Canadian Airgun Forum

So, I was trying out some new material for making custom fitted grips. I've used sugru before and it is near perfect, but they've changed the quantities you can buy it in and it's now ridiculously expensive. I thought I'd try two part silicone putty, normally used for making molds for casting. You can buy it by the pound from Curry's. $30 gets you the equivalent of $275 of sugru! But, well, having so much to play with, it's easy to get carried away...





This stuff sets rather quickly, about 10 minutes, so you have to work quite fast which is why the grip has that lumpy appearance with all the joins. I need to experiment with filling the gaps and smoothing it over. I also need a way of changing the colour as that's pretty hideous. My first attempt with black pigment stopped the stuff from setting at all. But man, this thing fits better than a glove!!

Happy Shooting!
Jim

Jim's Weird Science Experiment!
If it fits, wear it.

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-Rick

Brocock Concept .22
3 Crosman MK 1 pistol .22

That sums it up Rick. Looks like poop, feels amazing.

Very cool! How durable is it?

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- Doug
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QB79 .177 (PCP) X 2

Good question. I've only had the stuff a couple of weeks, so it's going to take a while to find out. First impressions are that it seems quite tough. I experimented with mixing in some sawdust to make it a bit stiffer, so I ended up with several balls of the stuff with various mixes. I cut those in half which was surprisingly difficult and have used them around the workshop for resting blocks of wood on so they don't slip. None of them seem to have worn in any way. The stuff attached to guns still looks like new. I think I have it on three of them now.

One thing I didn't mention is that while sugru sticks like crazy, this casting putty is deliberately made not to be sticky. It seems to have some sort of oily release agent mixed in. Sometimes it seems to stick anyway (I think the sawdust helps here, perhaps it absorbs the release agent), but in other cases I've had to glue the grip in place after it sets. Fortunately the stuff seems to stick well to itself, so you can build the grip up in several stages to get the perfect fit, and if the grip completely encloses what's underneath it will tend to hold well.

Jim

Very interesting. Is there any shrinkage when it sets?
Did you mention where you got it?

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- Doug
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QB79 .177 (PCP) X 2

No shrinkage that I noticed. It's intended for making molds for casting, so it's probably fairly dimensionally stable. I got it from the art store, Currys. They seemed to have a good price.

https://www.currys.com/catalogpc.htm?Ca ... &NBReset=2

Jim!!! That looks as weird as it sounded when you told about it on Monday night!!! Nice work buddy!! Keep up the great work (and keep on pushing the envelope!!)

Dave

Pretty cool stuff.

Ever try polymorph plastic?

Al

Is it strong enough you could drill a hole into it, for say, attaching a screw to the gun's handle.
And more importantly: is it paintable?

Nothing wrong with frankensteining something. Uniqueness isn't always pretty.

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No, no, it was bigger than that! It looked like a weird monkey-dog thing!
COG First Class Recruit
Gears of War

That's for sure!

Please tell me you weren't looking at a mirror when you typed this

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No, no, it was bigger than that! It looked like a weird monkey-dog thing!
COG First Class Recruit
Gears of War

I might be spiking that beer with something special this summer...

Hi Dave, I might bring it along tomorrow so you can all laugh at it

Al, no I haven't tried polymorph. It looks interesting, but isn't the melting point a bit hot for working by hand?

Joolz, yes I think it would be drillable. You'd probably need a washer for the screw to spread the load a little. I haven't tried painting it, but I suspect it will be difficult to get anything to stick. It's silicone based which is trouble enough in it's own right, plus it's got whatever those release agents are as well. Possibly the release agents will evaporate off over time and it may become more paintable. I had wondered if one of the spray on rubber paints would stick - might be worth a try. Anything would be better than that purple colour, although the silicone does make for a nice grippy surface

So wllm995, you think I need to pretty it up, eh? I'll have to see what I can do.

Jim

Anything that you can do would be appreciated!

Doug