Spitfire spade grip picture needed

Very nice Graham – how was the grip binding done please?

Hello Mark 5

Here is the info my mate sent me hope it helps.

Tell your mate the covering is French whipped cord, wrapped in self-amalgamating tape. Tell him good luck, he’ll need a lot of cord and a lot of patience, the whipping is easy to learn but quite difficult to get neat and straight, and is a ****** to unpick if you make an error. The S/A tape needs carefull wrapping so it is all even but there is considerable variation in quality on the market, some tear a bit too easy and we’ll have to see how your one goes, this is why I put the whipping seam on the inside.

Not too bad mate.Will look good on a replica spit.

Very nice Graham – how was the grip binding done please?

Grip finished

Recieved the grip today that my Friend in the Isle of Man made for me, he made the button castings from scratch, it functions exactly like the original, I was blown away when i got it, I wished i saved some pictures of the rough castings i sent him, cant wait to fit it.:)

More progress

The rocker button and casing has been made from scratch without a pattern so i think its a pretty good job all things considered. The rest of the button is original and is functional.

progress so far

Progress so far

And here is how it should look when you have finished building your own, Graham….

It took lots of matchsticks, washing up bottles, toilet rolls and sticky-backed plastic to get one looking this nice, though!

😀

Very nice I could send you some sticky back plastic ect if you make me one?

Nice one there Andy!
I am surprised that you do not have a real one Graham, especially given your website. I thought you had one for sale at one time?…the late Spit grips are not that rare. I think that since the cockpit occuppant’s attention is always focussed on the grip/column then it is worth spending out on a good and real one.
Cheers

Hello Tony

Yes I am surprised also, you know i havent seen one or been offered one for sale since my website has been running, they ought to be more common that the early version but that does not seem to be the case in my experiance, hense i have to make the best of it and get a good repro made up. I did pick up an almost complete button from IWM yesterday just minus the rocker top and have a very rough casting of the grip who a good friend is maching for me. I did have one many years ago which was not advertised on the site and belonged to my Replica but a visitor made what i thought was a more than generous offer for it and me thinking i could replace it accepted, its a decision i have long since regretted.

And here is how it should look when you have finished building your own, Graham….

It took lots of matchsticks, washing up bottles, toilet rolls and sticky-backed plastic to get one looking this nice, though!

😀

Nice one there Andy!
I am surprised that you do not have a real one Graham, especially given your website. I thought you had one for sale at one time?…the late Spit grips are not that rare. I think that since the cockpit occuppant’s attention is always focussed on the grip/column then it is worth spending out on a good and real one.
Cheers

And here is how it should look when you have finished building your own, Graham….

It took lots of matchsticks, washing up bottles, toilet rolls and sticky-backed plastic to get one looking this nice, though!

😀

Does anybody know where you would get replacement grip tape/shrink wrap stuff for spade grips? Or something close to that kind of texture.

If you use the search function, I have explained how to do it…conversely you can pm me, if you live near Salisbury, I can show you…

Work in Progress

And totally different from the earlier Grip..
Working on it…:D

Yes probably complex inside,but the outside looks pretty straightforward,surely you could get it to function the same without the unseen complexity ?

On a similar subject

Does anybody know where you would get replacement grip tape/shrink wrap stuff for spade grips? Or something close to that kind of texture.

Hows the Spit going Graham ?

hello Benyboy I have sent you a PM

cheers

Hows the Spit going Graham ?

A couple of shots of said firing button for you….. A complex bit of kit inside, spring loaded pistons, toothed gear-plates that link the switch on the bottom to the indicater pin on the top.
A tricky thing to make, but not impossible..have fun!

Chumpy.

Thankyou Chumpy

Graham

A couple of shots of said firing button for you….. A complex bit of kit inside, spring loaded pistons, toothed gear-plates that link the switch on the bottom to the indicater pin on the top.
A tricky thing to make, but not impossible..have fun!

Chumpy.