Bill Akins
New member
A couple of weeks ago I posted about how I was hunting for the white rubberized coating in a spray can to refinish my '58 Remy grips with. Well everyone had the rubberized coating but no one had it in stock in white (although it is manufactured in white).
Since it was such a hassle trying to find that in white color....I decided to switch tactics. If I couldn't have a white coating that was rubberized (which I theorized would give me an excellent grip), I wanted an epoxy hard coating.
I found what I wanted at Home Depot. Just the thing. Glossy appliance white, actually labeled "hard" epoxy paint. Snow white. As white as George Hamilton's teeth white. Here's what the can looks like in case anyone wants to pick up a can....
The grips on my stainless specially modified '58 target Remy were very dark when I bought it used. So dark brown they were almost ebony. When I removed them for this project and carefully looked at the grip screw escutcheon brass bushings, I could see that they had carelessly been painted right over with a very dark brown paint. I was able to scratch the paint off the brass escutcheons with my fingernail. And on the backside of my grips I could see that the wood was a much lighter walnut color. Evidently someone had painted them very dark brown with a top coat of lacquer or polyurethane at some point in time before I got the Remy.
Anyway....I lightly sanded the grips to get the slick smoothness off them so the new primer would adhere better. I lightly sanded them with a little 320 and then 600 grit automotive wet/dry sandpaper (I used it wet).
The glossy white appliance hard epoxy paint requires no primer. Says so right on the can. But then again I wasn't using it on a fridge or washing machine metal as it was designed for, I was using it on wood. So just to make sure, I gave my grips a light coat of automotive grey primer and sanded that with 600 grit. I temporarily removed the brass escutcheons and plugged the hole where they had been with a .38 special case (fits tight and perfect) to prevent too much paint buildup in the hole. So that when I wanted to reinstall the escutcheons again the paint and polyurethane would not have built up inside the hole. I did allow a very light coat to go into the hole before I plugged it up with the .38 cases though, because I wanted a little paint into the hole to make sure the escutcheons would fit tightly again when re-installed. I removed the .38 cases before I took my photos.
Anyway.... After a light coat of primer and sanding with 600 grit, then I sprayed them with the hard epoxy appliance white paint and let them dry. As in this photo....
You can see how "white white" they were. I checked them against what I considered the white grips of my 1860 Pietta and noticed that my 1860's grips weren't actually "white white" but were more eggs shell/light ivory colored than the Remy grips I had just painted with the epoxy appliance white paint. So.....
next I gave my Remy grips several coats of clear polyurethane. I had noticed previously (on a different project) that "clear" polyurethane actually isn't "clear" at all, but is slightly yellowish when painted over white.
That did the trick and after several coats of clear polyurethane over the appliance white epoxy paint, my grips came out looking exactly like real ivory grips. Here's the finished project.
How my grips originally looked with dark brown paint. Someone had even carelessly painted right over the grip's brass escutcheon bushings before I bought the Remy....
How it looks now, with the brass escutcheons NOT painted over and grips looking like real ivory.....
My camera pictures don't really do justice to the grips. They look just like real ivory. Just like I wanted them to look. You would never know they were really wood underneath. And with several polyurethane top coats and several coats too of very hard epoxy paint underneath, they should give good service before needing to be repainted....which is easy to do. I am very satisfied with how they turned out. What a difference in looks they make to the gun. I mean they look and feel just like ivory. Kinda surprised myself with how well they turned out! Lol.
So if any of you fellas want to get an ivory grip look, do just like I did. Instead of buying a new set of grips, just repaint your old ones with glossy, hard epoxy, appliance white paint and then coat them with "clear" polyurethane which will perfectly yellow them just enough to be dead on slightly yellowish ivory color.
Why did I use the white appliance paint with clear polyurethane over it instead of just using an ivory colored paint to begin with? Well....because I couldn't find a ivory colored HARD finish, EPOXY paint in a spray can, that would be as hard a finish as the finish of the very hard epoxy appliance white paint that I used. They didn't have an ivory version of that spray can hard epoxy paint at home depot. They only had the white white version. I didn't want to get into a whole scavenger hunt thing like I had previously gone on the unsuccessful hunt for the white rubberized coating earlier.
I have a compressor and paint guns, but didn't want to go through that whole mess just to paint one set of grips. I wanted something simple and easy and that would be a spray can. I think everything actually worked out for the better in the long run with the way my project turned out. If I had used the white rubberized coating I was planning on earlier, they wouldn't have looked ivory, but would have been white white. So everything turned out for the best after all. Since I already had the sandpaper and clear polyurethane spray can, I only had to buy the appliance glossy white, hard epoxy spray paint can. Total cost to get my grips ivory looking = $5.33 including tax....plus my time and labor.
