Inlaying Bear Medallions Into EDC Grips Without Touching the Gun

Grip swaps and panel work are standard EDC customization, but in a video from TheYankeeMarshal, the project goes a step further: inlaying bear-shaped medallions into a set of wooden grips for a firearm he calls the Grizzly. No metal on the gun itself gets touched, just the furniture, and the result is a good example of how far patience and a basic woodworking setup can take a personalization project.

Key points

• The medallions dictated the design. TheYankeeMarshal explains that because the bear emblems have concave backs, he had to leave a raised center of wood in each recess for the adhesive to grab.
• Test engraving first. Before touching the actual grips, he ran a practice engraving on G10 to confirm the approach would work.
• Precision marking mattered. Vertical placement and height were carefully measured and checked against the back of each emblem repeatedly during shaping, since a mistake would ruin the grips.
• Finish strategy. Oil was applied to refinish the wood, but the areas where the medallions would sit were left bare for a stronger glue bond, and JB Weld was used to set the emblems, with excess cleaned up using a toothbrush.
• Total cost and tradeoffs. The finished grips, including emblems, ran about $70, turning oversized wrap-around grips into a tighter custom set, though the creator notes he inhaled a fair amount of dust during the process.

Quick take

This is a solid watch for anyone who wants to personalize their carry gun's grips without touching the firearm itself, and TheYankeeMarshal's step-by-step approach to matching the medallion shape to the wood recess is the kind of detail that saves a first-timer from wrecking a set of grips.

Watch the full video: TheYankeeMarshal