Ironwood Designs Galil wood AR and ARM handguards.

[AresShrike]

Ironwood Designs currently makes Galil wood AR handguard panels, and will soon make ARM wood handguards, and/or panels.
Great quality stuff.

"Part # GALIL-AR-HG (our rivets/your hardware installed) Price $100 shipping $8
Parts are provided unfinished, but sanded to 150 grit.
I think we still have some Beech sets we made a while back, and maybe one Walnut set.
Rarely do we get inquiries for these parts, so we never built any in large #s."

 

[Ugh!]

Glad to see a US company making these, since silver crescent isn't making them anymore.

 

[Mr Folgers]

This would be a lot better if they were made of Teak like the originals.

Beech has a similar grain pattern, but it isn't going to give that yellowish-gold color like the originals.

 

[AresShrike]

Teak. I didn't know that. I'll ask if they're willing to do some in other customer supplied woods. That "wood" be really cool.

 

[raexcct2]

Nothing is showing on their web site.

 

[AresShrike]

They don't have pictures of the Galil AR handguards.
They said very few people asked about Galils (I'm sure alot more would have, if they had a picture!)
The Part # GALIL-AR-HG
They're gonna do ARM handguards in the "near" future.
I think they'll be panels, that you've got to rivet on to your hardward, but it'll be alot better than the kindling wood crap you find these days.
(I've gotta find out about that Teak wood from them)

 

[raexcct2]

They don't have pictures of the Galil AR handguards.
They said very few people asked about Galils (I'm sure alot more would have, if they had a picture!)
The Part # GALIL-AR-HG
They're gonna do ARM handguards in the "near" future.
I think they'll be panels, that you've got to rivet on to your hardward, but it'll be alot better than the kindling wood crap you find these days.
(I've gotta find out about that Teak wood from them)

Thanks. I've got some wood handguards that look live they've been to hell and back. Replacements would be awesome.

 

[Ed24601]

Would like a teak setup for my ARM.

 

[ericzs1]

It would be cool if they answered the phone, returned messages or answered emails. But oh well.

 

[AresShrike]

Ironwood designs just contacted me.
They said they have "afromosia", which is "virtually identical to Teak".
They "believe" the Israeli's used Beech, and dought they "used Teak on military rifles".
I totally believe Mr. Folgers, as the Teak has "superb stability, good strength properties, easy workability—and most of all, outstanding resistance to decay and rot".
Either way, they said I could send Teak to them, and they'll use it to make the ARM handguards.
(Since it's custom anyway, I think Osage Orange would be an excellent choice also, beautiful grain, color - golden yellow, just like IMI ARM, fantastic decay resistance, a very strong too.)
Hopefully, it doesn't turn into a prolonged saga, like the gas block story.
It sure would be nice though, if we had access to some new Teak ARM handguards.
I'm getting sick of checking back with Botach, they'll never get more.

ericzs1 - What was your question, maybe I could get it answered.

 

[Mr Folgers]

Ironwood designs just contacted me.
They said they have "afromosia", which is "virtually identical to Teak".
They "believe" the Israeli's used Beech, and dought they "used Teak on military rifles".
I totally believe Mr. Folgers, as the Teak has "superb stability, good strength properties, easy workability—and most of all, outstanding resistance to decay and rot".
Either way, they said I could send Teak to them, and they'll use it to make the ARM handguards.
(Since it's custom anyway, I think Osage Orange would be an excellent choice also, beautiful grain, color - golden yellow, just like IMI ARM, fantastic decay resistance, a very strong too.)
Hopefully, it doesn't turn into a prolonged saga, like the gas block story.
It sure would be nice though, if we had access to some new Teak ARM handguards.
I'm getting sick of checking back with Botach, they'll never get more.

ericzs1 - What was your question, maybe I could get it answered.

I'll double check, but I'm quite sure it is Teak.

The wood used on Galils is the same type used on the IMI Romat FAL, so I'll see if any of the FAL experts can give a more precise identification.

 

[RSR]

Isn't osage orange very difficult to work? I would think you'll get a better carving job with a softer wood -- I'd think Osage would take 2-3x as long as Teak to create, but maybe not...

