What's new at Sarge's Grips

[Sarge43]

How about a beautiful set of multi colored spalted Maple to start your day with? No words needed for this stuff. Just enjoy.
Sarge

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Sarge43]

A rare saturday pic posting as I'm in the office starting to clear it out. (Yay!) I was looking up the photobucket page and there are some great and unusual woods/things coming next week, so stay tuned!
Todays beauty is shown in some cool Maple Burl. This particular set has the great burl coverage at the bottom giving way to some curl and cool graining at the top. Even a touch of spalt thrown in there. As if that weren't enough, this set is mineral stained (a natural occurance) and you could almost swear it's cherry. A good example of the broad beauty that Maple Burl can hold.
Hope you all enjoy your weekend, and I'll be back Monday!
Sarge

[QKShooter]

Very nice. Classy.

[Romans623]

Romans, you live in KC with me. You could just swing by the shop and check them out in person.

Once I get a 1911 which I hope to this year, I'll take you up on your offer.

[Sarge43]

Bring it on Romans623!

Todays wood is Ambrosia Maple. The color and staining you see in the wood is caused by secretions left by the tiny ambrosia maple beetle as it bores through the wood. Another of natures beautiful oddities.
Enjoy!
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Well, today is my LAST day in the office. From here on out it's just me and my woodshop and the beauty of nature all around me. I love it! I've been looking forward to this for a long time and now it's becoming a reality.
Todays pic doesn't reveal any of nature's beauty, but it does show some of the possibilities you have when ordering your grips from a gripmaker of your choice. This customer had his Fathers original flight wings that had been handed down to him, and he is also in the service now. He wanted to commemorate both his Fathers service and celebrate his own, so he asked if I could inset the flight wings and his rank insignia in a set that would go on a display weapon. Of course I have a soft spot for my fellow service members and gave it a shot. This is the result. A lot of detailed carving was required to get those wings to sit down just the right amount, but it was worth it. Stuff like this that means something to the customer on a personal level, really warms my heart to be a part of. I hope he enjoys them and his kids enjoy them and their kids after that.
Hope you enjoy the pic!
Sarge

[Nekron]

That's just awesome, Sarge. I wondered if you almost ran out of grip material when you were inletting the panel for those wings (!).

BTW, what is the grip material?

[Sarge43]

It's black paper Micarta.
Thanks Nekron,
Sarge

[Nekron]

Coolness.

BTW, big time congratulations on finally being able to work for yourself especially because you're doing something you love. That's what I would call "making it".

[Sarge43]

Coolness.

BTW, big time congratulations on finally being able to work for yourself especially because you're doing something you love. That's what I would call "making it".

Thank you my friend. I am very blessed and fortunate to be able to do this. I will be grateful for the opportunity every day I walk out to the shop.
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Today I figured I'd just post up a few sets of Dan Wesson CCO grip panels done in various materials. Of course I like the woods the best, but there is definitely a place for the manmades as well.

Very cool two tone Walnut burl

Black Linen Micarta

Macassar Ebony

Cherry burl

[Sarge43]

Those who know me know that I am adamantly against staining wood. Now in the next sentence I'll tell/show you the only exemption to that in all my wood working time. A stabilizer friend asked me if he could take one of the blanks I sent him and "show me something". Of course I agreed and when the box arrived back to me, there was a Box Elder Burl blank that was green in there. While I'm pigheaded at times, I do try to be open minded and cut that thing up to check it out. Long story short, it was beautiful. Now, I try to keep a few (FEW) blanks around the shop that are treated this way as I do have customers who like and enjoy it. I'm in no way going to start using my own hand to stain any wood in my shop, but I figure if the stabilizer sends it to me that way, I have plausible deniability, right?
Anyway, Box Elder Burl is a wonderful wood to use for this purpose, because as you can see in the pics, the color penetrates the softer areas, but not the harder ones. This leaves a great contrast in color while making sure the entire blank is tough and good to go. Surprisingly, you don't lose the depth that I love in the BEB in doing this IF it's done lightly and the color is not simply overpowering. Either way, I can appreciate beauty both in nature and in manmade form, I just find that 95% of the time nature outdoes anything we can do. I'm willing to bite my tongue because this type thing seems only to showcase the beauty of nature further, and almost enahnces it.
Anyway, while I'm climbing down off of my hypocritical soapbox, you enjoy the pics.
Sarge

[QKShooter]

Mommy Nature is a cruel but, wonderful tough old girl.
They look pretty doggone nice because that's a mellow, natural, looking green.
Like a mineral or an oxide green.
The most permanent and nicest looking dye and stain colors use pigments that come directly from Mom Nature.

[Sarge43]

Mommy Nature is a cruel but, wonderful tough old girl.
They look pretty doggone nice because that's a mellow, natural, looking green.
Like a mineral or an oxide green.
The most permanent and nicest looking dye and stain colors use pigments that come directly from Mom Nature.

Well, thanks for that QKS, that makes me feel marginally less hypocritical.

[Sarge43]

How about today we go with some nice red Amboyna burl. Amboyna ranges from vibrant almost neon looking orange on down through orange to bright red to a deep blood red. A beautiful range of colors to be had. This set is on the border where orange gives way to red and really lends an air of elegance while drawing your eyes in. At least in my opinion.
Anyway, enjoy the pic!
Sarge