Ok folks - This post is loooooong over due! I got these grips well over a month and a half ago.....but due to lack of digital camera and then my technological ignorance (and tons of other stuff on my mind), I didn't get the pics up in a timely manner.
This story goes back to sometime in December when I first placed my order in for 2 sets of grips from Hakan. I've hemmed and hawed for a good year about getting Hakan grips....but I could never commit. I just didn't know what I wanted. I REALLY REALLY like his Olivewood grips, but I wasnt sure if thats what I was looking for. Sooooo, Hakan and I exchanged many e-mails and he finally told me that he came across some Black Palm. It is apparently a VERY difficult wood to work with and he wasnt too sure how it would work out But Ive seen his skills and was confident that if anyone could make the wood work, hed be da man!
I confirmed my order for one set for my PCR and the other for my CZ-85 Compact. I wanted one set to be smooth and one set to be striped.
Ill admit I was VERY unsure what the final product would look like. Try it for yourself..Google search Black Palm Wood you dont get much info out there. I did extensive research and finally found a few examples of finished Black Palm.but mostly they were pen blanks, knife panels, or chopsticks. Apparently, Black Palm is very pithy ( soft hollowish center ) and only narrow sections of the outer trunk are useable. I searched woodworking, carving, and wood-turning websites. Most warned to either stay away from it or be ready to take your time working with it.
Looking at the pics below youve got to understand that the wood is actually strands/fibers of dual density wood. The lighter veins are the lesser density and the darker veins represent the denser wood. By no means is the wood weak (its actually pratty hard), its just that if you tool up prepared to cut a very dense wood, you end up ripping out the less dense section giving the wood a pocked surface texture. All the woodworking websites I visited suggested that if anyone chose to work Black Palm, do so with very sharp tools, fine grit paper, and TAKE YOUR TIME. I began to wonder if pistol grip panels could actually be pulled off.
Then they arrived in the mail. They are BREATHTAKING!!!!!!! Words and pictures cannot describe the beauty of these grips! Hakan has amazed me so much with his skill. I intend to go back to a few of those woodworking sights that warned me to choose a different wood just so that I could show them what this Norwegian Master could do!
Ive also learned to keep my mouth shut about other peoples photography skills cuz it is HARD to capture on film/digitally the deep varying grained beauty of these grips! My father has recently bought a new digi cam so I think hes gonna give me the Mavica that took these. That being the case, Im going to try for some natural outdoor sunlight shots to see if that better captures these grips. In the meantime try to enjoy the pics as much as I enjoy owning them!
Ill post the pics in two separate posts to save out dial-uppers the pain. I also hope that with my tardiness and lack of reciprocal communication, I havent lost a friend..Im sorry for the silence Hakan.
