Did some whittlin.

Bawanna

Bawanna

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Finally took a few days and whittled out a set of grips for my Kahr K9. Made quite a few but haven't for quite some time, frankly they are pretty tough to fit.
Digging through what's left of my meager wood supply I came across some Myrtlewood which I have never worked with before.
I was pleasantly surprised, it's plenty hard and dense and nice to work with. Not to toot my own horn but I think this set is one of the best fitting I've lucked out to yet.

 
Going back and forth, it feels great smooth, but I'm tempted to checker. Can't decide, maybe we need to start a poll.
 
I've always leaned towards contrast/flashy. Many prefer blend which in some cases works great.
I started checkering a while ago so I'll post a followup when I get that all scratched on.
 
I'll bet if you polished it up those grips would look like ivory. Might be too late, though, if you've already started checkering.

After checkering I think you could still give it a good polish if you use a grinder with a buffing wheel.
 
Looks very nice to me! would look great checkered but im with David. Id polish it up and oil it first just to see what comes out of it if anything? Kinda looks Osage but not as orange. Have you ever worked with Desert ironwood? I think its also called Ipe but not sure. I have a 1x6 about six or seven feet long. Next time I mess with it ill send you some. That stuff is the densest wood ive ever seen next to purple heart. This piece is pretty old so might even be harder? I was going to make a bow from it but the grain direction just aint right.
 
I cut my teeth on Ipe or Ironwood. It is hard stuff for sure. You don't want to get a sliver of that stuff in ya, instant pain and agony, get it out NOW.
I made a lot of Beretta grips for officers at the time and a few others. It's kind of pretty too.
I took down and moved a wood fence for a lady one time, didn't know any better at the time but the whole thing was ironwood. Saws and nails didn't like it at all, it was tough.
Should have kept some of the scraps from that but that was 40 plus years ago and I was clueless.
It does look kind of Osage. It's good stuff, might have to find more of it. Like to try some stain on a scrap piece and see what comes out too.
 
Well hot off the press. I tried some polishing on the smooth parts and it mostly darkens even with white polish or a new wheel with no polish. It feels good, and in to my own eyes look good too.


Never one to leave well enough alone I went ahead and did some checkering on the back strap too. Please with how that turned out as well.

 
My bad, this isn't Myrtlewood, it's Mulberry. I kind of like it.
 
I'm impressed with how you got the checkering right up to the borders. And the engraved borders themselves. I know from experience how hard it can be to engrave a smoothly curved line (or even a straight line) in wood, where the tool wants to drift off and follow the wood grain. I guess it helps that this wood has a very fine grain.

It looks great. Now that you have a little more free time maybe you can try a more complex type of engraving, like taking a picture of a face and engraving it onto a pair of grips, like the face on a coin, or a buffalo. You could try it on scrap wood, and if it doesn't work there's nothing lost except some time.
 
What your talking about is art. I can't draw a picture and make it look like what its supposed to be. Checkering is like Square Dancing, there are rights and wrongs and proper moves and improper moves, based on what the caller says, not like Disco where you just go out and have a spazz attack and everybody thinks it looks cool.
I truly wish I was an artist and could carve animals or faces and such, I've read about it, got books about it. Perhaps when time allows I'll revisit that and try again, right now there still isn't much more time, life is busy but it will come.
We're pretty much snowed in tonight so there will be time tomorrow for sure even if it's spent nursing a hangover after I drown my sorrows for the defeat of my Seahawks.
 
I also can't draw a picture and make it look like it's supposed to be, especially faces, which have a lot of subtle features. I envy those who can draw a face that actually looks like the person being sketched. But copying an existing picture is a lot easier, and it doesn't have to be as difficult as a human face. Even a pair of crossed khukuris (or crossed pistols) would look great on the slabs of a knife or a gun. Copying is really craftsmanship, rather than art. The main problem for me is that carving an image in wood is much harder than doing it with pencil and paper, where you can keep working it over and making little improvements until it suits you. It's hard to correct even a small mistake in wood. So you're right about that, but since you already have skill working the wood, I suggest that you try with something simple like crossed khukuris, or whatever comes to mind, and start with scrap wood. I bet you'll be happy with the result.
 
There's a fine idea, I'll give that some effort. I've inlaid all kind of pins and emblems. Military ranks etc, even inlaid a Navy Seal Crest into a 1911 grip, barely fit but we got it.
 
All I can say is Disco still sucks and always will! You kicked ass on them grips man! You even checkered the back! Im impressed! Man thats sweet! IM gonna start a pile of wood for ya Joe. I gots a bunch of osage, ironwood, zebra wood, and some other exotics and the cutoffs should be fine for making grips. Im trying to get a piece of a 100 year old Osage fence post but the guy wont come down yet. He will give in soon im hoping.
 
That would be cool. Osage works well and is nice stuff. I need to get back up to a wood store that used to have tons of cool exotics. They kind of let the inventory go down to nothing. Rumor has it things are better again and while it isn't like it used to be they have a lot to choose from.
Right now I'm snowed in, can't even get to the big shop. Wife and son are making it off the hill in the 4x4's but I don't think I can make it to the van without some major shoveling which I might do later. Didn't get the last big dump they expected so now maybe we're done I hope.
 
Hey Bawanna,

odd, I've heard of folks with a checkered past; you may be the first I've heard of with a checkered future.

You have skills. Keep on making beautiful things.
 
Looks good Joe! I love the grips you made for me. Should grab my guns out of storage at mom's house and put some lead down range.
 
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