Mostly during the 'off' season, during the winter months, I pretty much hibernate in my shop and make grip panels for the Ruger Mark pistols. These are all one-of-a-kind sets, and pretty much hand shaped, finished and checkered:
I use American Black walnut and California English walnut exclusively these days. In the past I've used some of the more exotic hardwoods like Cocobolo, Ebony,Brazilian Rosewood and even some Mesquite, but have found that the natural oils in some of these woods will reject the finish that I apply. It's getting much harder to find good walnut with the color and grain character for such a small platform that these panels provide. I do have a few suppliers who know what I'm looking for and will contact me when they find blanks such as these. All the panels I make are hand shaped and hand checkered:
