB kwikwood adhered fine to Rink, Pardini, and Horton grips.

[hundert]

I use water soluble wood paste. Advantage: you can remove it all without leaving a trace (I'm not sure about light colored grips if they get stained but my average dark walnut Steyr grip looked like new after I removed it) and its not affected by sweat, rock solid and is not toxic like some other stuff. Disadvantage is that it takes time as you apply thinner coats each time and you can't really shape them, you just wait until they are dry and then take off some with a sharp tool.

Also, you don't actually know if the grip fits you until you go shoot it, that's the thing! dry fire, the feel don't matter. Competition is a whole other level, more stress, more palm sweating (my hands normally never sweat, but in competition... it's a whole different story) and the grip that I thought fit well failed me spectacularly. The surface stops holding and the grip feels like soap all of a sudden. So, having finger grooves (which standard grips don't have) and a perfect form is kinda important.

The company I use is CLOU, it's probably not available in your country, but look for water soluble wood fillers and you'll probably find what you're looking for.

[BobGee]

I use water soluble wood paste. ...and the grip that I thought fit well failed me spectacularly. The surface stops holding and the grip feels like soap all of a sudden. So, having finger grooves...is kinda important.

So, are you recommending this stuff or not?

Bob

[hundert]

yes, I recommend it,
The last thin layer, don't use much water, using a tooth pick's flat area and spread it over the smooth surface of the previous layer. It will be like sandpaper (if you want it). It can be modified like wood after it's dry.

The piece about surface stopping holding was about an unmodified Steyr M grip that actually fits me well (almost hehe)

[Mic.22]

Have used FIMO plastic Clay from STAEDTLER. Really great. Comes in a lot of colours and you can form it as you like during weeks, doesn't dry. When you finally find it perfect use a heating pistol and it will harden and stay that way..

If still not happy, use a sharp screwdriver and bend gently, the clay comes lose without damaging the grip and you can start all over..

Have used it on my hämmerli SP20.

/Michael

[Mtl_Biker]

Have used FIMO plastic Clay from STAEDTLER. Really great. Comes in a lot of colours and you can form it as you like during weeks, doesn't dry. When you finally find it perfect use a heating pistol and it will harden and stay that way..

If still not happy, use a sharp screwdriver and bend gently, the clay comes lose without damaging the grip and you can start all over..

Have used it on my hämmerli SP20.

/Michael

Michael, just wanted to say Thanks! for the suggestion about using Staedtler FIMO clay. I got some this morning and I'm VERY pleased with it. The FIMO Professional (new name for the Classic) is harder to mold into shape but the FIMO Soft is much easier. All you do is kneed it quite a bit to soften it, form it onto the grip where needed, and keep adjusting it until it's in the right place and amount. I haven't yet heated it with a heat gun to really harden it, but it's already quite firm and doesn't change even when I grip the pistol for 60 shots at a time. And the brown color I got almost perfectly matches the brown of my Steyr grip.

I built up my grip using a very little bit of FIMO at a time until I'm pretty happy. Now before doing the final "curing" with a heat gun, I'll shoot a few hundred shots to see how good a job I've done.