INTRODUCTION 3WHEN SHOULD I CHECKER? 5

Before or After the Finishing Process 5Getting Started 6The Cradle 7Lighting Your Work 7Checkering Tools 8

DESIGNING, LAYING OUT, AND TRANSFERRING A CHECKERING PATTERN 11TRANSFERRING THE PATTERN TO THE STOCK 15

Forend 15Wrist 17

CUTTING-IN THE PATTERN 19COMPLETING YOUR CHECKERING JOB 25ADDENDUM - BUILDING A CHECKERING CRADLE 30

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Copyright © 2016 Joel SchaferAll rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of Sonoran Desert Institute. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book by the Internet or any other means without the permission of Sonoran Desert Institute is illegal and punishable by law. Please respect Sonoran Desert Institute’s rights and do not participate in any form of electronic piracy of copyrighted material.

Sonoran Desert Institute does not assume any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.

ISBN: 978-1-945697-30-2

This book is an imprint of SDI Press.

Rev. 12.17

3

Introduction

Checkering is a technique that adds fascinating beauty to gunstocks. Simply defined, checkering is a pattern of diamonds created by the intersec-tion of two sets of parallel lines cut at a care-fully predetermined angle. While the pattern of checkering greatly enhances the appearance of the gunstock, the diamonds within will provide the shooter with a firmer grip for greater control of the firearm.

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This course was written especially for SDI by Joel Schafer, author of The Final Touch - A Complete Course in Gunstock Checkering. The les-sons contained in his book have been tailored to this course, and will provide you with the es-sential skills to successfully checker gunstocks.The last meaningful book in the field of gun-stock checkering was written in 1952 by Monty Kennedy. Because the information was so generalized, and because so many things have changed in the past 60+ years, many, if not most, who have learned the craft of making gunstocks have not gone on to learn checkering. Because of the lack of adequate instruction, acquiring checkering skills has always been the most in-timidating part of learning the stockmaking process. Not anymore.

This course spells out everything in proper order, beginning with proper lighting, cradle setups, pattern design, layout and transfer, tool selection, and more. When you have completed the lessons in this course, you’ll be well on your way to mastering a skill that may very well pro-vide you with more satisfaction — and income — than any other aspect of stockmaking. There has been a growing concern among those in the trade who earn their living at the work-bench that hand skills will be lost, as technol-ogy seems to be taking over our world. Some production checkering is now being done by lasers. If we don’t do everything possible to edu-cate others about what we’ve learned during a lifetime of bench work — much of which was handed down to us by others — those skills will be lost.

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When Should I Checker? BEFORE OR AFTER THE FINISHING PROCESS

Those who are new to checkering often ask, “Should I checker before or after the finishing process?” That’s a good question, and there are two answers, as it depends on which finishing process you’ll employ. First, if you are going to apply a wetsanded and hand-rubbed finish, you’ll need to wait until the finishing process is nearly complete before you checker. On the other hand, if you’ll be applying a spray finish, you’ll seal the wood, then checker, and apply the finish last. We will proceed as if using a spray finish.Checkering should not be done on bare wood that hasn’t been sealed. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being that wood is softer before having been sealed, and will checker

more cleanly with the dried and hardened oil in the fibers. The second reason is that any sanding or leveling of the finish during the application of numerous coats will degrade the checkering. It is not the purpose of this course to teach fin-ishing techniques, but in order to understand why we do the things the way we do, it will be necessary to understand how each is applied.For those not familiar with the wetsanding pro-cess, the stock is first dry sanded up through 220-grit, with the grain having been raised prior to progressing to each finer grade. The wood is then sealed with a couple of coats of thinned finish applied two or three days apart. The wet-sanding part of the process is begun with 320-grit wet/dry sandpaper with the finishing oil used as a lubricant/filler. The idea is to fill the pores by sanding a sludge into them, which has been created by the mixture of finish and saw-dust. A thin film of the mixture is allowed to dry on the surface of the stock for several days, and when dry, you’ll proceed to 400-grit, wetsand-ing back down to the surface of the wood, and leaving a thinner film of sludge this time. The

Figure 1: Expertly done checkering can add value to your f irearm.

