(Soon to be) spotted on eBay (Until they shut me down.)
Apparently, I Have too much time on my hands, a vinyl cutter, and some mirror chrome all weather adhesive vinyl. Approximately 4x5 inches.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Remington 700 in .300 Win
Submitted for your approval is the Eastridge Gun Company's Eliminator 700.
Tactical Tim loves the Eliminator!
This is one badassed rifle, folks.
The stock is machined out of aluminum, with an AR15
pistol grip. The stock is 3 sections bolted together, and is adjustable for
length of pull and "comb" height. Very nice!
Tricked out the bolt...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The BDS-92
Here is my buddy Tim's first shot at a full disassembly/finish strip/ refinish & reassembly custom job on a Beretta. (I am calling it the Boondock Saints 92- note his celtic cross, "veritas" & "aequitas. " Nice!) I am VERY proud of him.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Toddywood Signs
So it turns out my friend Todd is a really profiicent local woodcarver/burner and signmaker.
As a commission for the Boy, he did the following on Poplar, a piece around 12 x 16 (too lazy to measure right now.)
$45 plus shipping for a similar (but not identical) design, or $65/shipping and it will be "worked up" for you based on your idea, and then created on your approval based on your approved design.
A variety of woods are available, as are framing. Todd has not had time or inclination to put up a website, so after we get a photoshoot done, examples will go up on the Galt's Guns website.
Flash photo:
No flash:
Email or comment with questions.
As a commission for the Boy, he did the following on Poplar, a piece around 12 x 16 (too lazy to measure right now.)
$45 plus shipping for a similar (but not identical) design, or $65/shipping and it will be "worked up" for you based on your idea, and then created on your approval based on your approved design.
A variety of woods are available, as are framing. Todd has not had time or inclination to put up a website, so after we get a photoshoot done, examples will go up on the Galt's Guns website.
Flash photo:
No flash:
Email or comment with questions.
Hile, Gunslingers
It has been quite a while since I had a few moments to actually contemplate, let alone MAKE, any grips. While I am not the most proficient gripmaker by ANY means, I do happen to have the material, tools and persisitence to knock them out, from time to time.
I wish my favorite material were a bit "cleaner," - that is, a bit more free of what are visual defects.
It is a type of hardwood that takes 60-80 years to mature, if you want any substantial amount of wood, and even then, 90% of it (or more) is ground up, chipped, or steamed for its valuable oil. Much of the rest goes for funerary purposes. Currently, when it can be found, it goes for about what ivory does- in fact, ivory poachers have been known to give up whacking elephants in favor of obtaining this hardwood.
Of course, I am talking about the wunnerful wunnerful world of Sandalwood.
I do NOT mean the Tamboti that some folks eBay, calling sandalwood; nor do I mean the dark-streaked hedgewood that is made into grips, although it is pretty too- I mean the Australian variety (most of which gets exporeted to India, since they so tightly regulate and quickly consume their own.)
(Tamboti is awesome in its own right, but the sawdust needs a darn MSDS sheet, as the wood contains some sort of neurotoxin.)
I wanted to be able to have a set of Sandalwood grips on a nice .45 wheelgun one day- a "Big Iron," so to speak, in a "hard caliber." I am a recovering "prop nerd," and LOVED the Dark Tower series (thanks, Korey!) So when I stumbled across the chance to obtain what was probably the only substantial quantity of Yellow Australian Sandalwood inside the US, I jumped on it (although like several other decisions, it hurt financially.)
Well, until recently, nobody MADE a wheelgun I would want that I could slap my fancy (beat up, worn looking, well loved and yet to be made) gunslinger's grips on. So, a large part of one gunsafe has been (insanely?) taken up by a REALLY expensive log. It is likely 10-30 years old, as it was cured well when I got it, and the old woodsmith that had it said he had it for quite a while.
Obtaining the revolver itself, well- that is going to be a serious savings project. HERE is what I am after.
I sporadically made a few sets of grips here and there, some for eBay, some not, and old some pen blanks, and a couple of sets of grip blanks, and LOTS of sawdust for incense makers.
Well, now with S-MArt out of the picture, I managed to grab an Essex arms Commander frame, and knock out a couple of pair. There are worm tracks in the wood, from some type of butterfly larvae that love the stuff, so to prevent cracking. Neither pair is set up for extended OR Ambi safeties; one set is drilled for the cross pin for the mainspring, the other set is not.
