Grip repair.

[Ingvarg]

Hi

My 1909 DWM and the "million dollar chip" repair



And the repair on the grip.
Before:


The "new" chip in place:


Taking shape:


And the result:


Now I just need to find the right colour on the repaired area to compleate the work.

Regards:
Ingvar.

[Mauser720]

Ingvar -

It looks like you also added some checkering to the replaced wood. May I ask if you did that with a checkering tool or does it only look like checkering in the photograph?

Also, may I ask what kind of wood you used for the repair?

Thank you,

Mauser720 - Ron

[Ingvarg]

Ron

I did the checkering with a small file. Easy to do on such a small area but would not recommend on a larger area.
I�´m not sure what this wood is called but it was the darkest i found.
And I used a Dremel tool for most of the work.
Now i just have to find something to darken the repered area.

Regards
Ingvar.

[Mauser720]

Ingvar -

Good job. Thank you for sharing and good luck on finding the right stain for the wood.

Maruser720 - Ron

[Vlim]

Hi Ingvar,

Nice work. You can try several coats of boiled linseed oil, or just a tad of garden variety wood staining.

I cleaned up my Mauser Parabellum grips a few weeks ago and used the linseed oil to get them back to colour again (boy, that stuff smells).

The grips were coated in a thick transparant varnish by the first owner. Several layers of paint remover and cleaning out the remains with a brass wire brush (long live the Swiss Rifle Cleaning Kits) left the grips stripped of varnish, but as white as the day they were made. Several applications of boiled linseed oil restored the colour. When the result is too light, it's just a matter of adding a new layer.

I applied it with a small brush, then rubbed it with a piece of cloth, but since you only have to work on a small area, I think you can skip the rubbing phase.

Before the the treatment:


And after:

[Ingvarg]

Hi and thanks for the replyes.

G. van Vlimmeren, Nice work on your grips.
I tryed light brown varnish and liseed oil over that (yes it smells)
but did not get the area dark enogh. I am thinking of trying a darker varnish and see how that looks.
I want to keep the dark, aged colour of the grips since they have the original finish so cleaning them up is not an option.
I,ll post a new pic when finished with the right coulor on the repair.

btw. I cant belive how so tiny chip can look so HUGE when missing from the grip.

regards
Ingvar

[G.T.]

Ingvarg, try using brown leather dye... start with the light & work toward med. to dark, as it's tough to lighten... you will find this works well, and i'm not so sure this isn't what they used originally?? (achohol based anniline dye) (Sp.?) anyway... that's what I've found works best, Best to you, til...lat'r....GT

[alanint]

I should not give away one of my secrets, but believe it or not brown permanent markers work really well. I apply them and then quickly rub in with my finger until it blends.
M1 Carbines also have what is perhaps a "thousand Dollar' chip, which develops along the side of the stock's recoil lug.
It is very typical to find a chip missing, usually from the left side.
I used exactly the method described above but when it came time to match wood the permanent marker has gotten through many a situation.

[Ingvarg]

Thank you guys for the replys.

The leather die could be hard to find out here, but the permanent marker sounds good
I�´ll do some tests tomorrow.

Regards from Iceland.
Ingvar

[Ingvarg]

Almost got the right colour

and btw. I was playing a little with the camera today.


And since the pistol also saw some action during WWII :



Regards
Ingvar.

[Vlim]

Ingvar, nice presentation and good work on matching the colour!!

You might even want to try adding the blackish discoloration between the 'diamonds' with a black marker pen

[Ron Wood]

If you really want to try something wacky, here is something I learned after some experimentation a long time ago. Part of the darkening of the wood is due to oxidation. So what I did was apply some dark brown shoe polish and brushed off the excess, then very cautiously used a mini blowtorch to lightly char the patch. Either have a steady hand or protect the original part of the grip with a shield (a thin piece of metal like a tin can lid will do the job). It goes without saying that this needs to be done with a great deal of care and attention. If you burn the wood too deeply you will mess up the checkering or worse. Another application of shoe polish and a light scrubbing with a tooth brush (perhaps another repetition of the flame might be required if you proceed with care and don't try to do it in one pass) and the patch disappeared. It worked for me, I don't know if it would work for anyone else.

[Ingvarg]

Thanks for your help.

The black marker pen did the trick and the repair is finally almost perfect


Regards:
Ingvar

[Vlim]

Nice work!

So here we are, grown men, discussing cosmetic tricks.....Don't let the ladies find out about it!!