bertram31.com

From JR High shop, I always gravitated to metal. My first wood project was an oak step that looked more like expressionist art than functional wood.

I've always loved wood and admired its beautiful grains and colors.

Randalls work just reinforced my admiration of wood.

I fell head over heels some time back when I saw Olive Wood and wanted to do something with it so I ordered some slabs of 1/2 and 1/4 and started thinking what to do with it.

Well this is what I came up with.

A set of grips and replacement scales on my daily carry fixed blade.
Top knive is a duplicate of what the scales used to look like. Epoxy wrap over Stingray skin.

Amazing what can be done with a 99 dollar 1" bench top belt sander and patience.

Turned out real nice, Bro... Especially like the grips on the Kimber. Have you tried the inlay yet?

got some burl that the proff had made into knifes. You need to get some and make me some grips for my glock

Timmy - can you legally own a handgun in Mass? Mitt said he's outlawed them when Hillary was around.

Nice work Bruce, like you said, time & patience.

UV

Beautiful Bruce. Real pretty.

Vic, we can carry if approved by the local police chief. That means if you live in Cambridge, good luck. I am fine in Boylston. I have had a license to carry for any lawful purpose for 10 plus years.

Timmy on the other hand...hmmm. Now that scares me!

Smiles all around...

D

Very nice. Did you have to make a bunch first to get it to look like that?

real nice bruce...whats next?......BTW.....you can carry anywhere with the right paperwork......when i was runnin my dads jewelry biz in NYC lots of guys had carry permits....i could have gotten one too but i figured i was just there temporarily

Pat,
Still thinking about the inlay.
Shirley's back has been out for the last 3 weeks and between work and picking up her slack at home, I'm worn out. Not a good time to try it.
You ought to see her on Valium as a muscle relaxer. Laugh your ass off.

Tim,
If you could change the grips on a Glock, which you can't, putting wood on a Glock is like putting a tux on a monkey.

The best accesory for the Glock as far as grips go is a Hogue slide on finger grip.

Put one on my daughters model 19 carry gun and it doubled her 10x scoring at 15 yards.

Brewster,
No waste. First try. The slabs came direct from Jerusalem and took 6 weeks. No way was I gonna screw them up.
They don't cut down trees to get the wood. They wait till the tree branches need trimming and get the wood from them. Then its stabilized.

Matching the grains was tricky since Olive wood grains can change very quickly as you sand down.

Grips weren't that hard since I had a pattern from the stock grips.
Believe it or not the knife handle was harder.

Randal,
Next is to glue some squares together to make a 3" x 3" block.
Then throw it on the lathe and turn down into a small chalice like the cup used in the "last supper".
A very close preacher friend who saw me thru some hard times years ago was in Israel and instead of buying himself one, he bought one for me.
I'm gonna return the favor.

bruce...one woodworking thing i never did was work on a lathe....really looks like fun.....was at hanks shop this week....he made me a blank for a chess piece i have to carve....the chess set is worth 500 large and the piece has to be replaced with out anyone knowing....so keep it to yourself.......anyway i enjoyed watching hank work the lathe which was his grandfathers and hes been using all his life ........have fun

Timmy:

Let me know when you affix those grips to the Glock--I'm waiting to do mine too! Attach with Plexus? Superglue?

Bruce is that a Series 70 national match?

Tom,
Kimber Target in 10mm.

My series 70's are safe queens.

Randall,
I've always liked working on a lathe making stuff.

A few years back they were throwing some junk away at the marina. In the pile was a benchtop 12" lathe missing the motor only. Chuck and cutting tools were there.
Grabbed it and added a motor.

Bruce,

I thought I did well with that last tag, this one I'm not even gonna try. Beautiful work, and a truly lovely reason to be working on the next one, he will cherish it.

