Spyderco Forums

So, I've been sucked back into guns after years of not playing with them, and lately I've been trying out some different grip tape type deals and I've been very tempted to stipple the crap out of one of my guns. Then it occurred to me that I haven't seen or heard of anyone doing this on a knife. I've heard of some guys using skateboard tape on handle scales, and I've even seen some knives that come factory with it, but I'm a little surprised that there isn't a company out there making die cut tape pieces for knives. Anyone ever play around with this stuff? I recently got a Brooks AGrip for my Shield, which is a faux suede type material that has an amazing feel to it and really gives you a solid grip. It would be kinda cool to see a suede grip knife.

I have seen some grip enhancement on fixed blades including grip tape, bicycle tubes, stipling and just rough sanding. I think I would prefer a grippy material over a grippy add on myself. I have also seen a lot of stacked leather grips on fixed blades but they are usually fairly smooth. The precut grip tape is popular with handguns and I could maybe see a market for it with knives.

Maybe knife guys just have better taste :)

Hey, I had stippled the back of a lightweight manix to keep it from moving when I was using my thumb to unlock. I have put talongrips on polymer framed pistols and liked it (the rubber finish, not the sandpaper finish). Most recently I've just purchased a couple of sheets from guntape and cut the pattern I wanted. I have a piece on the back of another lightweight manix.
adam

I got talon grips on my shield 40 love them.

I've had knives with the grip tape before and i didn't care for it. I really like micarta because it's smooth but if it gets a little moisture it becomes pretty grippy without being abrasive. Living in the south my hands never really seem to be completely dry. I would think people have tried stippling frn but i never searched for it. Suede wouldn't do good for me it would attract a lot of dirt and debris not to mention moisture and then probably mold or mildew.

VashHash wrote:I've had knives with the grip tape before and i didn't care for it. I really like micarta because it's smooth but if it gets a little moisture it becomes pretty grippy without being abrasive. Living in the south my hands never really seem to be completely dry. I would think people have tried stippling frn but i never searched for it. Suede wouldn't do good for me it would attract a lot of dirt and debris not to mention moisture and then probably mold or mildew.

I've wondered that about the gun grip. It may just be that knives are usually used for dirtier jobs than guns. I've heard of these AGrips lasting 10 years so we'll see. I love it so far.

Id like to see some of the stippling like HK and Walther do which is grippy without feeling like the DIY Glock jobs that feel terrible.

I had skateboard tape on a harpy in the late 90s. I wasnt a huge fan of the stainless handle and the grip tape really helped. I havent bothered recently as the texture on the frn works well for me.

I've been interested in trying out a stippling job on one of my Sig P320 polymer frames, but haven't bit the bullet yet. I've seen some really slick looking jobs that have been done with wood burning kits or soldering irons using out of the box and/or modified tips.

I stippled a stainless Delica, and it helps a bit.







I think it would be awesome on G10, or something similar.

Jazz that's one of my favorite Delica's ever, second only to some of the scroll engraved ones I've seen.

When I mentioned stippling I was thinking of the soldering method but then I realized you can't really do that with anything but FRN since G10 won't melt the way polymer does.

With the guns, I like the stippling if the pattern is clean and in a random pattern, I hate when I can see how they did it one row at a time. I want a Glock 19 Gen 4 pretty bad but it's gonna take smoothing out the finger grooves and stippling it before I like how it feels in hand.

Thanks. I really like Paul's Delica.

So, you mean it's just melted in all over?

FRN knives already have a trippy texture. Adding tape to my all stainless Endura would just year my pants all that faster.

Jazz wrote:Thanks. I really like Paul's Delica.

So, you mean it's just melted in all over?

Yep, it's a really simple process. Most people do little dots but you can also use wood burning kits that come with different shaped tips. I've seen X patterns and even snake skin type patterns.

The stippling starts at 5:00

https://youtu.be/IesXDeUIkBE

Interesting. Not sure if I like that or not. It looks like a bunch of tiny slippery surfaces, and I'm wondering why he sanded before stippling. I'd have to feel it first. Maybe my 110V Manix could use something like that. That FRCP is way too slick. What is the handle material of the gun, do you know?

Jazz wrote:Interesting. Not sure if I like that or not. It looks like a bunch of tiny slippery surfaces, and I'm wondering why he sanded before stippling. I'd have to feel it first. Maybe my 110V Manix could use something like that. That FRCP is way too slick. What is the handle material of the gun, do you know?

He likely sanded the grooves to either deepen and reshape the grooves, or to remove the...checkering?...in the grooves so that the stippling is more even and aesthetically pleasing in that area.

Jazz wrote:Interesting. Not sure if I like that or not. It looks like a bunch of tiny slippery surfaces, and I'm wondering why he sanded before stippling. I'd have to feel it first. Maybe my 110V Manix could use something like that. That FRCP is way too slick. What is the handle material of the gun, do you know?

Glocks have a raised texture on the grip that looks like a bunch of tiny square blocks sticking up, he sanded those off and I think sanded the finger grooves flat (if that's the same video). He basically just made the entire handle smooth before adding the stippling. It does turn out to be a really gripping finish.

Here's a few nicer ones. Some guns already have a pattern you can follow like this M&P



With wood burning tips you can get creative and make different patterns..





You can even use stickers as stencils..





Anyway, the catch though is that those guns have a lot more space to work with than a knife, and with FRN already having a pattern deeply molded into it, you can't really sand it smooth. I think the possibility here is pretty limited, probably mostly to the outter rim of the handle.

I've never seen a technical spec name for the polymer that handguns are made of (like FRN/FRCN/etc), just "polymer", but from what I've seen they behave similarly to FRN when grinding, so I would assume they burn/melt the same too.

Here's another example, and what I personally would do if I was going to stipple the spine of the handle on a Manix LW. This is my own Glock, and my stippling.

Friends don't let friends stipple. :). IMHO