"Aging" Luger Repro Grips ???

[sheepherder]

Has anyone 'aged' a set of Luger wood grips??? That si, take a new clean set and scuffed, sanded, dimpled, stained, or otherwise made them look old???

I'm interested in artificially 'aging' a leftover set of new Walnut grips to put on a shooter I have. Another new set will go on my latest fantasy 'artillery' without aging. I do have a well-worn set that I could put on but they have the dreaded 'chip'.

So instead of eBay-ing myself a used old original set, I'd like to give this set some years...

I've thought of brushing them lightly with a torch, sanding them lightly, tapping them with a welder's chipping hammer, lightly dousing them with used motor oil (my SUV needs a change anyway), and maybe giving them a turn against a wire brush/wheel...

Anyone done this??? Any ideas??? Have any pics???

Thank you for your attention!

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Has anyone 'aged' a set of Luger wood grips??? That si, take a new clean set and scuffed, sanded, dimpled, stained, or otherwise made them look old???

I'm interested in artificially 'aging' a leftover set of new Walnut grips to put on a shooter I have. Another new set will go on my latest fantasy 'artillery' without aging. I do have a well-worn set that I could put on but they have the dreaded 'chip'.

So instead of eBay-ing myself a used old original set, I'd like to give this set some years...

I've thought of brushing them lightly with a torch, sanding them lightly, tapping them with a welder's chipping hammer, lightly dousing them with used motor oil (my SUV needs a change anyway), and maybe giving them a turn against a wire brush/wheel...

Anyone done this??? Any ideas??? Have any pics???

Thank you for your attention!

Hi,

What is the purpose of all of this?


Sieger

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Sieger

Hi,
What is the purpose of all of this?
Sieger

... ...When does doing something need a purpose???

Because it's there...

A guru is walking down the street and comes upon a hot-dog vendor. The vendor asks 'What would you like?' The guru answers 'Make me one. With everything'.

[Norme]

Hi Rich,
I would soak them in an equal part mixture of gun oil, piss and sauerkraut juice. I’ve never tried it myself but I’m anxious to hear if it’s effective.
Norm

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Norme

Hi Rich,
I would soak them in an equal part mixture of gun oil, piss and sauerkraut juice. I’ve never tried it myself but I’m anxious to hear if it’s effective.
Norm

Did George Anderson give you that recipe???

[wlyon]

Not Georges has been known for ages. Why not just leave them outside for a few days ? Loan them to a kid for a day? Give them to your wife to tenderize meat? If you need more good advise let me know. Bill

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by wlyon

Give them to your wife to tenderize meat? If you need more good advise let me know. Bill

My wife tenderizes someone else's meat these days but if your advice works as well as George's did then I'm all ears...

[Edward Tinker]

I know they used to age oak tables, etc by banging w hammers, and also chains.

For smaller items like grips, put in a sock with some fine stones, not too big, double them up and put in dryer, no heat. The banging around should help. You could strip them ahead of time, then put ware on them.

Slower method is to put inloose in a box with smaller tools or perhaps small rocks and put in trunk and drive around for a couple weeks.

[DonVoigt]

Rich,
all good ideas, but I'd pass on the wire wheel, it will leave "new" lines in the wood- it is more aggressive to wood that one might think.
Don't ask me how I know.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by Sieger

Hi,

What is the purpose of all of this?


Sieger

Since when has Rich needed a purpose for what he does? Seriously, brand new grips will usually look out of place on an old gun, so aging them is a good way to make them blend in better.

I have aged several repro grips, and what I usually do first is to put them on the gun to determine where the wear would occur. I also look at pictures of worn original grips to see what they look like, how/where they wear etc. Some places wear a lot and some won't wear at all, so you need to need to plan the work for it to look convincing.

Then I start by sanding with fine grit paper (like 400 or so), a little bit at a time, eyeballing inbetween, until it looks good. Then some light taps with misc tools (don't use the same tool for every ding!) to add some character, and when it looks good I follow up with a fine scuffing pad or steel wool to remove the sanding marks. With the distressing done I apply some Formby's to seal the wood and apply a "wash" of diluted stain to highlight the places where dirt would accumulate, and maybe sand through the stain in some high wear places to look like more recent wear. A few coats of Formby's will seal them and give them a "greasy", hand worn look.

IMO, the eyeballing and "step by step" distressing are important, especially when you highlight with the stain. If you add too much it can look too artificial, so do a little bit, check it out, then a little bit more and so on until it looks convincing. The pictures show two sets of my reproduction Colt grips that have been distressed to look old and worn.

[DonVoigt]

Perfect aging , Ollie!