[alyeska338]

m141a,
I put a set of quilted maple grips on mine several years ago.  Almost looks like you can reach right deep down inside the wood.  By far and away the purtiest handgun grips I have.  The are a very light golden blonde, alot of people don't like that too much, but it sure stands out on a Blackhawk.

 

[alyeska338]

m141a,
Those quilted maple are really something.  I can't describe them and do not have a picture that I can post.  Best I can describe is picture a gold/brown cumulus storm cloud explosion in wood that it looks like you can reach down into about a mile.  I wouldn't dare do any kind of scribing or checkering on them.  Bowen has a good photo of french walnut on a sedgley revolver he did and those are mighty attractive.  He also has pics of dall sheep horn and ivory to compare with.

http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/gallery.html

I really like the quilted maple though.  Much better than flame (tiger stripe, fiddleback, feathered) or birdseye maple.  Although those are nice looking, the quilted is my favorite.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[alyeska338]

Oops,
I had a friend that made guitars.  He used to live in Wasilla, but has since relocated somewhere in the lower 48 and we have lost touch.  He used maple a lot for his luthiering duties.  He and I used to play guitar a bit together and I'd beg scraps of wood from him.  I'd never seen the quilted stuff before till then.  I talked him out of chunk for the pistol grips and I helped him.

I think the place MikeG got his has quilted maple, though.  If they don't have it, they could probably round some up though.  Give those guys a call or check their website at:
http://home.att.net/~s.kolar/
You may check out some of Roy Fishpaw's grips, he's quite the artisan, also.

Sorry I don't have any solid info for you, mine were more or less "homemade" or truly custom made.

 

[alyeska338]

m141a,
There's a company over on ebay that is selling quilted maple blocks for gunstock making and guitar making.  If you want to give it a try yourself, the wood looks pretty good.  The name of the company is buzzsaw international.  Go to ebay and do a search for them.  Those blocks are big enough for a rifle stock or a guitar and range in price from about $65 to $250.  They are rough cut slabs, but if you are good with wood, it would be a nice project.