Latest Design Discoveries for PersonaGrip... Wire Brushing Adds Tooth and Controls Final Shape After the grip is molded to a near-satisfactory shape and has cooled, finalize its shape with a wire-brush wheel on a bench grinder. The grinding wheel allows easy removal of sharp corners and edges. It also gives the grip a nice, suede-like smooth and continuous surface. Alternatively, brushing with a brass-bristle brush by hand while the grip is still slightly warm to the touch, gives the grip surface a superb texture called Synthetic SuedeTM.
Test the Grip & Start Out with a Mild Mold Realize that a grip designed in a garage is probably not going to be the best final design once it is put into action. In fact, rarely does a deeply molded single-position-type grip work best. A wire brush "rounds off" an otherwise radical grip that is molded too deeply to be practical. That is not to say a deep grip is bad; in some cases they are extremely useful. The key is to experiment. If possible, take your heat gun into the field and make small changes. Sometimes only a small, minor change is all that is needed to change an average design to one that is a comfortable success.
Think in Four Dimensions: 4-D You have to think in four dimensions: up-down, in-out, left-right, and time. Yes, time. Heat transfers because of a temperature difference between the heat source and the grip. Heat makes a grip moldable, not temperature. The greater the temperature difference between the heat source and the grip, the faster heat enters the grip, but, of course, the hotter its surface becomes. As you gain experience, time effects will become apparent. Take advantage of this time factor. Grips left to cool naturally will "wet out" slightly, and become more "relaxed." Therefore, to "set" a grip, quench it. Quenching Freezes the Time Factor Quenching a hot surface that is ready to mold with ice-cold water will cause the grip to skin-over and wrinkle when molding. So quenching a molded grip is OK so long as you do not attempt to remold it after it has skinned over...unless, of course, you WANT a skinning effect! In other words, the outer surface has taken a "set" while the interior of the grip remains "flowable." Spritzing the surface with cool water (and therefore slow-cooling it) instead of dunking it, will avoid skinning if you want to make adjustments while it's cooling.
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