I went to work this morning on shaping the grip and blending the handle into the fadeout area. I did everything on the oscillating spindle sander with a 2" drum and some 50 grit sanding sleeves. When I first started using this sander I went through the 80 grit 4 1/2" sleeve that came with it pretty fast. So, I came up with the idea of using three 2" x 1 1/2" sleeves that I could stack instead of one 4 1/2" sleeve. This way I can rotate them around when they start to wear and utilize the full face of the sleeve. It has worked great and I have done several bows with these 3 sleeves.
I start out by matching the throat area up to the 2" drum. Remember, I started with a 1 5/8" hole that I bored with a Forstner bit.
I also took some material off the heel of the grip since I cut it big to start with.
Now I start taking the width down in the throat area on both sides of the grip.
Here's a shot of the shelf edge after I get the rough shape I want.
After some work I have the whole grip and the palm swell where it feels perfect for my hand.