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process is repeated using 600-grit, then 1500-grit, ensuring that each coat is dry before pro-ceeding with the next step. At this point, the pores should be filled and you’ll be mainly pol-ishing the surface of the wood. Now it’s time to checker your stock.When the checkering is completed, look things over, and any places where you’ve nicked the borders will need to be cleaned up.If the plan is to apply a less labor intensive fin-ish, there are some really superior products that have become available in the past few years. These are primarily tung oil/urethane finishes, and are available in spray cans or in liquid form to be used with an airbrush. When using the spray method, you’ll begin by dry sanding, rais-ing the grain between grit changes, and then sealing. You’ll seal the wood by applying two coats of slightly thinned finishing oil applied a day or two apart. The following day you can be-gin to checker the stock.The checkered areas are then resealed, scrubbed with a toothbrush to remove any excess finish, and allowed to dry thoroughly. You’ll then mask off the checkered areas and apply the spray fin-ish to the rest of the gunstock, following direc-tions on the label. Multiple coats will be re-quired, as the pores are slow to fill. As the finish builds up, you can knock it back and smooth it a bit between coats with #320 abrasive pads. The masking tape will protect the checkering.It is necessary to complete the steps in this or-der, because if you were to apply the spray finish before checkering, repairing any small mistakes or nicks would be problematic after the finish is applied.For this project, go ahead and seal the wood at this point so it will be dried and ready to checker.

GETTING STARTED

Although checkering can be quite complex, re-quiring an array of professional specialty tools, the tools and supplies you’ll need for this partic-ular project are readily available from craft and hardware stores or from gunsmithing suppliers such as Brownells®.

Items the student should have to complete this project:• Small swing-arm light

• Small divider

• 90° veiner (optional)

• OptiVISOR® (optional)

• One sheet of graph paper in 10 lines-per-inch graduations

• A couple of sheets of tracing paper

• Marks-on-Anything pencil

• Roll of Scotch® Brand Magic™ Tape

• Crepe tape

• Auto striping tape

• Pocketknife

• Finishing oil

• Mineral spirits

• Clean old toothbrush

• Clean rag

• Super glue (if needed)

• Toothpicks (if needed)

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THE CRADLE

The checkering cradle is an absolute neces-sity for those who want to learn the art/craft of checkering. It will take some trial and error for you to find the way that works best for you to secure the cradle to the bench. It is usually held in a bench vise, but some people use trailer hitch balls or power-arm setups, preferring to have the option of infinite adjustment of the work. In addition, some prefer to stand while checkering and others would rather sit. Whichever way you choose, it is important for you to be comfortable while you work. However you choose to mount your cradle, it is essential that it be held rigidly, without wobble or vibration (Figure 2). As you cut in lines of checkering, it is important that the forearm/hand/wrist be lined up with the cutting direction of the tool. The cradle maintains the position of the gunstock, allow-ing the stock to rotate as needed as you lengthen each line. That sameness of motion is what en-ables you to cut straight, parallel lines. The tool stays in pretty much the same place as the work turns under it.

Equally important is having the ability to lock the spindle so the stock doesn’t turn when you don’t want it to. Operations such as cutting-in lines with the pocketknife or using the veiner require that the stock be held rigidly. If it is al-lowed to spin out from under the cut, the result is nearly always damage to the stock. Instructions to build your own checkering cradle are provided in the addendum.

LIGHTING YOUR WORK

There seem to be many differing points of view concerning how best to light your work. You’ll have to decide for yourself, but there are some guidelines that should be followed if you’re to be successful. The method that most prefer is that the room in which you’re working should be darkened, or at least have very subdued light. In order to see what you’re doing in detail, your diamonds need to throw shadows so they stand out in re-lief. This necessitates having a small swing-arm light a bit behind you and to the side (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Working with a checkering cradle.

