How To Make Checkering Tools

The single-line cutter is used to lay out the pattern and the master lines - and to deepen the checkering to full depth.

How to make checkering tools. The grooves are cut under a 90 degree angle sometimes 60 degree. Next I make the two master lines within the pattern at a 45 degree angle or thereabouts and they are the starting point of the checkering. From there you would use a two edge tool to define the parallel grooves over a panel.

Once thats done its just a matter of moving across the surface one line at a time with the double-head tool. Hold the tang with a pair of pliers and heat the forward two inches of the file to a dull red. Investing in electric checkering tools before learning the process can turn into a big waste of money if you decide that it simply isnt for you.

Video taken with a Sony HDR CX100 About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy Safety How YouTube works Test new features. I then go over the scribe line with an electric checkering tool. Its best to start the job with a checkering panel pattern cut from a piece of white paper thinner than copy paper is better so a pattern appropriate for the particular stock undergoing surgery can be chosen - with an eye toward overall size and outlineshape.

Pencil in a line along the rule edge. The tool is used to complete the repetitious bulk of the checkered panels. To make the tool you need a small triangular metal file the smaller the better.

A four-inch size with as little taper as possible is ideal. The checkering consists of sharply pointed diamonds that give a good grip and the grooves are self cleaning due to their open angle of 90 degrees. The cutters are attached to the tools shanks with a steel rollpin that slips through a hole in the tool shank and cutter.

Regardless you should look to acquire the best gunsmith tools. Use knife checkering tools including white blue and yellow layout pencils along with two-edge spacer cutters to ensure proper spacing and accuracy. In laying out a design I make a pattern out of heavy paper and draw its outline onto the wood with a sharp pointed tool called a scribe.