34 replies to this topic

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Greetings,
I run a Glock for limited work and got tired of using adhesive grip tape. It would always start to work itself loose after just a few sessions, and I can't stand it when it is all wrinkled up undermy hand. I guess i squeeze the grip pretty hard. I know lots of folks have had good luck with various adhesive products but not for me. Stippling was a no go for me as well mostly because I dont like how it looks! I found Glockworx's silicone carbide grip treatment appealing so looked into it. $165 plus shipping the gun (still not clear on if i had to overnight it or not) so another $100 or so. To top it off Glockworx said they were so backed up they would call me in a month or 2 before they would even take my order so I decided to do it myself.

Wanted to share this with all, as I couldnt be happier with how it came out and if a gorilla like me can get it right so can you!


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used the outline of the old grip tape as a refrence for where the upper limits of the new grip would be.

Edited by Ultimo-Hombre, 13 December 2012 - 12:55 AM.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Next scored the grip where the installed magwell fits. Any material inbetween the well and the grip will squeeze the grip so your mags will no longer drop free....

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[Ultimo-Hombre]

wish i knew how to make the photos full size in the post so you all dont have to click on the thumbnail, sorry...

Here you can see the score line, making it deep really helped with being able to mask off clean lines later on, especially on the rounded surfaces on the front and backstrap...

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[Ultimo-Hombre]

Now it got serious... This is the first time I have taken a dremel to a glock frame, seeing as it is a Gen4 knowing I couldnt even get a replacement frame only didnt help.

Used a dremel tool with the medium sized sanding drum, 100 grit. Kept it at the slowest speed possible to avoid heat build up and melting of material. Like others here have said... go slow!

took all of the texturing off down to a smooth base. It left a coarse finish with the 100 grit which was good, allows the epoxy a better surface to bond with.

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FINALLY rid of those damm finger grooves on the frontstrap! hated them.
used a small straight edge to ensure they were ground perfectly flat.
Blended all other surfaces including the modular backstrap channels on the backstrap.
Also rough up all areas where carbide will be applied.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

On to the masking. After a good scrub to remove dremel dust and cleaning with alchahol mask with the blue 3M. I tested a few different tapes and found this to adhere the best.

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good clean radiused corners were achieved by laying down multiple small sections of tape, with no creases at the working areas then using an exacto knife to cut the section out along the desired shape.

after the masking job another scrub with alchahol.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Finding Silicone carbide grit was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Tried all the craft stores...no go, tried all the box stores, nope.. even went to a few commercial media blasting suppliers...nada.

eventually found this....
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Harbor freight. they sell it as a tumbling media for polishing rocks. the box has 4 grades of grit in it, only the coarse is appropriate.
It kinda looks like stripper glitter.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

I settled on using JB weld to bond the grit to the frame. Have recieved advise to use a low viscosity epoxy, wasnt able to locate anything other than the usual 2 part epoxies, but did some testing with it and found it to be a bit brittle. Was able to chip it off a p-mag i used for testing and wanted this to be absolutly solid so went with the JB, stuff is nuke proof!

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For application i made a tool by folding a 3x5 card multiple times to form a kind of spatula.. gave just the right amount of rigidity.
another good thing about the JB weld is it takes about 30 min to set up so you have lots of working time. just painted it on!

[Ultimo-Hombre]

You can see in the pics I didnt try and mask off the magazine release hole, was just too akward, instead used care to not get the JB in it and touched it up before the epoxy hardened.

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Piled up the grit on a sheet of paper and lightly pressed the grip into it. Making sure to cover all surfaces. the areas which could not be pressed into the grit, I just dumped it on.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Dont try and push the grit into the epoxy any more than just caking it on, if you do it gets ugly, the resin starts to show thru and you get an inconsistant surface.

The hard part now is just hanging it up to dry and walk away from it for a while....

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I gave it about 2 hours to set up( pretty cool in my garage so in a warmer climate you may want to shorted this a bit) and then carefully removed the masking. Still careful not to push any of the grit around, just making sure all the edges looked good.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

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it really does look like stripper glitter....

