This was commissioned

[Terredax]

I didn't make them, but I thought they were pretty cool and this is just one more thing my brother uses his Corian to make, so I thought I would share.

These were made for a guy my brother works with and the gentleman belongs to several clubs and is an instructor. He also competes in different competitions and was once on a manufacturers team.

 

[BSea]

As someone who's made a few sets of grips, those look spot on. I almost always have trouble getting the holes drilled perfectly.

 

[PapaTim]

Looks like a nice set of 1911 grips. You wouldn't guess it's corian. How did he do the Kimber name? Decal maybe?

 

[Terredax]

As someone who's made a few sets of grips, those look spot on. I almost always have trouble getting the holes drilled perfectly.

I asked about the holes and he said he uses a fixture that holds them in place while drilling. Also, he said that there are slight differences from frame to frame and sometimes a little fitting is necessary.

Looks like a nice set of 1911 grips. You wouldn't guess it's corian. How did he do the Kimber name? Decal maybe?

The Corian has a faint streaking in it similar to marble, but not as dark. He said he used something called a hot stamp machine. It uses colored foil and bonds the foil to the material. I guess it can also be used without the foil and it will just burn the image into the material.

He also wanted me to thank you for the nice comments. The recipient loves them.

 

[Terredax]

The gentleman that received these, showed them to some of his friends and club members. There have been inquiries on making others with different patterns, names and materials.

Since my brother and others know that I use resins and have seen some of the casts I've done, asked if I could cast some blocks to use for some of these. I agreed to make some blocks, so now I needed to get some more resin and get set up. I will have a few blocks in the next few days and I can show the blocks and maybe a finished photo when they are completed.

Fortunately, I was paid up front to purchase the materials and a little for my time. I hope they work out, because there could be more interest after these are finished.

 

[BSea]

The gentleman that received these, showed them to some of his friends and club members. There have been inquiries on making others with different patterns, names and materials.

Since my brother and others know that I use resins and have seen some of the casts I've done, asked if I could cast some blocks to use for some of these. I agreed to make some blocks, so now I needed to get some more resin and get set up. I will have a few blocks in the next few days and I can show the blocks and maybe a finished photo when they are completed.

Fortunately, I was paid up front to purchase the materials and a little for my time. I hope they work out, because there could be more interest after these are finished.

PR may not be the best material to use for grips. It's pretty brittle. You might want to consider using alumilite.

I've considered doing some in alumilite. I just can't figure out how to make them on my lathe. :biggrin:

 

[KenV]

If you use PR consider using escutcheons or small cups for the screw heads to better distribute loads and reduce the risk of cracks and chips.

 

[Terredax]

PR may not be the best material to use for grips. It's pretty brittle. You might want to consider using alumilite.

I've considered doing some in alumilite. I just can't figure out how to make them on my lathe. :biggrin:

I just got back from casting a block of PR. I'm not sure if PR is too brittle or not. I've done some pretty nasty things to PR and haven't had any seem brittle or break on me. I will do a couple of sets and let them get some testing done by the experts and if it does break, I'll look into epoxy. I think epoxy is a bit more flexible than the urethane and a longer pot life. I don't move nearly fast enough to cast urethanes anymore.

The block I just poured is seven colors. With the urethane, the first color would gel before I got the last color mixed. :redface:

If you use PR consider using escutcheons or small cups for the screw heads to better distribute loads and reduce the risk of cracks and chips.

I'll check into something for reinforcement. Surely it couldn't hurt anything. I actually had an idea for an inset, maybe I will work on that.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll get a photo of the block tomorrow. Of coarse, the pretty stuff is always in the center. :wink:

 

[jttheclockman]

Just thinking out loud here but wonder if adding something like fiberglass to the mix won't reinforce it some. Something like they do with concrete. Might be worth a little experimenting with.

 

[Terredax]

Just thinking out loud here but wonder if adding something like fiberglass to the mix won't reinforce it some. Something like they do with concrete. Might be worth a little experimenting with.

We used to use both mat and cloth fiberglass for molds and the final products. The problem would be that cutting, shaping, sanding, etc. will expose the fibers. We always used a filler to smooth the exterior before it got painted.