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Wood Grip panels

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:33 pm
by M1 Tanker
I decided to just split this off from the legalities thead.

Ok, got the autocad work done for one side and Im gonna test cut it, but want your opinion first.

Original thickness of the panels is .184. I can do .25 and sand it down some OR mill the whole thing down to .184. That would take a lot more time with my little CNC machine or we can live with about .06 difference on each said.

What do ya'll think?

PS, even if we don't need them for compliance, I think enough guys would be interested to at least try to make them.

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:38 pm
by none123
The stock grip is relativly thin the so extra .120 shouldn't be a problem

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:56 pm
by drooling idiot
thicker is better.

don't worry about using wood grown in the USA, as long as the pieces are made here they'd be " made in the USA " .
I'd like to see some exotic options, would be really cool to get a matched set , grips and buttstock.

might look too pretty though. :roll:

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:48 pm
by propos
I was being sarcastic when I said I wouldn't use wood from overseas. Best wood would be walnut, beech or birch. I've been thinking about how to mill out a woodstock by using jigs and something similar to a stock duplicating machine. I wonder if Dan at Angola has any junk wood buttstocks for sale. I need one to tear apart in order to examine how the buffer socket? is set in the buttstock.. I need to get the right diameter of the hole and the depth of it. Once the hole is drilled it could be fixed in place with epoxy in addition to the thrubolt. Inletting for the buttplate will be the tricky part due to the curvature of the butt.
This weekend I am going to draw up some rough drawings and then find a chunk of maple to experiment on.
I think I can make a carriage for a router to ride on that is a duplicate of the curvature of the butt. I will have to modify the base in order to ride the curve. Like I said, it can be done. It just takes thinking through the problem to come up with a solution.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:01 am
by smoggle
I agree, thicker is better. I have some pretty meaty fists. The grip on an FAL feels like a broomstick to me.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:33 am
by M1 Tanker
I test cut one last night and I think after a little clean up in autocad, its gonna work just fine.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:06 pm
by drooling idiot
Oh , let me beat tom to it.
[(O)]

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:40 pm
by fxo
Please post pics and estimated price.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:23 pm
by M1 Tanker
Gimme a couple of hours and once I get a pair cut, I'll post pics. Have no fear.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:05 pm
by M1 Tanker
This is test #1. Im cutting test 2 now :) I screwed up with the safety hole, so im fixing that.

This is just some 1/4 popular. The edges are still sharp...but the final ones will be rolled over with a router bit.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:19 pm
by TOM R
looks great, did yo put a spacer between the grips so the screws won't overtighten and break like the originals have on back, also I can't tell are the screws countersunk flat?that looks great :D

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:21 pm
by M1 Tanker
Not yet I haven't. Im gonna just use some dowel rod for that....either glued on or just a single piece floating. Im no machinest, so I wanted to make sure I could get them converted accurately to autocad before I put all the nice finishing touches on them.

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:22 pm
by rhw1225
M1 Tanker,

The wood grips look like a winner. Can't wait to see finished grips.

Robert

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:32 pm
by M1 Tanker
New pictures and its a lot closer. The grooves will be cut with a 1/32 ball endmill instead of the 2 flute I used. Also, it walked a little bit, but that was my fault when I set it up. The edges are rounded and the grip still would need to be detail sanded.

Remember, this set is just popular, which is very soft and fuzzy.

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:03 pm
by MauserMatt
Looks great! Can't wait to see the finished product.. I might have to buy a set...

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:50 pm
by M1 Tanker
i ordered some nice Walnut today and some new end mills. If they get here Friday I should have a nice set to post this weekend.

Chris

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:01 pm
by MauserMatt
Hey how about some MG34 grips too? :shock:

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:03 pm
by salt6
Ok, I'm interested.

salt

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:10 pm
by M1 Tanker
I could do those also....with another 10 hours of autocad work :)

Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:50 pm
by MauserMatt
Wellll... I need both.. So you have at least one buyer right there! :mrgreen: