Thank you Mr. Burg! (and others who encouraged the work).

I took your suggestion and my dentist was thrilled to work on something other than teeth. He took the job as a challenge.

And no...I did not leave the gun with him

Here's a before and a few after pics...I am very happy with his work. I did not know what to expect but my dentist took the job very seriously. He told me yesterday that he was nervous working with such an important piece of history...I think he gets it!

I do not believe that a casual look would reveal the work had been done...an expert (DanM) would probably have no difficulty seeing the rehab...at least that's my guess.

What do you think? Should I have undertaken the restoration? I'm guessing that the restored panel is now stronger than it was before the work (not that I'm planning on shooting the gun with the MOP grips on the gun).

Did I mention my dentist would not take any payment! I told him he'd have to bring his kids out to shoot this spring....perhaps deer hunt during the youth hunt in the fall.

Bob

Before:


After edge:


After under:


After edge:


After next to another steerhead panel:

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

Thank you Mr. Burg! (and others who encouraged the work).

I took your suggestion and my dentist was thrilled to work on something other than teeth. He took the job as a challenge.

And no...I did not leave the gun with him

Here's a before and a few after pics...I am very happy with his work. I did not know what to expect but my dentist took the job very seriously. He told me yesterday that he was nervous working with such an important piece of history...I think he gets it!

I do not believe that a casual look would reveal the work had been done...an expert (DanM) would probably have no difficulty seeing the rehab...at least that's my guess.

What do you think? Should I have undertaken the restoration? I'm guessing that the restored panel is now stronger than it was before the work (not that I'm planning on shooting the gun with the MOP grips on the gun).

Did I mention my dentist would not take any payment! I told him he'd have to bring his kids out to shoot this spring....perhaps deer hunt during the youth hunt in the fall.

Bob

Before:


After edge:


After under:


After edge:


After next to another steerhead panel:

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

I'd fire that SOB, the stock looks better than your tooths!

__________________
To be a rock and not to roll

Extremely nice...actually, those grips are just real big teeth!

Don

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OGCA Life
NRA Life

pbslinger,
Now easy fella you know I resemble that remark. Besides, you know it's the only tooth I have!

Don,
You are right, I'd not thought of the material that way.

Thanks for the kind remarks.

Bob

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"Onward thru the Fog"

Bob
You did good. Your dentist did real good!
It's good to see something like that restored to the glory, it deserves.

The Dude Abides

Looks very nice to me, Bob. Looks like a swell restoration job.

As I said before, those are the nicest ivory steerheads I've seen! I wonder who made 'em... They really do seem a substantial cut above the average that one sees!

FWIW, at the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries, I've read, the pearls cost more than ivories, I think probably because it was harder to work.

True or not I dunno, but I also read that the pearls, at least the smooth, non carved, standard types, were worked underwater, in a basin or trough of some sort, as the MOP dust was toxic.

"MOP dust was toxic"

Great...after grinding MOP buttons to create some dust should it be needed to mix with the dental epoxy...

Oh well. I guess I inhale enough lead infested gun smoke to choke a goose!

Bob

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

Here is a pair of N frame ivory steerheads on a re nickled 2nd Model 44

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Gary Grace
S&WCA #1837

Very cool thread

FYI - at hobby stores (generally in model/ train layout area) you can by two part clear epoxy and ground-up white "milled fibre glass" by Great Plains Company. It is a safe method and can be done at home on kitchen table to produce similar results.

NOTE (to married men)- put newspaper down on kitchen table first

K frame carved pearl

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Gary Grace
S&WCA #1837

Gary,
Very nice indeed...beautiful.

VM,
Sounds like someone messed up someone's kitchen table???? Ouch!

Bob

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

Beautiful grips, guys! Bob, Thanks for the before and after pics. I think I'd trust your dentist to work on my teeth now that I see what he can do.

Regards,

Jerry

Bob - I'm old school.........my wife and I have been together for 26 years. I married an Italian girl - everything must be spic and span. I'm just trying to help the young bucks.

