First Home Stipple Job

[rxer311]

Original Post below line:

So I hit the sander and knocked it down and tried again. Still doesn't look great, but much better without the borders. Not skilled enough to do the borders yet. For sure, though, it is grippy as hell.

Pics of the second go around...






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So I got this 80% Glock 17 frame a while back for under $50. Its a polymer 80 gen 2 Glock 17 frame. Only reason I got it is because it was cheap. The problem I had with it is that I really disliked the contours and textures of the grip.

I was off work today and I saw the sad thing laying there in the box so I decided to do something with it. First I took out my Dremel with a 120 grit sanding wheel and went to town flattening out the back strap and the side grips. I also took a little bit of the plastic down because my smaller hands didn't fit the grip very well. It really looked like shit, however, the grip was much more comfortable in my hands. The downside was that it was completely smooth.

So I went to my local A.C. Moore and used a 40% off coupon to purchase a wood burner with different tips. I just jumped right in and went to town. Never did it before in my life.

Now I know that in the grand scheme of things that this stipple job is more towards the end of "sucks ass" than "bad ass," but IMO it turned out pretty okay for my first crack at it. I know that Battlecock will probably be crying at such a home brew stipple job , but it kinda worked out for me. Only reason I tried it was because it was so cheap anyway.

Thinking about doing some Tungsten gray Cerakote on it to finish it off.

Anyway, here are the pics of my first home stipple job. Feel free to flame away, or just give me some constructive feedback!






This was the stock iteration...

[UWone77]

Yeah... that's pretty awful.

I'd try on some A2 Grips or some other cheap polymer first.

[rxer311]

Yeah... that's pretty awful.

I'd try on some A2 Grips or some other cheap polymer first.

Gotta start somewhere. I'm actually not to terribly upset at how it turned out for my first try though. The grip in stock form was not workable for me though. For $50, not looking back.

I didn't even watch a Youtube video LOL. I just said, "screw it" and went to town having no clue what I was doing!

[Uffdaphil]

I don’t think the stippling is so bad. The border lines though...

[rxer311]

I don’t think the stippling is so bad. The border lines though...

Yes, Definitely something I would have to work on. Any input on how to clean them up now that it is already done?

In all honesty, though, it actually does look better in person than the pictures look, just because of the 2D rendering.

But yeah, I really didn't know what to do with the borders. Guess I should have given Youtube a look

[Stone]

Yeah, you gotta practice on some other things first. I practiced on a few XDM mag loaders before I stippled my 3.8 XDM. Good news is it doesnt matter if it looks like shite, how does it feel in the hand? You can also practice on some Pmags, you gotta have a few of those around.

[rxer311]

Yeah, you gotta practice on some other things first. I practiced on a few XDM mag loaders before I stippled my 3.8 XDM. Good news is it doesnt matter if it looks like shite, how does it feel in the hand?

Much better than the stock setup.

[Stone]

Maybe BC will chime in with a few pro tips. I think borders are a PIA...

[rxer311]

Maybe BC will chime in with a few pro tips. I think borders are a PIA...

I knew they would be a PITA, but after the dremel work, borders were really the only way to clean it up. As bad as the borders were, it would have been worse without them.

[Stone]

Heres my first stipple job. Far from aesthetic but feels great in the hand.

[Battle Cock]

Those original PF940 frames are awesome for practice. And they are thick enough that you could sand off all of that texture and start over if you want.

As was said earlier, the texture itself isn’t bad. More chaotic applications tend to be pretty similar in look and utility, and if you want to redo it then I recommend focusing more on your borders and trying your hand at doing an undercut on the trigger guard.

As far as borders at entry level go, consider the concept of image resolution.

Why does a low resolution image have fuzzy lines and less detail? It has fewer pixels in its surface area.
What are pixels? Tiny dots combined to create details.

Like your HD tv screen, you can create more intricate details and crisp outside lines if you use smaller dots to render an outline or image on your workpiece. I’ve worked with tips as tiny as needles. They are easy to make for yourself.

If you apply that concept to stippling a gun, then you’ll want to use two different tips. A tiny one to outline your border in crisp detail, and whichever larger tip you prefer to fill in texture.


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[rxer311]

Those original PF940 frames are awesome for practice. And they are thick enough that you could sand off all of that texture and start over if you want.

As was said earlier, the texture itself isn’t bad. More chaotic applications tend to be pretty similar in look and utility, and if you want to redo it then I recommend focusing more on your borders and trying your hand at doing an undercut on the trigger guard.

As far as borders at entry level go, consider the concept of image resolution.

Why does a low resolution image have fuzzy lines and less detail? It has fewer pixels in its surface area.
What are pixels? Tiny dots combined to create details.

Like your HD tv screen, you can create more intricate details and crisp outside lines if you use smaller dots to render an outline or image on your workpiece. I’ve worked with tips as tiny as needles. They are easy to make for yourself.

If you apply that concept to stippling a gun, then you’ll want to use two different tips. A tiny one to outline your border in crisp detail, and whichever larger tip you prefer to fill in texture.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Maybe I will sand it back down and start over again then. My hands are smaller and I really wanted to take it down a bit more anyway. I wasn't planning on using the frame in stock form anyway, so I figured what the hell.