 

[AresShrike]

RSR - Yes, I think the Osage Orange would be considerably harder to work, but in the end, it'd be much stronger, and decay resistant.
And, since I'm not doing the work, ...............
I've gotta see if they're willing do it in the Osage Orange.
Real nice color too.
Another consideration is the possible difference between "old growth teak" and "new growth teak".
The old growth is said to be extremely decay resistant, as the new growth is about average, not great.
Others say teak is teak, no difference.
Not easy to tell the difference by sight, and I'm sure the seller would say it's whatever they think I want it to be.
Any Teak experts out there?
Beech isn't nearly as decay resistant as either of them, or nearly strong, and much less stable.

 

[Mr Folgers]

Confirmed with the FAL guys it is Beech and not Teak, sorry for the mistake.

That said I think it might be some type of Beech native to the region that give it the unique look. The typically Beech furniture I have seen made for rifles is typically more of a cream/tan color, rather than the distinctive golden-yellow.

 

[RSR]

While I don't know what came on the classic galils when new, most of the new old stock galil handguards I've gotten have been pretty well soaked in oil and more of a midway between tan and brown. But, the oil soak will darken.

 

[Mr Folgers]

While I don't know what came on the classic galils when new, most of the new old stock galil handguards I've gotten have been pretty well soaked in oil and more of a midway between tan and brown. But, the oil soak will darken.

Very true!
I picked up a few NOS handguards over the years (that I stupidly sold for the most part) that came covered in grease... I recollect buying one in 2011 that was new in the packaging, covered in cosmo. However I have also come across some that showed up with a different kind of preservative, more viscous like a standard motor oil, and in these cases I found the wood to have a more orange look to them. The cosmoline-covered examples typically were more golden-yellow, which is strange since you would think cosmo would have penetrated the wood at some point.

I sort of have this theory that wood used on pre-bans was treated/sealed differently than the military production ones, since pre-bans normally show the golden-yellow shades versus the orange/brown of IDF examples. It could be lots of different factors that cause this, but I think both look quite good.

Hard to get a good picture, but here you can see the variation a bit:

 

[ericzs1]

Ironwood designs just contacted me.
They said they have "afromosia", which is "virtually identical to Teak".
They "believe" the Israeli's used Beech, and dought they "used Teak on military rifles".
I totally believe Mr. Folgers, as the Teak has "superb stability, good strength properties, easy workability—and most of all, outstanding resistance to decay and rot".
Either way, they said I could send Teak to them, and they'll use it to make the ARM handguards.
(Since it's custom anyway, I think Osage Orange would be an excellent choice also, beautiful grain, color - golden yellow, just like IMI ARM, fantastic decay resistance, a very strong too.)
Hopefully, it doesn't turn into a prolonged saga, like the gas block story.
It sure would be nice though, if we had access to some new Teak ARM handguards.
I'm getting sick of checking back with Botach, they'll never get more.

ericzs1 - What was your question, maybe I could get it answered.

My question is how do I get an order placed. I'm interested in an AR style handguard.

 

[AresShrike]

Their site does seem to allow you to order.
The Part # GALIL-AR-HG
It looks like using Paypal, you could do the whole thing online, quickly, though I don't like Paypal gungrabbers.
You could also print out the order form, and mail it in.
It looks like only Paypal, and mail orders are accepted.

 

[ericzs1]

Their site does seem to allow you to order.
The Part # GALIL-AR-HG
It looks like using Paypal, you could do the whole thing online, quickly, though I don't like Paypal gungrabbers.
You could also print out the order form, and mail it in.
It looks like only Paypal, and mail orders are accepted.

Very good, thanks for the info, I appreciate that very much!

 

[AresShrike]

I've been trying to get "the scoop" on the Galil ARM wood handguards from Ironwood Designs.

Mathew Shuster, from Ironwood Designs let me know, today, that their Galil AR wood handguards, have been selling well. (???)
He also said that the Galil ARM wood handguards, will hopefully be available before Christmas, or "soon" after.

Nice new website, but I still don't see any Galil pics, on it.