So, I've had this piece of birds-eye maple for a while.  Okay, about 40 years.   

It wasn't a very large piece, so I didn't know for a long time what I wanted to do with.  Plus, while I always knew I had it, somewhere, I couldn't always remember where.  About five years ago I re-found it, and set it on the shelf above my reloading bench.  A couple of years ago I finally decided I wanted to make grips out of it, but I was pretty sure I'd only get one shot at it.  And then I had to decide what to put them on.  Finally settled on the Blackhawk.

So, about a month ago I made a set of grips for my Model 66 out of oak, as a proof of concept.  That worked pretty well, and they looked pretty good (for a first effort), but they didn't have enough curve to them front and back, so I re-sanded them down some more, including sanding out enough on the left panel to allow speedloaders.  The stain is still drying, so I won't be able to get pictures of those till this weekend. 

All in all, I think the maple ones turned out pretty good.

Thank you.  I thought I wanted a lighter stain, because the first pass with this stain on one of the cutoff pieces was really dark, but after I tested it on a flatter piece it looked better.  The grips are actually a matched set, from the same piece of maple, split down the middle on the chop saw.

Trying from a different computer.  The left side picture simply would not upload from the laptop.

The donor wood came from one of the four base pieces from a broken oak office chair.  Over an inch thick and about a foot long.  And, of course, curved.  That was the prettiest leg.  Can't see it in the pictures, but looking up at the bottom of the grips you can tell they were originally one piece of wood that was split in half.

Talent?  Talk to Tin Can Bandit.  Me?  I'm just having fun.  My grandfathers were the carpenters.  I'm an accountant for a reason.  I can probably hurt myself on a paintbrush.

I kept these (comparatively) simple.  The original target grips extended about 3/8" below the frame and about 1/4"' in front of the frame, and met in the middle.  That would have meant starting with about 5/8" thick pieces, then perfectly removing just the right amount from most of each grip so that they met in the middle.  Nope.  If that's what I wanted I could have simply sanded down the original grips (which were way too thick for my leprechaun hands).

 Both look good.  I want to make a set of Target grips, but would like to have a set before attempting.  What I really want is a set of the Ruger Match Champion grips for my N frames.

And . . . .

They both felt good while shooting.  Even shooting .357 Mag or .45 Colt rounds.

I are happy.

Wait.  What? 

Ruger Match Champion grips for your S&W N Frames?

I think they are fugly.  But they feel and point amazing in my hands.  I have decent grips on one of my N frames, but I have never been super happy with any of them.   Stock regular grips beat the hell out of my middle finger.  Houge rubber grips are just hideous.

My L frame has owner modified grips, not by me, that are similar in shape to the Match Champion's and they are my favorite round gun grips that I own.  I have never seen factory rosewood grips so am not 100% on what they looked like unmodified.  I once looked at some similar custom grips, don't remember who made them, but they were 18 months out on orders and not taking new orders. 

Ruger Match Champion is on the top of the revolver to buy list, so maybe one day I will try to recreate them for the N frame.

I have only done the epoxy route for stabilizing some wood pieces. A heat cured resin doesn't seem much more difficult to do beyond needing an oven.

I know it ups the toughness game considerably.  Try caving a set of grips from stabilized blanks sometime to get the general idea.   

You do realize that you're scaring me now, don't you?   

Yup. That's why he should do it now - he's got them shaped how he wants them.  Anything after now can be done with sandpaper for fine tuning (and I would really hate for those beautiful maple grips to warp!)

As C says, as long as you've finished the grips inside and out with a good penetrating oil, you should be fine.

Lots of coats.