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You’ll be able to adjust it to your best advantage, and this changes constantly as you work.A daylight or blue-tinted bulb of about 60 watts seems to be easiest on the eyes. More wattage than that seems to cause eyestrain and fry the fixture. When doing close work, fluorescent lights, even the small ones you might be tempt-ed to use, are very hard on the eyes.If the outside light is allowed to fall on your work, as the day progresses and the sun moves across the sky, the work surface will not remain consistent in appearance, even if you are on the north side of the building with your back to the window. In winter, many prefer to not work past about 3 p.m., as the waning ambient light changes things.An OptiVISOR is a big help. If you purchase one, try a #3 lens, which will give you a magni-fication of 1¾, and have a focusing distance of 14”. This should work for you whether you wear glasses or not.

CHECKERING TOOLS

Your lab kit contains the basics needed to checker your first project. With the handle and the two cutters, you’ll be able to execute any standard pattern required. These tools are made by the highly reputable W.E. Brownell Company in San Diego, CA. (not to be confused with Brownells in Montezuma, Iowa). They manufacture an array of checkering cutters, many of which you may want to add to your kit as you progress and learn more. The handle is called a Full-View handle, and is a proprietary design of the W.E. Brownell Co. In the stockmaking trade, they are considered to be the best handles available for several reasons. Incidentally, the two-wire design doesn’t really allow for a better view, as your eye is always on the front of the cutter as viewed from the side, but by having two points of contact with your index finger you’ll be able to checker with com-fort for much longer periods of time than if you were using the old one-wire design. Later in the lesson, you’ll notice in the photos that the wire portion of the handles has been given a wrap of strapping tape. By making this hammock for your finger, you can checker for as long as your eyes and nerves can stand.

Figure 3: Lighting your work.

Figure 4: The W. E. Brownell Full-View Checkering Tool Handle.

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Another advantage to the design is that the cut-ter’s angle can be adjusted. You will encounter tight spots, such as the underside of the wrist and the comb nose, where this will be a necessity.The two cutters in your kit are a 90° single-line cutter, and a 60° 2-line cutter, in 18 lines-per-inch spacing. After the masterlines are

Figure 5: Single-line cutter and 2-line spacing cutter.

established with the pocketknife, the 2-line cutter is used to space-in the lines, one line at a time, for the entire pattern. The 90° single-line cutter is then used to deepen all lines to the proper depth. Perhaps the biggest advantage of using W.E. Brownell cutters is that they are designed to cut on the push or the pull. After experiment-ing with each method, you can decide which way works best for you.Whichever method you settle on, it will be to your advantage to finish cutting the lines’ ends with a pull stroke. Just lay the cutter into the line, tip the cutter’s nose down into the proper spot, and pull. If you were to complete each line on the push stroke, it would invite runovers, as it is much harder to make a controlled stop while pushing up to the line’s end. The cutters wear out from the front, but since they will cut either direction, just turn the cut-ter around in the handle and double the life of the tool.

Figure 6: Array of checkering tools.

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Figure 6 shows a typical hand tool array used by professionals. In this case, the three tools on the bottom left are single-line cutters in 60°, 75°, and 90° of cut. Immediately above them is a fine, or smoothing, cutter in 90°. To the right of the pocketknife are two veiners, one in 60° and one in 90°. Next are files and rifflers, all in 90°, which are used for pointing up lines at the ends where they converge. The two cutters at the bottom right of Figure 6 are a two-line spacing cutter and a tool for cutting mullered borders.At the top left portion of the photo are home-made plastic templates used for laying out pat-terns in 2½:1, 3:1, and 3 ½:1, the three diamond proportions most used in checkering, along with plastic strips for checking that lines are straight. Next, of course, is the Dem-Bart checker-ing guide, which is a really handy tool. It has little windows cut in it that are marked with various lines-per-inch guides. It can be used to positively identify the LPI of existing checker-ing. If in doubt as to how many lines-per-inch a cutter is, it will tell you quickly. The angles at the ends of the template are cut at 3:1 and 3½”:1, the diamond proportions most prefer to lay out patterns. Just above the Dem-Bart gauge is a 90° jointer. If a line has been laid out badly, but not too much so, it can be straightened by using this tool. If you lay out a bad line, it must be straight-ened immediately, as each line is built upon the one before, and if a mistake is not corrected, the job will go bad quickly. In use, the tool is placed over the bad line, hopefully with each end over properly spaced portions of the line. The thumb of the free hand is placed over the cutting