[Ultimo-Hombre]

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Here is the end result.

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And reassembled...

the lighting in my work area is harsh flourescents which makes the end result a bit more sparkly than it really is. The frame alone against the wood pic is a better representation of how it looks in natural light.

Have taken it out and worked with it on a few drills and I love it. Be warned, it is a super agressive grip! Dryfiring it for about 30 min left me a bit raw but I will deal with that for how well it feels. If you can find a finer grit I am sure you can fine tune it a bit. Testing it on an old p-mag works well.

Thanks to the other forum members who gave me information on doing this. After not finding much other info on this thought this might be useful to someone.

[jdphotoguy]

Great post, thanks for the info, just might try this on one of my guns.

One question though, how is it you know what stripper glitter looks like

[mlmiller1]

very nice! looks well thought out & well done.

MLM

[sperman]

Finding Silicone carbide grit was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Tried all the craft stores...no go, tried all the box stores, nope.. even went to a few commercial media blasting suppliers...nada.

I did a similar project a few years ago, and ended up buying a 50 lb bag of "Black Beauty" sand. I still have plenty left if anyone is interested. Just send me a PM.

http://www.brianenos...ty#entry1047924

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Finding Silicone carbide grit was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Tried all the craft stores...no go, tried all the box stores, nope.. even went to a few commercial media blasting suppliers...nada.

I did a similar project a few years ago, and ended up buying a 50 lb bag of "Black Beauty" sand. I still have plenty left if anyone is interested. Just send me a PM.

http://www.brianenos...ty#entry1047924

Where did you get that stuff? Is it silica sand or silicon carbide? Wish I had seen that earlier the color is good.

[toothguy]

Thank's for the info, it looks professional. Good craftsmanship.

[sperman]

Finding Silicone carbide grit was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Tried all the craft stores...no go, tried all the box stores, nope.. even went to a few commercial media blasting suppliers...nada.

I did a similar project a few years ago, and ended up buying a 50 lb bag of "Black Beauty" sand. I still have plenty left if anyone is interested. Just send me a PM.

http://www.brianenos...ty#entry1047924

Where did you get that stuff? Is it silica sand or silicon carbide? Wish I had seen that earlier the color is good.

http://www.mcmaster....g-media/=kkqbv8

I can't remember which grit I purchased.

[CZinSC]

Finding Silicone carbide grit was a lot harder than i thought it would be. Tried all the craft stores...no go, tried all the box stores, nope.. even went to a few commercial media blasting suppliers...nada.

I did a similar project a few years ago, and ended up buying a 50 lb bag of "Black Beauty" sand. I still have plenty left if anyone is interested. Just send me a PM.

http://www.brianenos...ty#entry1047924

Where did you get that stuff? Is it silica sand or silicon carbide? Wish I had seen that earlier the color is good.

I did the same thing to my grips ( CZ SP01 ). I did exactly as you have, right down to the JB Weld. Mine was a little easier because the grip panels come off so there is no masking needed.

However, for Silicon Carbide, I found it at this website. http://www.therockshed.com/grit.html

[Ultimo-Hombre]

If I were someone out there thinking of doing this I'd take sperman up on that grit. You won't find a better deal.

[805ebr]

Thanks for taking the time to document this. I've been indecisive over using grip tape or going all in and giving it this treatment. You did an awesome job and it came out great! Gives me the confidence to move forward with this method.

Now to pm sperman...

[dsa]

I got a chance to handle Ultimo-Hombre's Glock the other day at the range. It is nice! I really like the aggressive texture and the removal of the finger grooves, it felt really good. Job well done.

[Suicycle]

Black Beauty is weld slag that is ground up for blasting media. Bad stuff for grit for sure. I would say in the 50 to to finer than 80 grit. Tractor Supply is where I got mine.

[Seth Long]

Nice job. How hard do you think it will be to redo later on with the JB weld?

[JimmyZip]

What colors were the other grits in the bag?

[Ultimo-Hombre]

As far as a redo, I don't see it happening I think the surface is gonna be durable.
No other colors.