At this point, everything has tasted like sandalwood for days. I have about 4 oz (by volume, not weight) of sandalwood dust ready to go, so if any of you Wiccans want it, make an offer.
I have more information & refernece on why I am convinced that Roland's grips would be most accurate made of the Aussie sandal, versus anything else. Link is here.
So without further adieu...
The WIDE PAIR:
No, the dark streak is NOT sharpie- it is an epoxy-fille worm track. The screw/bushing hole right there was also reinforced with a brass insert, to prevent cracking along the track.
The Skinny Pair:
All 4 screw/bushing holes on the skinny pair are brass insert & epoxy reinforced, as is the crack along the main vein in the right hand grip panel.
THIS is why I wish there was better quality sandalwood available. If I could find it, I'd get it.
Neither pair is for sale, at the moment, other than to the one fellow that has "dibs," since I have made him wait since January.
Thanks to my buddy Craig in NM & his Mrs. for the sweet photo tags.
I wish my favorite material were a bit "cleaner," - that is, a bit more free of what are visual defects.
It is a type of hardwood that takes 60-80 years to mature, if you want any substantial amount of wood, and even then, 90% of it (or more) is ground up, chipped, or steamed for its valuable oil. Much of the rest goes for funerary purposes. Currently, when it can be found, it goes for about what ivory does- in fact, ivory poachers have been known to give up whacking elephants in favor of obtaining this hardwood.
Of course, I am talking about the wunnerful wunnerful world of Sandalwood.
I do NOT mean the Tamboti that some folks eBay, calling sandalwood; nor do I mean the dark-streaked hedgewood that is made into grips, although it is pretty too- I mean the Australian variety (most of which gets exporeted to India, since they so tightly regulate and quickly consume their own.)
(Tamboti is awesome in its own right, but the sawdust needs a darn MSDS sheet, as the wood contains some sort of neurotoxin.)
I wanted to be able to have a set of Sandalwood grips on a nice .45 wheelgun one day- a "Big Iron," so to speak, in a "hard caliber." I am a recovering "prop nerd," and LOVED the Dark Tower series (thanks, Korey!) So when I stumbled across the chance to obtain what was probably the only substantial quantity of Yellow Australian Sandalwood inside the US, I jumped on it (although like several other decisions, it hurt financially.)
Well, until recently, nobody MADE a wheelgun I would want that I could slap my fancy (beat up, worn looking, well loved and yet to be made) gunslinger's grips on. So, a large part of one gunsafe has been (insanely?) taken up by a REALLY expensive log. It is likely 10-30 years old, as it was cured well when I got it, and the old woodsmith that had it said he had it for quite a while.
Obtaining the revolver itself, well- that is going to be a serious savings project. HERE is what I am after.
I sporadically made a few sets of grips here and there, some for eBay, some not, and old some pen blanks, and a couple of sets of grip blanks, and LOTS of sawdust for incense makers.
Well, now with S-MArt out of the picture, I managed to grab an Essex arms Commander frame, and knock out a couple of pair. There are worm tracks in the wood, from some type of butterfly larvae that love the stuff, so to prevent cracking. Neither pair is set up for extended OR Ambi safeties; one set is drilled for the cross pin for the mainspring, the other set is not.
At this point, everything has tasted like sandalwood for days. I have about 4 oz (by volume, not weight) of sandalwood dust ready to go, so if any of you Wiccans want it, make an offer.
I have more information & refernece on why I am convinced that Roland's grips would be most accurate made of the Aussie sandal, versus anything else. Link is here.
So without further adieu...
The WIDE PAIR:
No, the dark streak is NOT sharpie- it is an epoxy-fille worm track. The screw/bushing hole right there was also reinforced with a brass insert, to prevent cracking along the track.
The Skinny Pair:
All 4 screw/bushing holes on the skinny pair are brass insert & epoxy reinforced, as is the crack along the main vein in the right hand grip panel.
THIS is why I wish there was better quality sandalwood available. If I could find it, I'd get it.
Neither pair is for sale, at the moment, other than to the one fellow that has "dibs," since I have made him wait since January.
Thanks to my buddy Craig in NM & his Mrs. for the sweet photo tags.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
S-Mart NO MORE! Serenity NOW!
(Apologies for gratuitous use of Mal's ship's name.)
Hallelujah! Friday evening (Saturday morning, in S-mart time) I discussed with the mrs., and we decided tat S-Mart had to go. you see, 85 hours a week is too much for this fat old 'smith, and projects were being back-burnered that did not need to be.
