RW Grip Frame fitting round 2, the hump

[contender]

Ok, I managed over the last 2 days to sneak in some time with the grip frame,, to work on the hump section of the Bradshaw Bisley brass g/f. As noted above,, the older main frames had a downward curve slightly making the grip frame fitting a bit of a challenge to keep from over doing it, and wrecking the g/f.
So,, while the mating edges are now fitted very well, when you look close,, you can see the blued frame having a slight downward curve, and the brass seems to rise a little after they meet.

I studied this in detail to see what method of cutting the 3/32nds amount of brass down w/o making it look like a hack job. I chose to use a 1" wide belt sander,, with a worn down belt. I CAREFULLY sanded away material towards my scribe line,, and once I got close,, I started my constant "sand a little, mount, check the fit, & do it again" method. Once again, it took several trips from the sander to the frame & back to CAREFULLY & slowly get it to fit. And by using the belt sander,, I could keep working on the curve of the backstrap & not get it out of contour. The real trick was to NOT cut away the trailing edge of the brass while I cut the curve. But I think I've achieved my goal.

I've taken a couple of pictures.

 

[protoolman]

I just went and looked at all 3 new models and one old model in my safe. They would all need to rise after that same downward angle. I'm good with the standard frame, so that might make me hold off paying too much for a Ronnie Wells Bisley. If I buy one of his I'll stick with a lower grip just to do away with that problem.

 

[contender]

I kinda had similar thoughts when I saw the factory frame contour. BUT,, it looks pretty good now. Looking at the top picture,, it appears to have a gap or not quite mating smoothly. But if you look at it from the side,, you can see it's fitted very well. I can't get my fingernail to catch on the brass or the steel.

Using the close-up picture,, it may seem out of proportion, but in hand,, it feels good AND looks good!

Final polishing of the rest of the g/f is next,, to match the "shine" all around.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Tedious work!!

 

[azdover]

I swapped a RW brass Potato Judge grip frame onto my 357 Bisley last year. I used a "french curve" that was mentioned on another forum to blend the cylinder and grip frame. Ronnie posted this picture on that site. The line shows how it changes the side profile. It got rid of the hump and lets the parts flow together a little better. It doesn't require any metal work on the cylinder frame, just more file, fit, rinse, repeat until the parts finally match.

Here's what it looks like on my gun.

Took a little more work but it might be an option to consider.

Pete

 

[contender]

Looks great azdover!!!!!!!!

I had given some consideration of trying a similar contour,, but decided to not alter the hump that much.

I've been carefully polishing all the other exposed portions off & on today,,,,, because as noted above,, a bit "tedious!" But it's getting very close to being polished & looking quite good. Not sure if I'll get time tomorrow to work on it any,, as Miss Penny has plans for us.

I have a couple of sets of wood blanks I'm going to study on to use. That's the next process in this work.