Match Grips for a Crosman 22XX Part 2

Onward, upward so they say. With the inletting done, it's time to start the shaping. Shaping, I've learned, apparently involves making lots and lots of fine dust while grinding away everything that doesn't fit the hand. Various sizes of sanding drums held in the drill press come in handy for this.

Grinding a long groove for my thumb. This is the left side grip panel.

Working down the backstrap. The sanding pics are gonna get tedious, so I'll kind of jump ahead a bit...

I traced around my fingers and turned those into shallow grooves.

Then gradually deepened the grooves and relieved the area for my palm.

Still deeper finger grooves...

The left grip again. The thumb rest is much more pronounced.

The bulge fits into the hollow of the palm on the right side grip.

The excess wood on the bottom will be for attaching a (still non-existent) palm shelf.

Deepening the groove for my trigger finger.

Test fit on the grip frame.

Having a spare grip frame complete with a functional trigger is a tremendous help.

Sand and grip. Repeat...

There's a practical anatomy lesson of sorts involved in making a grip like this. I keep thinking I should make a cast of my hand for future reference.

Still more to come....