Figure 7: Small divider.

teeth, pressure is applied, and the tool is pulled sharply. If, when laying out your bad line, you removed wood that will affect the surrounding diamonds, you will need to make repairs, which will be covered later on.Above the jointer is a thread pitch gauge. It is useful for measuring LPI, but is really not nec-essary as the Dem-Bart template is so much handier. The yellow pencil is a Marks-on-Anything pen-cil, available through Brownells, and is handy for marking and doodling on the gunstock. When used on a finished gunstock, it won’t damage the surface, and will rub right off without a trace.The last tool pictured is a small divider, which is used to lay out borders and transfer patterns (Figure 7).

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Designing, Laying Out, and Transferring a Checkering Pattern

One of the questions people often ask is “How is checkering done?” Checkering is a pattern of diamonds created by the intersection of two sets of parallel lines cut at a carefully predetermined angle (Figure 8). It really is that simple. There are basically two types of patterns: point patterns and fill-in patterns. On forends — both rifle and shotgun — the point patterns have the ends of each panel delineated by the lines of diamonds themselves, while the fill-in patterns are an enclosed panel with curved borders, and the checkering fills the space within the borders. In the wrist area, both types are usually enclosed panels with the difference being at the front of the panel where the points or the curved borders

will be (Figures 9 and 10). You may find it ad-vantageous to design the forend pattern first, as it will then be simple to duplicate or compli-ment what you’ve done when it’s time to deal with the wrist area.

Figure 8: Checkering simplif ied.

Figure 9: Point pattern.

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For our purposes here, we’ll be designing a one-panel, or wraparound, point panel for the rifle’s forend. If you’d prefer to design a two-panel pattern, which some feel is simpler for begin-ners to execute, it will be best to go ahead and design it as a one-panel pattern. Once it is on paper and you’re convinced all is balanced for a good outcome, just draw two lines on the tracing paper along the axis of the forend where you’d like the side panels’ lower edges to be located. The reason for doing it this way is that your two side panels will match, and you won’t have the problems associated with trying to match and balance two separate designs (Figure 11).

Figure 10: Enclosed pattern.

Figure 11: Two-panel forend design.

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To begin the process, put the stock into the cra-dle so it will be easy to work with. Cut a piece of tracing paper a little oversized to fit the forend area, and tape it in enough places so there’s no bag to the paper (Figures 12 and 13). Mark a line along the entire length of the top line of the wood using the flat of the pencil lead. Also mark the inlet for the front tang of the bottom metal and for the sling stud, if there is one. It’s a good idea to mark the paper near the front of the receiver face, too. This will give you an idea of where the approximate limits of the rear of the panel should be.

Figure 12: Mark the top line.

Figure 13: Locate and mark the inlets.

Figure 14: Begin to design your pattern.

Get some graph paper, the kind that’s marked 10 lines to the inch, tape it down and mark a centerline. Fold the tracing of the forend area in two, giving yourself an automatic centerline, which you will then lay over the centerline of the graph paper and tape down (Figure 14). Here’s where you find if your forend is symmet-ric. Out toward the ends of the pattern, count squares outward from the centerline in both directions to where both top lines of the stock intersect any given line on the graph paper. If you made your stock a tiny bit lopsided, you can fudge a bit with the layout to compensate for asymmetry. Just be aware that if your forend is lopsided, and if the points at the top line of the forend match perfectly, the points at the cen-terline won’t. The best fix is to make the points at the center match the centerline, and add an extra line or two at the top line points.

