First attempt at stippling

[Dustin Cantrell]

I've been wanting to try stippling for some time but certainly wasn't going to start on a pistol. I grabbed a pmag and a soldering iron and went to work. I didn't reshape the fine point on the iron any, just cleaned up the tip with some 400 grit sandpaper because it was dirty from, well, using it for its intended purpose. I just did a light tap on the surface in a random pattern. I wanted a light stipple that looked and felt like sandpaper. I started trying to stipple it in straight lines but failed doing that consistently (side not pictured) so I randomized the stipple. The stippling looks a little deeper in the pic than it is. I'm very pleased with it.

I'd like to eventually stipple by Glock. I like the light stipple that I did on the pmags but I'm not sure how I'd do that without smoothing the grip of the Glock first. It wouldn't take much smoothing on the sides but the front and rear straps certainly would. Does anybody have pics of the process of doing something similar?

Now to stipple the other 10 pmags...

 

[nikatkimber]

Looks good! I need to get an iron and try some extra grips I've got laying around here.

 

[Wormydog1724]

Try getting a 'waffle' tip. It goes muuuuuuch faster.

I do all my pmags like this.

 

[Matt1911]

Looks good man. If you think doing a glock makes you nervous, wait till you tackle a $2200 Brazzos STI 2011

 

[45recoil]

Looks like you got it Dustin. Now tackle that gun.

Bit of advise, don't go too aggressive under the trigger guard. I did on my m&p and had nice blister going on my strong hand middle finger 4 stages in uspsa match at okcgc this past saturday:/

 

[Matt1911]

Don't stipple the bottom of the triggerguard at all, or too high on the backstrap. It only leads to blisters.

 

[csiedmond1]

Looks awesome

 

[mike cyrwus]

Looks good man. If you think doing a glock makes you nervous, wait till you tackle a $2200 Brazzos STI 2011

even worse, wait til you mess up a $2200 brazos.

 

[technetium-99m]

even worse, wait til you mess up a $2200 brazos.

Oh the horror of getting a new grip.

Go for it all, cut up the slide and fit a new barrel if you want to know stress.

 

[srcooper]

Looks good!! I've had a few of my Glocks stippled and really like it. Seeing your PMag now has me thinking....

Steve Aryan at USSA did these....

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

Thanks!

If the Glock frame was smooth I wouldn't be so apprehensive about stippling it. I don't want a super aggressive stipple. I want it to look and feel like the pmag I did. Maybe a bit deeper stipple, but not much. I'm tempted to break out my Dremel and get to smoothing it so I can do that light stipple, but the polymer looks pretty thin. Once I got the front ande rear straps smoothed I'd think they'd be very thin. I'll see if I can find a video or two and then that Dremel might be whirring...

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

Wait just a minute... Has anybody tried using a shading tip on a wood burning tool to smooth the checkering before stippling? Wouldn't be removing much material, just spreading it around.

 

[Matt1911]

You can melt it smooth and then sand out the rough spots. I've done it and it turns ok good, but I prefer to remove the checkering all the way and not just melt it.
The plastic isn't too thin, especially not the backstrap. There's a gap between the backstrap and where the mag is.

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

There's no returning now. Grip portion is smoothed and now about 20% stippled. I'll probably finish it up tomorrow.

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

Here she is!

 

[Feegee]

Looks dam good


Sent from (NULL) Feegee's iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[racnsoonr]

Things that make you go hmmmm

Looks good Dustin!

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

Things that make you go hmmmm

Looks good Dustin!

Things that make you go hmmmm? As in "hmmmm... I think I can do this..."?

 

[racnsoonr]

Yes...I've had it on my backburner for a while now...just haven't taken the time or the leap to test it out and do it...my pistola needs it bad for uspsa

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

Yes...I've had it on my backburner for a while now...just haven't taken the time or the leap to test it out and do it...my pistola needs it bad for uspsa

I was very apprehensive. If it had grip panels or something that could easily and cheaply be replaced if I messed them up, I wouldn't have worried about it. But, I was working on the frame of my Glock. I finally found my cojones and started in on it. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to remove the finger grooves. I used a shading tip on a wood burning kit to smooth out the checkering. When I was done, I used the sanding drum to smooth it out a bit. I smoothed the raised side panels as I didn't want to have a noticeable step in the final stippled product. I also used a file on the front strap as I was wanting to get the finger grooves worked down to the same level as the previously checkered area without sanding away areas that I didn't need to. I was worried about the polymer being thin and removing too much of it. Once I had everything the way I wanted it, I heated up a cheap soldering I had on hand with a fine tip and started in on it. It's extremely easy to do, just takes a lot of time. I probably spent 6 or 7 hours total on this project. I'm sure it could be done a lot faster, but it was my first time and I was being careful.

This was my first attempt at stippling a pistol and I think it turned out great. You should go for it. :biggrin: