Making stag grips

[Dark Horse Charlie]

Howdy, has anyone made a set of SAA grips from elk antler. I want to give it a shot but had some questions. I have worked with bone and antler before for knife handles and know about the smell and how ro cyt and sand them. My question is around the finishing.

After sanding, what type of polish is best to use?

Do I need to use any type of sealer?

What about stain?

Thanks
DHC

[Professor Marvel]

Elk antler is so porus it is quite a challenge . I make knife handles from deer and stag antler and made some grips for a rem 1858 from stag. They were small enough and thin enough as two slabs to be similar to knife handles.
I have never done anything as big as a one piece SAA grip or a S&W  N frame target grip. My bigest knife handle grips were all blind stick tang drilled into the antler so movement has not been an issue.

I have heard that some folks “heat and flatten” in order to get a large piece. But Once you cut a slab from an antler you open yourself up to movement.

A lot of folks make a rough slan then stabalize it with a lot of superglue, resin or epoxy. There is a new one ingrediant expoxy that is cured by UV lamps, this holds some interesting promise since you can give it time to soak in before curing it.

When i cut, sand or polish any horn or antler I use bentilation (it stinks) and ALWAYS wear a quality respirator like this

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-Reusable-Sanding-Valved-Safety-Mask/1000244145

An N-95 mask is not enough.

I usually polish on an 8 inch cloth wheel on a grinder, using red rouge and mild pressure. You can burn the antler so be carefull.

Oh, and if you work it after stabalizing, the glue will emit vapors also.

Hope this helps

Prof marvel

[Dark Horse Charlie]

Thanks Marvel. Some really good jnfo.  I read somewhere to use a vacuum container to help with the porous antler. Not sure if it works or not.   

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[Cheyenne Logan]

Where does one find elk horn big enough to make a set of grips for SAA???    Everything I've found so far is for knife scales and 1911's.......the only one I found specifically for the SAA they wanted more than what I could buy a finished set for from Sack Peterson.

[Professor Marvel]

My Good Monsiuer Logan

Your best bet is to go straight to “elk country” and buy an entire rac, either collected shed or someone who is willing to selll the rack after harvesting the animal. I “used to” find full and half racks for sale at the cool old stores and “trading oosts” in any of the mountains or Black hills, but not much in touristy places. Or you can particpipate in the Grand Teton Elk Antler sale/auction every year by the local boy scouts. But one must be prepared to bid against crazy money….

Good luck

[Mogorilla]

you might think moose.   Look at Moscow Fur and Hide, they have pieces and will keep an eye out for sizes if you tell them what you are looking for.  I always had good service from there.

[Coffinmaker]

   Charlie 

First a CAVEAT:  I'm retired and don't do this anymore.  Second a CAVEAT:  I'm LAZY.

In my sordid past I found making (or attempting) to make grips from various Antler is a TON of work.  For a single set, way more than I am/was willing to invest.

Go to a grip maker.  Buy a quality set already finished, ready to install.  Yule be glad you did.

[Professor Marvel]

Mogorollia and Coffin both hit it on the head!

Moose racks offer Huge slabs, one can easily cut each half of an 1873 grip then glue a spacer in the middle.

Re Coffin:
Yuppers my good Coffin- making grips from antler is a labor of love ( and stinky as h*ll ) .
If you only want one or two sets, it is a better use of your time, effort, and health to either put in some overtime or get a short term second job to pay for having them made, correctly, already fitted!

If you are an antler addict like myself ,  well thats different.
I have put deer stag on most knives I make, I put them on store bought Scheffiled bowie blades,
I put them on a Buck 119, then managed to snag 6 80% finished Buck 119 blade blanks to do more of the same

I even  replaced plastic grip panels on store bought swiss army knives, folding liner lock knives, and some cunning Pakistani Damascus folding knifes that came with some sort of horn panels…..

I have cut but not yet finished antler panels for a pair of Remington 1858’s but I have drawn the line at any of the colts…
Remmy panels are smallish line 1911 panels, and once stabalized I can deal with them. But the
1851,  1860, 1873 …. They all share similar grip frMes requiring way too much antler and with toomuch possibility
 of shrimkage, warpage, etc etc… Otther guys can deal with all that and I will let them!

Trust me on this - you dont wanna be spending weeks on getting your stag grips “just right” and then watch them
Shrink over the next three years, no matter how well i thought i sealed them ….
 
And I dont make any for other folks, cuz I learned not to ruin a great hobby by turning it into a business.
And then have them come back after three years with grips that dont fit…

Yhs
Prof getting too old for this marvel

[wildman1]

I made a set of elk grips for a set of rugers I have. They came out great. I used Birchwood  filler and sealer then finished them with Birchwood Tru oil That I got from Brownells. I coated the inside of the grips with a good slow dry epoxy and used a hair drier set on low to get it to soak into the grain. The epoxy I used is about the same color as the grips and takes about two weeks to really set completely.
wM1