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Assuming the top line of your forend has a def-inite ridge and flat adjoining the barrel, start by laying a strip of auto striping tape in either ⅛” or 3/16” width inside where you’ve marked the top line of the stock (Figure 15). Put it right on the tracing paper. You’ll design your pattern to the inside of these lines. If the top line of your stock is rounded, you’ll have to place the top line of your pattern wherever it is most pleasing to the eye.Using the 3:1 angle on the Dem-Bart checker-ing gauge, begin laying out the pattern. For your first attempt it is best to use this angle rather than the 3½:1, as the diamonds will be a bit wider and stronger. Be sure that when using the template to decide where the points will be, you use the centerline of the graph paper and lines parallel to it for guides, and don’t make the mistake of trying to

Figure 15: Auto striping and crepe tape used for layout.

Figure 16: Masterlines placed centrally in pattern.

use the lines delineating the edge of the pat-tern, as they are neither parallel nor true to the centerline. Keep the design of the pattern fairly simple. Later on when you have mastered the process, you can challenge yourself by designing patterns with all the extra points you desire. When you get what you want all drawn in, it’s time to establish the two masterlines (Figure 16). Place them so as to be as long as possible, but balanced within your pattern. If they are placed so that the area to be checkered in both directions from each line is about the same, there will be less of a problem with the inevi-table error you will have when checkering over a curved and tapered area.

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Transferring the Pattern to the Stock

FOREND

Tape the tracing paper back onto the stock, making sure everything is perfectly placed. Use the finest point you can find to punch through the paper directly into the stock at all the places where all layout lines end or intersect in the pat-tern (Figure 17). It is important that the point be fine as if the pattern were to finish up inside the points you’ve punctured; you can easily re-pair those spots before completing the finishing process. When you’re sure all points have been transferred to the stock, including the ends of the masterlines, remove the tracing paper.Now you’ll need to connect the points with your Marks-on-Anything pencil. You can use either a thin plastic strip that you know to be straight, or ¾” wide Scotch Brand Magic Tape, which will follow the contours of the stock while keeping a straight line.

When all points are connected properly you’ll see what the panel is going to look like, but don’t expect every line of checkering to come out ex-actly where it is drawn on the stock (Figure 18). Remember, you’re working with a curved, tapered surface. Do expect to come within one line of the layout. Don’t bother to mark the top lines or the masterlines with the yellow pencil.Now locate the pinpricks at the ends of the masterlines and mark each spot with the yellow

Figure 18: Connect the points with the yellow pencil.

Figure 17: Mark the ends of all the lines and any places they intersect.

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pencil. Be sure to look at the stock from the top to see if the pinpricks match side-to-side both front and back. If they aren’t perfectly across from each other, change the masterlines so they are (unless you’re compensating for lopsidedness).Using the same width striping tape you put on the tracing paper to mark the edge of the pat-tern along the top line, lay a strip very carefully along the same area of the stock. Next, use a strip of your Scotch Tape to estab-lish your first masterline. Other types of tape, even within the same brand, won’t work very well. You’ll have to put it on several times to get it right (maybe more), but the idea is to have a straight line on a rounded surface. Be sure to check and recheck with one of your straight plastic strips. Now do the other masterline. Check it all over. Now you’ll need a sharp pocketknife. Tighten the tension on the cradle, as you don’t want the stock to spin when you apply pressure. Cut along the top lines, stopping short of each end by about ⅛” (Figure 20). Next, cut in your mas-terlines (Figure 21). Try to keep the blade in the cut as you slide it along the edge of the tape, pushing the cut, and if the cut is interrupted, be

Figure 20: Cut in the top line.

Figure 19: Using the right tape will make a difference.

Figure 21: Carefully cut in the masterlines.

sure you restart in the groove. If you aren’t pre-cise here, your layout won’t be right, as all lines are cut from these first two. Flip the cradle and finish the lines.Now use your single-line cutter to deepen your masterlines a bit and to define your top edge lines. The forend is ready to be checkered.