I DID have a blast building bikes, but when I kept working myself out of work, I would get assigned to "big Goonie" type stuff- like "move these heavy things here" or "just toss those 6 pallets of pet food there."
The final straw was when I called in Friday, unable to see straight and drive safely, after spending a lovely, albeit long (for me) day with the Mrs. on her birthday. 2 hours or so of sleep (Eli needed playtime!) The call ended something like this:
"...well, just make sure you come in the next 2 nights, we need you in meat."
What I HEARD was:
"Make sure to come in, be unappreciated, hurt your back & freeze your ass of for 5 hours, go home, sleep for 2 hours, drive an hour to the shop, work there for 8-10 hours, drive back an hour, sleep for 2, then come in so you can freeze your ass off for another 5 hours (all while lifting 40 lb boxes of frozen dead things over your head) so that you can then go home, sleep for 2 hours, shower, drive 40 minutes to church and sit on a plastic chair for 2 hours. You will then have permission to spend the afternoon with your family, for family day."
So, Friday night/Saturday morning went like this:
11 PM- shower & change
11:20 Got to Wal-, er, I meant- S-Mart, park, and smoke a cigar
11:45, go in & harrass the awesome woodworker buddy of mine, Todd, who works there and
11:59 go turn in my ID & discount card, with my box cutter, and tell them all how much fun it was.
I did a quick drive-by and said some goodbyes to some of the hardworkers that are there, solely because of being economically screwed (one fella has 7 kids and lost a business that was pulling in $400k a year!)
Ain't gonna miss it at all. After 3 night of solid rest now, and lots of play-time with the boy, I know it was the right thing. We don't need the discounts that badly, and I don't need any more of their stock right now. 1/2 the fun was seeing what ammo came in, and being able to tell customers to come get it before it hit the shelves (but to not bogart it.)
Sadly, my one Hmong friend there (or was he Karen, I don't know) I did not get to see- but he probably won't notice I'm gone anyway. All us white folks look alike to him, I'm sure.
So, Frak it. I quit. No notice. The 3 of us went fishing, and the new guy had a GREAT time.
Besides, It's almost time to fire up the new vinyl cutter...
Hallelujah! Friday evening (Saturday morning, in S-mart time) I discussed with the mrs., and we decided tat S-Mart had to go. you see, 85 hours a week is too much for this fat old 'smith, and projects were being back-burnered that did not need to be.
I DID have a blast building bikes, but when I kept working myself out of work, I would get assigned to "big Goonie" type stuff- like "move these heavy things here" or "just toss those 6 pallets of pet food there."
The final straw was when I called in Friday, unable to see straight and drive safely, after spending a lovely, albeit long (for me) day with the Mrs. on her birthday. 2 hours or so of sleep (Eli needed playtime!) The call ended something like this:
"...well, just make sure you come in the next 2 nights, we need you in meat."
What I HEARD was:
"Make sure to come in, be unappreciated, hurt your back & freeze your ass of for 5 hours, go home, sleep for 2 hours, drive an hour to the shop, work there for 8-10 hours, drive back an hour, sleep for 2, then come in so you can freeze your ass off for another 5 hours (all while lifting 40 lb boxes of frozen dead things over your head) so that you can then go home, sleep for 2 hours, shower, drive 40 minutes to church and sit on a plastic chair for 2 hours. You will then have permission to spend the afternoon with your family, for family day."
So, Friday night/Saturday morning went like this:
11 PM- shower & change
11:20 Got to Wal-, er, I meant- S-Mart, park, and smoke a cigar
11:45, go in & harrass the awesome woodworker buddy of mine, Todd, who works there and
11:59 go turn in my ID & discount card, with my box cutter, and tell them all how much fun it was.
I did a quick drive-by and said some goodbyes to some of the hardworkers that are there, solely because of being economically screwed (one fella has 7 kids and lost a business that was pulling in $400k a year!)
Ain't gonna miss it at all. After 3 night of solid rest now, and lots of play-time with the boy, I know it was the right thing. We don't need the discounts that badly, and I don't need any more of their stock right now. 1/2 the fun was seeing what ammo came in, and being able to tell customers to come get it before it hit the shelves (but to not bogart it.)
Sadly, my one Hmong friend there (or was he Karen, I don't know) I did not get to see- but he probably won't notice I'm gone anyway. All us white folks look alike to him, I'm sure.
So, Frak it. I quit. No notice. The 3 of us went fishing, and the new guy had a GREAT time.
Besides, It's almost time to fire up the new vinyl cutter...
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