What's new at Sarge's Grips

[Sarge43]

It is a gorgeous wood Nekron, that's for sure.

Today's offering is Ambrosia Maple that is somehow dark. The block that this came from is the darkest Maple I've ever seen. Different, but nice. The patterns in Ambrosia Maple are caused by the tiny Ambrosia Beetle. The beetle chews through the wood, leaving pinholes about 1/16th in diameter as it does. The secretions left in the wood from all of this chewing stain the wood - sometimes in reds, sometimes blues, sometimes yellows. It's all natural and it's all beautiful, one of a kind stuff.
Enjoy!
Sarge

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Sarge43]

Today we've got a bonus situation on our hands. You get TWO sets for the price of admission.
Both are Afzelia Xylay, but one is heartwood and the other is a more rare all sapwood. Both are beautiful and show the almost freaky 3D figure the Xylay is known for. It's been harder lately to find the really good 3d figure, but everyone gets lucky once in a while and I had a good day a few weeks back and landed one. It had a very thick area of sapwood with the figure and I was able to cut a couple sets worth from it.
I hope you enjoy the pics!
Sarge

[Nekron]

All of you bobtail owners out there sure do have some wonderful grips to choose from! That stuff is gorgeous!

[LongRider]

I live so far out in the stick there is no broadband of any kind available. All the pics take forever to load on dial up. Still I keep coming back because the work is so beautiful, it is always well worth the wait.

[Sarge43]

I'm really glad you guys like the woods!

Today's pics are of a very nice set of curly Maple that has been colorized in a royal blue. I'm not a big pusher of unnatural colors, but this set came out really well and the figure is beautiful. A good example of what you can get if you choose to color stabilize your wood.
Enjoy!
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Todays set is a wonderful example of the beauty found "around the edges" sometimes. It is done in Afzelia Xylay which is beautiful with it's almost freaky 3D figure. This set was taken near the outer edge of the tree where the wood goes from heartwood (the inner wood) to sapwood (the wood just under the bark). Not only that, but this tree had something happen to it a few years back like a fire or similar that left a fairly deep layer of darker staining which resulted in the 3rd color you see there. I think the tri-tone look is great and it's definitely unusual. I hope you enjoy it!
Sarge

[Nekron]

Those are amazing! The graining looks like "veins" -- they're "alive".

[Sarge43]

Yeah, you've probably read it before here, but the "veins" really do look totally 3D. You swear that when you touch the surface you'll feel the veins, but it's totally smooth. Afzelia Xyalay is easily the most 3D figured wood I've seen. It's beautiful stuff!
Glad you like it Nekron!
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Let's go with one more example of Afzelia Xylay, just because we can......

[HotGuns]

Sarge..
this question may be a bit off topic, but I'd like to know if you ever considered dressing up rifle stocks with some of the woods that you use for grips.

It would seem to me that adding a few things like stockeforends,grip caps and maybe a stock spacer all out of the same exotic wood might really complement a stock and and highlite an other wise plain rifle.

Have you eve done that, or would it be something you were willing to do?
Just wondered.

[Sarge43]

Hotguns,
I think a little beautiful wood can improve just about ANYTHING in life. I agree that doing something like that would be not only beautiful, but fun as well.
I had an email a few weeks ago from someone who was inquiring about making an entire AK47 stock from Amboyna burl. Wow.
Sarge

[1911PKR]

Hotguns,
I think a little beautiful wood can improve just about ANYTHING in life. I agree that doing something like that would be not only beautiful, but fun as well.
I had an email a few weeks ago from someone who was inquiring about making an entire AK47 stock from Amboyna burl. Wow.
Sarge

Yep... and Slowly expanding is a good thing Sarge!

Those grips really DO look 3D.

[Sarge43]

Today, I figured I'd show a wood that I personally think is wonderful, but for some reason, often gets overlooked in the scramble for "wild" - Bloodwood. Bloodwood is hard and dense which makes it great for grip panels, but it also has this great blood red color to it that is striking on both dark and light frames.
Enjoy the pics!
Sarge

[Sarge43]

Desert Ironwood is aptly named because it grows out in the middle of nowhere, in the most unforgiving conditions and it's hard as iron. On the upside, it can be beautiful too as you can see in the pics. It's usually costly for a couple of reasons - 1) Its harvest is strictly controlled (at least in the States) and 2) High quality pieces are hard to come by. Both because of where it's located, and how it grows. The wood is often cracked and the "tree" is quite small to begin with, more like a stout shrub. It doesn't yield large amounts of wood.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics of the wood o' the day!
Sarge

[AutoFan]

Yep... and Slowly expanding is a good thing Sarge!

Those grips really DO look 3D.

Hey Sarge are you still planning on P7 and BHP grips? (Hint, hint)