# DIY Elite Spirit Grip



## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

My wife ordered a new Elite Spirit this spring. At the time she also ordered a 1 piece Elite grip for it (specific to the Spirit). 14 weeks later we didn't have the grip and Elite could not give any type of delivery time so we canceled the grip order. On a side note she is very happy with the bow. She previously shot a Hoyt and was looking for a grip similar to the 1 piece Hoyt grip. 

No one seemed to make a Spirit grip so I set out do it myself. 

First things first, I made a quick pine demo to see if it was going to work out the way I thought. That grip turned out great (for a demo) and she has been shooting with it for a while now until I've had time to make a final one. 

I will follow up with tutorial posts on making the final grip, but here are a couple quick photos of the demo. 

Mitch


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

The shape I was going for was a one piece grip that was somewhere between her old Hoyt grip and the Torqueless I have on my Elites. 

I see that I lost a couple progress photos when my phone crashed so we will have to make do with diagrams for the first couple parts. 

Rather than make the grip in one piece and have to blind cut the middle out to fit over the riser, I decided to make it in 3 pieces and then assemble them. There will be a center piece and then two "scales", one for each side. 

Step 1: 
I started with a nice piece of maple and planed it down to the thickness of the riser that it needs to fit over. For the Spirit, it was right around 0.440" if I remember correctly. 

Step 2:
The first piece I made was the piece that will fit directly behind the riser. I roughly traced the back side of the riser to the wood and cut it out. The key was to get a good fit against the riser. I wasn't worried about the hand side of the grip at all so I left plenty of extra wood there. You can see in the first diagram approximately the piece I cut out. It took quite a bit of work to get this to match up to the riser nicely, but in the end this makes for a more solid fitting grip. 

Step 3: 
Next, I made the two side "scales". Since this bow came with side plates, I was able to trace the side plate to get the front (part farthest from the shooter) curve of the grip where it fits into the recess of the riser. From there I had to eyeball how much extra to leave to have enough to build the full grip. Again, fit it to the riser and leave extra. You can see the approximate piece I cut by the black line and hatch in the second diagram. 

Now I stopped for a test fit on the riser with all three pieces just held together. Everything fit nicely to the riser and the pieces fit tight together. 

Step 4: 
Here is where I started to fit the hand side of the grip. By placing one of the side scales on the bow and looking at it from the opposite side, I was able to trace an offset line about 3/8" out from the riser. (3/8" is just a rough guess, keep in mind it will change the effective BH and DL). I also shaped the beaver tail. This is indicated by the green line on the second diagram. Since this line I drew on my scale is on the inside of the grip, I cut it out before I assembled the grip. The idea is that once assembled and glued, I can just follow this piece with the saw to cut the center piece and opposite side scale. 

You may notice that I drilled mounting holes in the first set. However, I decided that two faced tape worked fine and they were not needed. If you do want some type of screw hole, you are going to want to mark that on each scale back through the riser before you assemble. 

Mitch


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Once all the pieces were cut and fit to the riser, and the hand side profile was cut into one scale, it was time to glue the grip together.

I simply covered the riser of the bow with a piece of saran wrap to keep any excess glue off the riser and clamped the pieces together right on the riser. This ensured that they were all positioned right. I used a pile of clamps to both hold the center piece in tight against the riser and to hold the scales tight to the center piece. 

Overkill, but I let it dry over night and here is the result the next morning. It glued up nicely and I'm ready to cut the rest of the way through the hand side by using the scale I already cut as a blade guide. 

Mitch


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## Just One (Mar 13, 2011)

Awesome job Mitch


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Looking good we'll want to see some pictures of it on the bow too...


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Thanks Just One and Bow Bender. 

The hand side is cut to shape and I have started the rough shaping. I will get a post up tonight with photos. 

The finish is still being debated. The bow is orange with all black trim. I might stain it with a dark ebony stain or try blackening it with a torch and the clear coating. I'm sure the Mrs. will have an opinion on the looks. 

Mitch


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Alright, hand side cut complete and a good part of the rough shaping done with the rasp. 

It still looks rough and a little blocky, but the coarse sandpaper will take care of that soon. 

Mitch


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## Just One (Mar 13, 2011)

Sweeeeet! Ya gotta love it when a plan comes together.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Ya it's starting to come together, nice.


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Saturday morning sanding.

If you save the extra from the piece you plane down, it makes a great jig to hold the grip while you work on it. 

It's coming together nicely but I did notice that when I making the right side scale, as I sanded to get those darn curves right on the top, I lost a little of my fit at the bottom. It isn't going to affect performance at all, but it just doesn't quite fill the side plate recess in the riser. Bummer, but I think it will be OK still. 

She has been checking the hand fit as I shape it, and soon I will have her shoot with it so see if any final adjustments are necessary. Then I'll just keep working it down with finer sandpaper. 

Mitch


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## jljjdye (Jan 11, 2007)

Very nice job


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## Just One (Mar 13, 2011)

Lookin good Mitch. I have an 2011 Bowtech Invasion . I custom made side plates for it. Turned out pretty good. I don't know if i want to tackle a 1 piece. My question to you is, the project your working on is it close in size to the Torqueless Grip. Also on your other bow (that has a Torqueless Grip) Was it worth the investment?
Thanks, Jim


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Than you Jim,

The grip I'm building is going to be a cross between a Torqueless and a 1 piece Hoyt grip. This one is going to be a similar side profile to the Torqueless, but it will be slightly fatter, thus allowing a more rounded hand contact area like the Hoyt. I like the side profile as it gives you the beaver tail to put your hand up against; however, my wife wasn't comfortable with the more squared off transition from the back to the sides. Dave doesn't make one for the Spirit anyway.

In the past, I've always shot Hoyt target bows right off the riser and hunting bows with the one piece wood grip. When I switched to the Elites, I had a problem with my thumb knuckle hitting the front right corner of the riser and the Torqueless eliminated that by pushing my hand back and down slightly. That thumb contact wasn't really painful but I always felt it could put a little inconsistent torque into the bow. It took a little bit to get used to the feel of the Torqueless, but my hand seems to sit into it very consistently and the quality of the grip is good. 

Mitch


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## Just One (Mar 13, 2011)

Thanks,
Look forward to seeing the finished product


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## 04razortec (Apr 21, 2013)

Nice project, I'm in for the finish also! (Wife has two Spirits)


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

By the way if you want a pigment that you can use to stain it orange, Smooth-on sells this stuff. You can add it to nearly any product like polyurethane or you can mix it with lacquer thinner and rub it on before you finish it.
http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Rubber-an/c6_1118_1423/index.html
or the so strong pigments 
http://www.smooth-on.com/Casting-Re...ubber,-Plastic,-or-Epoxy-Compounds/pages.html


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

Thanks guys,

This project got put on hold for a bit because #1. I didn't want to change out her grip mid 3-D league and #2. Life is busy. 

I think the plan it to stain it very dark. Now that league is over, I'll put the grip on her bow so that she can shoot it and direct any final shape changes. Then, hopefully I can get it finished this week. 

Mitch


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## practice-more (Nov 10, 2005)

I was PM'd by a member today who was considering building a grip and had a question or two. 

I opened the old thread and realized I never posted a finished photo. It took a bit to get the contour she wanted, especially doing all the shaping by hand, but I think it turned out great. 

The grip fits tight and the carpet tape holds it on well. There is no wiggle or play at all. 

We ended up staining it a dark ebony color, finished with several coats of polyurethane.

Anyway, here it is. Sorry it took so long but if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. 

Mitch


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