Teak plank from BB-62. Make grips from it?

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I just received a fair size deck plank from the starboard side of the Admiral's Bridge of the Battleship New Jersey. Teak may not be the prettiest wood but I thought it appropriate to have at least one pair of 1911 grips made from it. It should be big enough for a couple sets. It might be thick enough for revolver grips.

I have an N frame, K frame, Redhawk, Super Redhawk, and Blackhawk revolvers as well as the Kimber 1911.

Assuming there is enough good material, which two would you guys build grips for?
Who would you have build them?

The New Jersey holds a place in my heart from childhood. I built models of it as a kid and my uncle was involved with the weapons systems development and installation when she recommissioned in the 80s.
 
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That would be cool.

Don't know who you could get to do it but it would be nice if you could find someway to document what you've done for posterity. That is, get whoever does it for you to give you a letter saying something like "this particular piece of wood was sent to me and represented to be from the New Jersey. I have used this wood to create these grips" but make it sound better than my example.

I just think it would be nice to have
1. a letter you sent with the wood to the grip maker and then
2. a letter from him back to you documenting what went on.

The grip maker (of course) could not swear the wood was from the New Jersey but he could state that the wood you sent him was what he used to make the grips.
 
I have made a number of knife handles from teak. It works just fine. I don't recall the exact number, but like the other poster said, when I looked it up on the hardness scale it was right up there with the other hardwoods I often use. Sounds like a great project! :)
 
Some manufacturers charge a premium for working with teak because it's hell on cutting tools. Silica is naturally present in the wood, and that leads to far faster tool dulling.

Most people I know who work with teak for much of anything use either carbide tipped tools, or even titanium nitride.
 
Personally, I would get a WWII 1911-A1 or a US Victory Model and make the grip panels for it. On a modern gun, meh.

See how helpful I am? Now you have a perfectly good excuse to get another gun.
 
Teak is hard on tools because of the natural wax gums everything up. This can create heat when machining, which is what dulls steel blades/bits. Carbide is more resistant to heat. But, it does machine well and does not tear out like other woods. It also is easy to work with hand tools. It can show shades of green when freshly ripped, but will turn brown with age.
 
You could say this wood has been aged. It was laid on the deck in 1943. :D

As a machinist, I'm very familiar with the cutting tools. I keep far more carbide in stock than high speed steel.

Aherends says that teak is not a problem but it will be a bit fuzzy when checkered. I don't consider that a bad thing since I'm not a big fan of cheese graters.


I'll have to look around at other grip makers and get a little input before I do something. After all, I've only got one shot at this.
 
If you could find or make a small, siilver silhouette of the Jersey and get an accopanying plate with her name for the other side, have them inlaid into the grips. BTW, gotta have anchors and rope too (engraved in the plate).
 
i do a fair amount of woodworking now and then, as others have noted, teak is tough on tools. personally, i'd make a nice box out of the wood, and use walnut for grips, as they take checkering much better.
 
"...Teak may not be the prettiest wood..." Sort of is when it's finished. Matter of taste/preference. Used a lot for furniture. So it'll stand up, but put it on a Colt.
"...You could say this wood has been aged...." Just a bit. Any way of checking how much salt it has absorbed in 72 years?
 
As I recall, the instrument panels (we used to say "dashboards") of the Rolls Royce automobile were made of teak.

And the father of a co-worker of mine was murdered over the supply of teak.

Bob Wright
 
I would first find a WWII vintage M1911A1 to put the grips on. Then I would make sure I could document (and prove) where the wood came from. While the pistol would not directly connect to the battleship, it would be the kind of gun that would have been on the ship, where a Ruger Blackhawk, for example, would not.

Jim
 
"I would first find a WWII vintage M1911A1 to put the grips on."

Or a Smith & Wesson Military & Police .38...

The Navy used a TON of those during the war.
 
Why did someone pilfer the decking of the New Jersey? Isn't it a floating museum now?
Click to expand...

That boat underwent a renovation some years back, and a lot of the original decking was replaced, since it is a floating museum and that original wood wasn't holding up to all the foot traffic, and it is subject to the weather elements in Camden NJ, right across the Delaware River from Philly. At one time they sold pieces of the original decking as souvenirs to raise money for the renovation.

We took my Son's Cub Scout troop on an overnight encampment on the U.S.S New Jersey years ago and it was an amazing experience, we slept in the coffin bunks and the morning shower was ice-cold, although the little buggers carped that there were no outlets to plug in their Nintendos! If you are ever in Philly it's absolutely worth seeing!
 
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