Whatcha think fellas? Look good to you?
.
Since it was such a hassle trying to find that in white color....I decided to switch tactics. If I couldn't have a white coating that was rubberized (which I theorized would give me an excellent grip), I wanted an epoxy hard coating.
I found what I wanted at Home Depot. Just the thing. Glossy appliance white, actually labeled "hard" epoxy paint. Snow white. As white as George Hamilton's teeth white. Here's what the can looks like in case anyone wants to pick up a can....
The grips on my stainless specially modified '58 target Remy were very dark when I bought it used. So dark brown they were almost ebony. When I removed them for this project and carefully looked at the grip screw escutcheon brass bushings, I could see that they had carelessly been painted right over with a very dark brown paint. I was able to scratch the paint off the brass escutcheons with my fingernail. And on the backside of my grips I could see that the wood was a much lighter walnut color. Evidently someone had painted them very dark brown with a top coat of lacquer or polyurethane at some point in time before I got the Remy.
Anyway....I lightly sanded the grips to get the slick smoothness off them so the new primer would adhere better. I lightly sanded them with a little 320 and then 600 grit automotive wet/dry sandpaper (I used it wet).
The glossy white appliance hard epoxy paint requires no primer. Says so right on the can. But then again I wasn't using it on a fridge or washing machine metal as it was designed for, I was using it on wood. So just to make sure, I gave my grips a light coat of automotive grey primer and sanded that with 600 grit. I temporarily removed the brass escutcheons and plugged the hole where they had been with a .38 special case (fits tight and perfect) to prevent too much paint buildup in the hole. So that when I wanted to reinstall the escutcheons again the paint and polyurethane would not have built up inside the hole. I did allow a very light coat to go into the hole before I plugged it up with the .38 cases though, because I wanted a little paint into the hole to make sure the escutcheons would fit tightly again when re-installed. I removed the .38 cases before I took my photos.
Anyway.... After a light coat of primer and sanding with 600 grit, then I sprayed them with the hard epoxy appliance white paint and let them dry. As in this photo....
You can see how "white white" they were. I checked them against what I considered the white grips of my 1860 Pietta and noticed that my 1860's grips weren't actually "white white" but were more eggs shell/light ivory colored than the Remy grips I had just painted with the epoxy appliance white paint. So.....
next I gave my Remy grips several coats of clear polyurethane. I had noticed previously (on a different project) that "clear" polyurethane actually isn't "clear" at all, but is slightly yellowish when painted over white.
That did the trick and after several coats of clear polyurethane over the appliance white epoxy paint, my grips came out looking exactly like real ivory grips. Here's the finished project.
How my grips originally looked with dark brown paint. Someone had even carelessly painted right over the grip's brass escutcheon bushings before I bought the Remy....
How it looks now, with the brass escutcheons NOT painted over and grips looking like real ivory.....
My camera pictures don't really do justice to the grips. They look just like real ivory. Just like I wanted them to look. You would never know they were really wood underneath. And with several polyurethane top coats and several coats too of very hard epoxy paint underneath, they should give good service before needing to be repainted....which is easy to do. I am very satisfied with how they turned out. What a difference in looks they make to the gun. I mean they look and feel just like ivory. Kinda surprised myself with how well they turned out! Lol.
So if any of you fellas want to get an ivory grip look, do just like I did. Instead of buying a new set of grips, just repaint your old ones with glossy, hard epoxy, appliance white paint and then coat them with "clear" polyurethane which will perfectly yellow them just enough to be dead on slightly yellowish ivory color.
Why did I use the white appliance paint with clear polyurethane over it instead of just using an ivory colored paint to begin with? Well....because I couldn't find a ivory colored HARD finish, EPOXY paint in a spray can, that would be as hard a finish as the finish of the very hard epoxy appliance white paint that I used. They didn't have an ivory version of that spray can hard epoxy paint at home depot. They only had the white white version. I didn't want to get into a whole scavenger hunt thing like I had previously gone on the unsuccessful hunt for the white rubberized coating earlier.
I have a compressor and paint guns, but didn't want to go through that whole mess just to paint one set of grips. I wanted something simple and easy and that would be a spray can. I think everything actually worked out for the better in the long run with the way my project turned out. If I had used the white rubberized coating I was planning on earlier, they wouldn't have looked ivory, but would have been white white. So everything turned out for the best after all. Since I already had the sandpaper and clear polyurethane spray can, I only had to buy the appliance glossy white, hard epoxy spray paint can. Total cost to get my grips ivory looking = $5.33 including tax....plus my time and labor.
Whatcha think fellas? Look good to you?
.
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