Gun Grips...continued

Darren Wright

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This is a continuation of some pistol grips I made a few years back, and almost two years ago started working on files to do them on my CNC, but found my cnc wasn't cutting it (literally ;))

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?18556-Gun-Grips-cnc-update!/page4

So over the past week I've located all the files and after learning a bit more about cambam and Mach3 I've been able to actually make them do something with a little less frustration.

It takes several operations to get to the final cut-outs, I forgot to get pics of carving the inside of the grips, but can see it here in the 3rd pic.

2015-03-26 15.53.57.jpg2015-03-26 16.21.09.jpg2015-03-26 16.30.50.jpg

One thing I learned was using the holding tabs in cambam, which keeps the piece held in place when cutting out the profile of the grip.
2015-03-26 16.31.06.jpg

This is after a quick 1 minute oscillating sander clean up. This is just a test grip and will be tossed.
2015-03-26 17.48.39.jpg

The final pieces rough sanded.
2015-03-26 17.57.30.jpg2015-03-26 17.51.35.jpg

And I did find out that I need to double check my gcode before running a new file. Also that my new setup has quite a bit of torque, it cut right through 1/2" red oak in a single pass before I could hit the estop.
2015-03-26 21.12.18.jpg
 
looks like you gaining ground on these,, but the one side looks pretty thin for strength might want to give it some adjustment on your program..

Good eye! Yes the back recesses were each about .05" off, so had adjusted them after these were cut. ;) The drawings are also setup where I can cut the recesses on each side of a blank, then spit it with the band saw for doing a book matched set.
 
I am waiting on that store for a few other projects. hint hint hint. :rofl:

Darren i have a few questions

How did you get the shape into the cad file in the first place? That is something i have been wondering about. On the software that came with my vinyl cutter, i can take a picture convert to black and white then use the outline profile and can cut it. But scaling that to the correct size to fit is another story dependent on how the pic was taken etc.

Do you have a pic of the outside after cutting? Looked to me like the outside is being shaped more by you and the sander than the cnc or am i mistaken.

Would it be unrealistic on your machine to expect to be able to put cross hatch in on the grip so nice smooth carve finish and then cross hatch in key places like on a rifle stock.

Would you venture to have a go at cnc carving a rifle stock for one of those old rifles you have?

Great achievement either way , but I am coming to accept there aint much that you cannot do when you put your mind to it.:thumb: Well done.

Just an idea but how about carving out a negative and using it as a mold for vacuum forming and then taking a carved out piece of wood and laminating a nice burl veneer onto the finished grip and using the negative as a mold to pull the i would imagine well steamed veneer onto the grip. That would allow some really cool grain grips to be produced and still be all wood but not at the price or i would imagine lack of structural strength of a piece of solid burl being machined.
 
I am waiting on that store for a few other projects. hint hint hint. :rofl:

Darren i have a few questions

How did you get the shape into the cad file in the first place? That is something i have been wondering about. On the software that came with my vinyl cutter, i can take a picture convert to black and white then use the outline profile and can cut it. But scaling that to the correct size to fit is another story dependent on how the pic was taken etc.

Do you have a pic of the outside after cutting? Looked to me like the outside is being shaped more by you and the sander than the cnc or am i mistaken.

Would it be unrealistic on your machine to expect to be able to put cross hatch in on the grip so nice smooth carve finish and then cross hatch in key places like on a rifle stock.

Would you venture to have a go at cnc carving a rifle stock for one of those old rifles you have?

Great achievement either way , but I am coming to accept there aint much that you cannot do when you put your mind to it.:thumb: Well done.

Just an idea but how about carving out a negative and using it as a mold for vacuum forming and then taking a carved out piece of wood and laminating a nice burl veneer onto the finished grip and using the negative as a mold to pull the i would imagine well steamed veneer onto the grip. That would allow some really cool grain grips to be produced and still be all wood but not at the price or i would imagine lack of structural strength of a piece of solid burl being machined.

I actually scaled them off my hand drawn plans I did a few years back (http://darrensshop.com/?p=50) by importing a picture of the drawing into sketchup and drawing over the lines there. At some point, measure between two known points of the image with the tape measure tool and enter the actual distance manually and press enter, sketchup will ask if you want to scale your drawing to match. My drawings aren't in true 3d form yet, the curves were done by following individual lines I drew a the height I needed them (by measuring a finished grip in a grid pattern), a little over sized. They are quite rough when first done on the cnc, but really close to the profile I want. So until I get the drawings to where they have curved faces on them, the checkering isn't possible. I'm trying to learn some new plugins to work on this. As for stocks, I'm working on a 4th axis for the machine where I could load a rifle stock or blank for one and carve one out, but don't think I've got the swing in my Z axis to support it as it sets.

Nice! Once you zero the process in, you could stabilize the wood to help alleviate any chance of splitting....or just get a bigger gun.:)
I've got some stabilizer on order for doing some blanks just need to find suitable vacuum chamber to make the setup complete.

Looks good so far, Darren! :thumb:

I'll be glad when I get half as far along with my machine as you are with yours!
Thanks, you'll be there in no time, just takes time to learn all the things that go along with these machines.
 
@ Darren: A suitable vacuum chamber could be a piece of large diameter heavy wall plastic pipe. Cap on one end and a flat plate with closed cell foam on the either. As long as you need it to be. Diameter as large as you can find.
 
@ Darren: A suitable vacuum chamber could be a piece of large diameter heavy wall plastic pipe. Cap on one end and a flat plate with closed cell foam on the either. As long as you need it to be. Diameter as large as you can find.

Many (all?) stabilizing solutions are primarily a solvent. Plastic will dissolve. I stabilize. Work out a deal Darren?
 
The container with the stabilizing solution goes into the vacuum chamber, Frank. Vacuum chambers would rarely be reusable otherwise. The chamber does need to be large enough to hold the stabilizer container which has to be large enough to hold the material being stabilized. One cool application of this is pulling air bubbles out of poly or epoxy, especially if you have clear plastic, or at least a clear plate on the vacuum chamber.

I taught this stuff for a number of years.
 
The container with the stabilizing solution goes into the vacuum chamber, Frank. Vacuum chambers would rarely be reusable otherwise. The chamber does need to be large enough to hold the stabilizer container which has to be large enough to hold the material being stabilized. One cool application of this is pulling air bubbles out of poly or epoxy, especially if you have clear plastic, or at least a clear plate on the vacuum chamber.

I taught this stuff for a number of years.

:huh: The (plastic) container still would come into contact with the solution. My pot is my vacuum chamber.
 
Many (all?) stabilizing solutions are primarily a solvent. Plastic will dissolve. I stabilize. Work out a deal Darren?

Thanks Frank, I had forgotten you did stabilzation. I actually just ordered a gallon of it and have a chamber build in progress. BTW, the stuff I ordered isn't solvent based, but not using a plastic container anyway for the chamber.
 
Thanks!

I tried making a set out of Bocote today. First my computer was locked up and wouldn't boot, then one blank got loose in from the hold-down and broke a bit before I could hit the estop, the other two blanks completed and turned out nice, but looks like I have one more adjustment to make to my screw countersinks as they were a bit thin (sorry, no pics, phone was almost dead). Oh, and lost one screw for my grips, spent about an hour looking for it and finally gave up and just order some replacements from Phoenix Arms.
 
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