Nic

bruce back in the 1980`s i lived in port saint lucie fl. i look forward to the orlando knife and gun show .i don`t know if it still is held but i shure would like another one handed knife like this.a big advantage tying knots and use your free hand to open the knife and cut tag line.the dealer had a bunch of them and produce them in fl..they are 100% stainless and i just made a teak handle to match the 31 bert gunnels burmese of course! my son allways wanted one i just figure somebody may have seen one.----------------------thank you

Bob,
fix your pix link so I can see.

bruce the blade is marked parker i don`t know if that is a clue but at the show they call it a one handed knife that about all i know.

You got me interested.
If you like it, must be special.
I put some feelers out. Let you know if anything turns up.

Bruce:

I am evil -- my series 70s come out of the safe and make holes in paper targets. They are treated well and in immaculate shape -- mine are all Clark modified hardballers -- I have a Springfield Omega 10mm -- can't stand firing that even though it is ported it still kicks like a mule and obviously is loud. That Kimber is beautiful.

Tom

Bob,

The images are still missing from your post above, so don't know what you're looking for. Is the knife a folding knife that takes one hand to open or a fixed blade?

Gil Hibben is an American Master Knife Maker of some repute. He designed & made a knife for Kenpo Karate Master Ed Parker back in '68. He later made a production replica of very similar knives called the Parker Knife. One of his Parker knives is currently on Ebay. Linked Here

Hibben's website is http://www.hibbenknives.com/

Br,

Patrick

i cannot figure this out the image is perfect as i view it on my computor.i will try it again.

the parker is a folding knife that you could remove from the sheath with one hand.placing your thumb on the small button on the blade you flip it open and it locks in place,to close it you push the side of the blade against your leg white pushing the spring in.extremely well made of one solid piece of stainless machined in ceter to hold locking device.

there you are captain patrick allways trying to help me out well this "bud"is for the both of you.this is in my collection of 1873 winchesters .this "73 was actually from the texas ranger barracks.1873 winnies were very actual in 22-20,38-40,and 44-40.this was the rifle that one the west and a had to have for every texan but that was when men were men and hung by the neck was not a political statment.

Very nice Winchester. Lever guns have always held a special place for me.


Pat,
Hibben has lent his name to quite a bit of cheap fantasy knives that are real garbage. Its a shame, but money has caused many a craftsman to sell themselves out.

Tom,
I/m surprised you get much kick with a ported gun. you may have a real lite guide spring.
A heavier guide and spring will prevent felt recoil and are easy to change. A buffer also helps when shooting full load 10/s which can be hard on the gun.

I carry 180grn Black Talons in it and two spare mags with me when I carry it out. The 180/s aren't that bad, but I practice at the range with my handloads using a full charge and 165 grn flat nose.

One of my series 70/s has the factory Colt .22LR conversion kit with it.
Those are my dire straights need cash fast, can't borrow it from anyone else pieces.

My Model 1912, circa 1914.....



And a Loveless style knife to go with it

Mike,
Classy stuff.
But then I wouldn't expect anything less than that.

mike i grew up in island park.a working class area.we were poor but we had small island all around us loaded with duck or canadiens flying over.a jc higgins 12ga was all i could afford at 14years old.i used to envy the "rich kids" coming over to the island and our blind with a model 12 winchester with a ventilated rib---wow and here i am years later now looking at a fancy grade skeet or trap model .well the feeling is still the same they just don`t make them like that no more.case in point i hunt with a winchester model 1886 in cal.40-82.ok it is not black powder but is is old fashion with iron sights.love the workmanship wether it be 31bertram or old winchesters.

It's a Trap Model...





I have a nice Model 1886 in 45-70, but it's a modern Browning. Nice hunk of iron, though...

beautiful absolutly beautiful wood.i think those walnut trees are all but gone too.

Randall: I love seeing the progress pics of the cutting board. Awesome work.

Mike,
Nice 1912. I have the predecessor 1897 with 32inch full choke. The wood on mine is nothing like yours though- gorgeous.

Is that the exposed hammer gun?

you know the next time im at your house it might be time for a little "show and tell"

Roger that.

year mike 1897 was the last outside hammer shotgun.only won more desirable would be winchester lever action shot ---very desireable made famous in the movie terminater.shooting it while on a harley! 10 gauge -------wow