Prototype handle design

Something like this? It's another AR-15 grip, the Falcon Industries "Fox Bat" with rubber sure grip.

jtkwest said:

so, you can put this handle on the frame you made? AWESOME!

Click to expand...

Well, sort of. That particular one appears to be discontinued. But if you could find one, yes, it would fit.

JCooke - No worries. I welcome any constructive feedback. It's the whole reason that I post things like this, and the only way that I can get better.

Now to the handle. I think I understand better what you mean about the finger grooves. My hands are small, so for me, the AR handles fit fine even with my normal gloves. But I can certainly see where that might not be the case for larger hands. The simplest option might be one of the many grips without such defined finger grooves, but I guess that does detract a little from the overall goal of a perfect fit.

I don't know of a company that makes them, but I have used a plastic called Shaplock for all the handles on my guns (www.shapelock.com). Just like you describe, you heat it in hot water and mold it like clay. When it cools, it is as solid as nylon or any similar plastic. It only comes in white, but it is easy to color. And you can re-heat and re-mold it over and over as often as you want to get the feel just right.

I just make a Delrin or Aluminum frame, like these below, then apply the Shapelock over the stub.

Here are a couple of colored ones that I've done recently. When a guy asked me for purple, white, and black, I was sure it would be the ugliest thing ever to crawl out of my shop. But as it turned out, I think it is my favorite.

The stuff is so easy to use that it's addictive. When I make a handle, it's probably 95% right the very first time you give the soft plastic a squeeze. But it's easy to waste hours trying to get it absolutely perfect. Still, it's amazing how different a gun feels when it just falls perfectly into your grip every time you pick it up.

One quick and easy way to start with a frame would be to use one of the frames that Neptonics offers. The skeleton for his standard handles would be easiest, but would limit how small the shape of the grip some. The ones he offers with a solid handle (second picture) could easily be cut down to a smaller stub like I use on mine. The second pic is from jtkwest's recent post, and is a good example of the "round" and "square" handle styles that Josh offers.

I know of a guy who used it over a Shapelock handle recently. He said it appeared to work very well, but can't comment yet on the long term durability.

There are a couple of ways to get a grippier surface on the Shapelock, even without dipping it in rubber. One is to pat the surface with 40 grit sandpaper while it is still mushy. The grains leave little indentions that give you grip. Another way is to roll the hot handle in coarse rock salt and push the salt crystals down into it slightly. After it cools, drop it in lukewarm water to dissolve the salt. That leaves behind a good, grippy surface.

But really, I don't find it to be necessary. With the Shapelock, you can get a grip that fits more perfectly than anything that you have ever used. When the fit is that good, you don't need a rubber surface, because it practially locks into the contours of your hand.

tlong - I seldom give any serious thought to patenting things. I would rather just put them out there for honest review and constructive criticism and for others to improve still further. We'll all end up the better for it. And truthfully, very little is as new as we would like to think.

To answer your questions:

1) You will typically need about 8-9 tablespoons of Shapelock for a grip, depending a bit on how large your hand is, and how large the handle stub is. That's around 100 grams, so the 250g bag from www.shapelock.com will easily do two handles.

2) No secret to the coloring process. My preferred dye is "Marine Colorant" from Evercoat because it is water based and easier to clean up, and mixes easily and thoroughly. I've used other dyes, though, and most will work. Don't worry about it being water based. Once well mixed, it will not leach out.

Making multicolored handle starts with making an amount of each color that you intend to use. The shapelock comes as white pellets, which will turn clear when they get warm enought to mold. Measure out how much you want, and drop the pellets into water at 150° to 160°F. As they warm, they will stick together in a spongy mass. When the mass is translucent throughout, remove it from the water and shake off any excess water. Take the tube of dye, and apply a few BB sized drops to the shapelock wad. Then knead it over and over in your hands until the color is evenly dispersed. If it gets stiff, simply drop it back into the hot water and warm it more. The more you knead it, the more uniform the color will be. If you knead it only slightly, you can get some interesting "marbled" looks.

After you have made a block of each color you want to use, heat them up and draw them out into long, narrow strips. You will want to heat each piece in its own pot, if possible, so that they don't stick together before you are ready. Then twist or weave them around each other. The tighter you twist or weave, the smaller the pattern will end up. For the purple / black / white one, I twisted equal amounts of black and purple together, folded them in half a couple times, and then wrapped a thin string of white around the whole thing.

Take your multi-colored chunk, and flatten it into a square. Then, just wrap the square around the handle frame. You can heat it up over and over again to get the shape right, but the more you work it, the more the colors will tend to blend and mute.

That's it. It's not hard, but it's not entirely predictable either. It takes a little diddling with, and a bit of patience. The colors are pretty opaque, so the depth that you see is probably just due to the camera flash. The exception is if you use it uncolored. The white can be a little translucent.