Little boys never ask directions, of course, but I'm all grown up now (debatable!) so I will.
I've made several wood grips for some of my handguns and I now want to checker some. Not withstanding the practice needed, what is the usual way to hold the darn things so they can be checkered? I've made one set of grips and I just held them down with my hand. Prone to slippage and not really efficient. Should I double stick them to a board? Are there any videos etc for doing handgun grips. I've got one for rifle stocks which was great but it doesn't mention the little things.
Thanks fot the help!


Marv

If your handgun grips are held to the gun with a screw then you can sometimes screw them to a board that can be held in a vice.

If your worried about hitting the metal screw with a checkering tool then double sided heavy duty tape would be my next choice.

Holding small pieces to checker can be a pain. On large revolver grips you can sometimes drill and put a screw in from the back. On thin grips such as for a Colt 45 the screw from the front or the double sided tape work well. There are some issues with cleaning the tape from the back of a grip, but a good sharp razor blade will usually get it off.

Here is a quick way and can be done by any one. Get a 6' to 8" long piece of 2X4. You need some 1/2 wide thing strips of wood or plastic. You make a box with the thin strips that the grip fits into. Start by placing a thing strip across the 2X4 near the top. Screw the strips to the 2X4. Now butt the top of the grip against this strip. Now put two strips down the sides of the grip. They can be shorter than the grip. Now cut a small strip that will butt against the bottom of the grip. This piece will be pushed up against the bottom of the grip and screwed into place. You end up with the grip pressing against the thin strips and when you checker all of the pressure will be applied to the strips and the grip won't slip. If you want to you can still use some double sided tape on the back side of the grip. In most cases you won't need it. I like plastic strips as you can find some that are about the same thickness of the grips or slightly thicker. Fasten the 2X4 to your checkering cradle or clamp in a vise.

Frank

If you have a big enough vice, I would try just puting a piece of 2x4 in the vice, broadside horizontal, and using a plastic jawed quick adjust clamp or some heavy leather scrap under a C-clamp to hold one half down while you checker the other. If you need to raise the grip panel up to get the checkering file stroke beyond the edge, then trap a riser made from flat molding in between them. Switcth the grip panel or the clamp when you're ready for the other half. Just expose enough of the first half of the work to get registration for the second half.