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The Range
Firearms Chat
Making AR-15 wood grips, mauser broomhandle style
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<blockquote data-quote="joegrizzy" data-source="post: 3798678" data-attributes="member: 45524"><p>SO! then came the fun part of actually making the darn things. and currently i'm still in this phase! the first thing was to cut the 90° angle for the corner of the "ears" to fit up into the lower. that was easy enough on the miter saw, and gave me a nice square angle to reference from. i cut the bottom of the blank parallel to the top, so that when drilling the grip screw hole i can just angle my drill press table at 30° and it's right on.</p><p></p><p>I started by jigging up my router to cut the groove that fits into the lower. i accomplished this by clamping my blank to the skirt of my work table, as well as some scrap pieces at a 30° angle. i used this file, as well as taking dimensions from several grips i had on hand to determine the dimensions of the cut. [ATTACH=full]280057[/ATTACH]</p><p>after measuring several of the cheapie a2 grips i had, i found that groove was anywhere from .366 to .400 on any given grip at any given point in the groove. a MASSIVE variance, which makes me LAUGH when i read the reddit comments that got me making this whole project (people were saying "oh you can 3d print them a lot faster than make them by hand, they are more accurate, blah blah" absolute NONSENSE).</p><p></p><p></p><p>so i grabbed a 3/8'' x 1 straight bit and made sure everything was lined up. since the only cuts i've made at this point are the 90° cuts for the top "corner", this groove is somewhat inconsequential in terms of where i put it in the blank. i don't have to put it exactly halfway or anything, since i haven't cut the width down yet. this is where relative dimensioning pays off in dividends. making this groove perfectly straight, perfectly centered is hard. putting it *somewhere pretty dang close* and referencing from there is INCREDIBLY simple. and quick. i routed the grooves in less than a minute each into my 4 blanks. just need to square off the round corners with a 3/8'' chisel at the back of the groove where the shoulder of the lower receiver squares off. hard to describe but you'll know if you try lol.</p><p></p><p>after routing the groove, i was ready to drill the holes. now, the length of the pistol grip screw is made by the length from where the shoulder rests to where the threads in the lower end. since the hole must go all the way thru, i *could* use a 4 1/2'' screw and just have a screw running the entire length. the hole must drilled all the way thru regardless. so i just used 5/16 spade bit and bore a hole with my table set at 30° and a proper fence to hold the piece at the correct position. i then turned the piece over and drilled using a hand drill and a larger bit a recess for the screw head. i *could* drill this larger hole as deep as i wanted, and the deeper this hole is drilled the shorter required screw. but i don't really care, so i'll probably just leave it the way it is. (molded plastic grips are obviously hollowed out, so they set the shoulder of the screw right at the top of the grip. this enables the use of a short screw at the trade off of a long tool to fit into the hollow grip; not sure i want to hollow out these solid wood ones LOL)</p><p></p><p></p><p>the hole for the safety retainer spring is drilled by hand. just put the bit in the hole of already drilled a2 grip for reference, flag the drill bit with some blue tape, then drill down to that depth. easy peasy.</p><p></p><p></p><p>and that's where i am now. i've got the shape traced out on the blanks with all the appropriate holes drilled. i've also rounded off the corner of the "ears" of the grip so it fits snug up onto the receiver. all four blanks fit great, the holes align at least by eye test, and i'm ready to start shaping the broomhandle on the sander after rough cutting on the bandsaw. i'll probably have them finished by the weekend HOPEFULLY.</p><p></p><p>if anyone else is interested in making wood AR grips, i have the workflow down pretty pat at this point. i think i could crank out about 30 in a day if i were really motivated and had enough wood LOL.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="joegrizzy, post: 3798678, member: 45524"] SO! then came the fun part of actually making the darn things. and currently i'm still in this phase! the first thing was to cut the 90° angle for the corner of the "ears" to fit up into the lower. that was easy enough on the miter saw, and gave me a nice square angle to reference from. i cut the bottom of the blank parallel to the top, so that when drilling the grip screw hole i can just angle my drill press table at 30° and it's right on. I started by jigging up my router to cut the groove that fits into the lower. i accomplished this by clamping my blank to the skirt of my work table, as well as some scrap pieces at a 30° angle. i used this file, as well as taking dimensions from several grips i had on hand to determine the dimensions of the cut. [ATTACH type="full" alt="982173.jpg"]280057[/ATTACH] after measuring several of the cheapie a2 grips i had, i found that groove was anywhere from .366 to .400 on any given grip at any given point in the groove. a MASSIVE variance, which makes me LAUGH when i read the reddit comments that got me making this whole project (people were saying "oh you can 3d print them a lot faster than make them by hand, they are more accurate, blah blah" absolute NONSENSE). so i grabbed a 3/8'' x 1 straight bit and made sure everything was lined up. since the only cuts i've made at this point are the 90° cuts for the top "corner", this groove is somewhat inconsequential in terms of where i put it in the blank. i don't have to put it exactly halfway or anything, since i haven't cut the width down yet. this is where relative dimensioning pays off in dividends. making this groove perfectly straight, perfectly centered is hard. putting it *somewhere pretty dang close* and referencing from there is INCREDIBLY simple. and quick. i routed the grooves in less than a minute each into my 4 blanks. just need to square off the round corners with a 3/8'' chisel at the back of the groove where the shoulder of the lower receiver squares off. hard to describe but you'll know if you try lol. after routing the groove, i was ready to drill the holes. now, the length of the pistol grip screw is made by the length from where the shoulder rests to where the threads in the lower end. since the hole must go all the way thru, i *could* use a 4 1/2'' screw and just have a screw running the entire length. the hole must drilled all the way thru regardless. so i just used 5/16 spade bit and bore a hole with my table set at 30° and a proper fence to hold the piece at the correct position. i then turned the piece over and drilled using a hand drill and a larger bit a recess for the screw head. i *could* drill this larger hole as deep as i wanted, and the deeper this hole is drilled the shorter required screw. but i don't really care, so i'll probably just leave it the way it is. (molded plastic grips are obviously hollowed out, so they set the shoulder of the screw right at the top of the grip. this enables the use of a short screw at the trade off of a long tool to fit into the hollow grip; not sure i want to hollow out these solid wood ones LOL) the hole for the safety retainer spring is drilled by hand. just put the bit in the hole of already drilled a2 grip for reference, flag the drill bit with some blue tape, then drill down to that depth. easy peasy. and that's where i am now. i've got the shape traced out on the blanks with all the appropriate holes drilled. i've also rounded off the corner of the "ears" of the grip so it fits snug up onto the receiver. all four blanks fit great, the holes align at least by eye test, and i'm ready to start shaping the broomhandle on the sander after rough cutting on the bandsaw. i'll probably have them finished by the weekend HOPEFULLY. if anyone else is interested in making wood AR grips, i have the workflow down pretty pat at this point. i think i could crank out about 30 in a day if i were really motivated and had enough wood LOL. [/QUOTE]
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