A&H grip rework

[The Night Stalker]

Has anyone reworked a A&H grip? I was wondering if anyone can give me some info. I really like the feel of a Dye and my centaur.

[Orion]

What are you thinking of doing?  The A&H comes in several styles.  Can send a standard grip riser back to the factory to have them lower the heel. Or sell or trade a standard grip and get a JK grip.  It has a little thicker throat, back to belly, and a low heel, compared to the standard grip.  

Can reshape the riser yourself, of course, but unless it looks like one of the original offerings when you're done, it will substantially reduce it's resale value, IMO.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I wouldn't recommend reshaping a grip at all. Altering the shape can often weaken the riser and cause a failure....

I think i'd go with orions recommendation.

[bucksakemmer]

I sent mine back and had it lowered and flattened, call them up they can do almost anything you want. I think I paid $50.00 and shipping well worth the price.Great guys to work with.

[Kris]

Yeah I've re-worked mine but they are aluminum.  I prefer a very low heel, a small throat and reduced arrow shelf width with my hand as close to the shelf as possible.  Basically I reduce everything and really like the outcome...very comfortable and repeatable.  More "longbow like" than recurve.  

 
 
 

[The Night Stalker]

Kris, in the last picture, you can see how close your hand is to the self. I would like it a little undercut so the self is more on top of your hand. If anyone has gripped a Dale Dye, knows what I am trying to duplicate.

[Kris]

Tim,

That is the beauty of working on it yourself, you can do exactly as you like.  I am sure you could replicate the D. Dye handle...there is plenty of material there to work with.  My hands are pretty big, you can see I needed the whole handle section to incorporate my hands.  

In these pics, I don't think these handles look very attractive, they look better holding the bow in person.  There are nice contours from the frontal view with palm swell and thumb channel.  

Any leather color combination and lacing dress-up the look of a grip/riser and that is certainly an option here. I have these grips setup for pure utilitarian function and comfort per my personal preference.  

Kris

[zipper bowss]

Call A&H. They will be happy to help you.
Bill

[Pat B.]

get out your rasps and sandpaper.. Make it like you want, it's your bow..  If your concerned about the finish send it to them when you get through..  Life is too short to anguish over something that doesn't suit. If you planned on selling it probably will reduce its value but so what, work an extra day sometime..

[Kris]

I agree with Pat B. strongly.

I know Orion well...he is a good friend and I understand his point Re: re-sale, however, if you own a bow and are concerned about the re-sale of it...in some regards you are never truly owning it or making it your own.  I own bows to completely embrace them and learn them.  

I sit too long in a stand to not have the grip of my bow be exactly as I want when Mr. P&Y passes through.  My gips for me are like my hand melted into them.  Plus...I really enjoy working on bows and my own equipment, it is a big part of what "traditional" is for me.

Kris

[Orion]

Knight, do you want a deeper throat in the grip?  For that you need a rasp/file.  However, the throat of a standard A&H grip is only 1 5/8 inches back to belly.  That's not a lot to work with. If you want a higher wrist grip, could just add some Bondo to the heel and shape it to fit.

If you just want to get the arrow higher above your bow hand, you can easily raise the shelf height by gluing a few pieces of thick leather to the shelf and shaping it with a file and sand paper.

The latter will shorten your sight window though.  No problem if you cant the bow when you shoot, but could limit your view if you shoot the bow vertically.

The leather and Bondo modifications are pretty much reversible.  The rasp work isn't.  Well, I suppose you could always add Bondo later to bring it back to the original thickness.

Another option is to sell or trade your riser to pick up the metal ACS riser with interchangeable grips.