I got in trouble rebuilding carbs on our kitchen table a long time ago.

Jeff Foxworthy has a line about "move this transmission so i can take a bath"

My buddy came into a Muncie M22 "rockcrusher" tranny for next to nothing for his 66 nova and living in an apartment at the time had no where to store it. so... he put it in his shower/tub for a few days till he could take it to his dads place for storage till it came time to install in his car. His live in GF at the time was not pleased.

Fatman, nice grips. my dentist would probly be cool like that he isnt into guns that i know of but is quite into fishing in remote areas.

WOW! Looks great.

How about some pictures of the restored steerheads back on the revolver!

Your dentist friend may have a second career lined up - excellent work!!!!

Hi:
The Steerhead Grips were made offered by what company ??
I never knew they were made for revolvers.
When I was a kid I had a western style cap gun with plastic grips like these.
Jimmy

9303,
I'll get some pics soon.

jimmyj,
I don't know who made them. pbslinger says they were offered in old Sear Roebuck catalogs...at a higher price than ivory.

Bob

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

Bob- In the 1902 Sears catalog pearl grips/stocks were offered for Colt SAA and Smith revolvers (the new 1899's and/or topbreaks)

Plain pearls were around $2, for steerhead sculptured it was $4 more for a total of $6. The guns were around $15, so carved steerheads were half the price of the gun.

__________________
To be a rock and not to roll

PB, could you post a pic of the steerheads offered in the 02 Sears catalog? Sure would like to see that!

Did they offer ivory as well? Was MOP more expensive back then, per the catalog, as I have read? For carving, I gotta believe MOP was a lot more work.

In my illspent youth, my father used to retire to the basement with Abolone shells and grind on them. Didn't kill him quick, anyway.

The dentist I know doesn't let it bother him. He just uses the same mask as he uses on patients. Most people grinding or polishing them use a lot of water as coolant, anyway. It tends to capture the airborne dust and keep it away from you.

Glad the restoration worked out for you. Looks nice.

In the old catalogs I've read, they suggest you not fire the gun with "exotic" grips installed. I think the term exotic covers both ivory and pearl. I'm guessing it may be due to poor fitting on the underside. If you look at a number of them, you'll see they don't always look good on the topside. Many don't look good on the bottom at all. Wood is different. Its almost always is flat on the bottom. Tends to make it fit better.

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Dick Burg

Thanks Dick.
I'm well pleased with the work...my dentist would not take a dime for the work so I'm buying he and his staff lunch tomorrow...he doesn't know it yet...but his office manager does.

Bob

__________________
"Onward thru the Fog"

The carved pearl stocked Colt is $22, while the standard one is $13.20.

There are no pictures of the pearl stocks for the S&W revolvers, but there is a variety of prices.

For the 32 Side Ejecting they are $1.25.
For Model 1899 M&P they are $2.25.

$2.50 on the top breaks.

there is also this notice:

FOR PEARL STOCKS with ox head carved on the right hand side, add $4.00 to the price of pearl. Cash in full must accompany all orders.

Don't see any ivory stocks/grips.

__________________
To be a rock and not to roll

Thanks, pbslinger! I appreciate it.

I am surprised that the Colt SA with the carved pearls is 67% more than without the pearls.

Then $1.25 to $250 for plain pearls for S&Ws, but an additional $4 for the steerhead, so between 60% to 220% more.

Bet that MOP stuff is quite hard to carve well.

Definitely a high end item!

I ran the $22 for the Colt with pearl handles on an inflation calculator and it is $540 in 2008 dollars.

Quite a good deal then since Eagle plain MOP are $550.

__________________
To be a rock and not to roll

Does anyone have any idea who makes grips like these for N frames, K frames?????

__________________
Slim, U.S. Army, Ret.

I know guys that will carve ivory steerheads, but am unaware of anyone carving pearl steerheads today.