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WRIST

The wrist layout is almost always done directly on the stock. Remember, the wrist pattern is an enclosed panel, so all but the front points are laid out with striping tape or 1/16” crepe tape. Use the same width tape along the bottom of the wrist alongside the gripcap that you used on the top line of the forend. Carefully run it all the way around to the back where the grip-cap area meets the bottom line of the buttstock (Figure 22). Next, use tape to mask off the area that will separate the right and left panels along the underside of the grip. To lay out your tape in this area, stand the cradle upright in the vise with the tension on the spindle tightened. On this first stock it is a good idea to make this

area a little wider so you won’t have the chal-lenge of checkering into an area that’s so sharply curved. Use your divider to scribe an arc around the rear tang, but as you go forward, stop where the curve ends, as you don’t yet know precisely where your lines of checkering will be in that area (Figure 23). Now use the 1/16” crepe tape to establish the back line of your panels (Figure 24). The reason for using crepe tape here is that it works better on curves than the more rigid striping tape. It is a good idea to lay out both wrist panels at the same time so you can balance all the elements of the pattern. Now place your Dem-Bart template on the stock, find the correct angle you’ll want your points to lay out, and mark them (Figure 25). With a bit of trial and error, you’ll strike a nice balance between the side view, the top view, and the quarter views, while paying attention to the rear points on the forend to ensure it all looks good together. Then, just lay down your master-lines using the Scotch Tape method, using the lines you’ve marked with the template. Be sure

Figure 22: First step of grip layout.

Figure 23: Scribe an arc around the rear tang.

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Figure 25: Use your Dem-Bart guide to establish masterlines.

Figure 24: Crepe tape is used to lay out the back and top lines.

the masterlines intersect the borderlines at the rear of the panel in the same place, side-to-side. Look things over from every possible angle to be sure everything matches.Now use your pocketknife to cut along the tape around the entire pattern, except at the rear tang of the trigger guard forward of the curve. Until you actually get your lines of checkering

cut in, you won’t know exactly where every-thing should be in that area. Cut in your masterlines with the pocketknife, then deepen and define them a bit with your sin-gle-line cutter. Use the same tool to go around the panel except in the areas that are too tightly curved, where you’ll use your veiner or short-corner tool. Now the wrist is ready to checker.

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Cutting-In the Pattern

Let’s define the term “borders.” Every job has borders, even borderless checkering. It can be confusing because the term is used for three different types of border. There are the outlines of the panel, which every panel of checkering has. Then there is what we refer to as bordered checkering, which defines a beaded border. It is made with a cutter which is concave, leaving a convex bead. The third type is a mullered border, which is made with a cutter that’s convex, leav-ing a border with a concave surface (Figure 26). For our purposes here, we’ll use the term “bor-der” only to describe the outlines of the panel.

Most prefer to checker the forend first. If you are right-handed, you’ll add new lines working right to left and vice-versa if you are left-hand-ed. The reason for this is you’ll want to watch the side of the cutter at the front as you add to your line, and if you work left to right you won’t be able to see that area.Using your two-line spacer, begin cutting lines at a safe distance from the end nearest you. It isn’t important to get close to the near border for now; in fact, if you are too close, you’ll run the risk of creating runovers with the back of the tool. After you have cut in several lines you can flip the cradle and finish spacing-in those lines. As previously mentioned, you can use the cutter to add lines on either the push or the pull stroke. You will always add lines working forward, but

Figure 26: Two types of border: beaded, left, and mullered, right.

Figure 27: Redefine the masterline.

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if you elect to cut on the pull, the recommended cutting action is to lay one row of teeth into the established line and push the tool forward, go-ing ¼” to ½” at a time, gently establishing the next small segment. At the end of each small stroke, rock the tool forward a bit and pull back, using more pressure. The tool will follow both the established line and the small segment you’re working on.Plan on cutting your lines to only about one-fourth depth on this layout pass. Place one leg of the 2-line cutter in the slightly deepened mas-terline and begin to cut in the new line (Figure 28). By keeping the cuts short, you’ll have better luck turning the stock under the cutter properly. If your strokes are too long, the cutter always seems to go astray because of the curvature of the stock. The arm, hand, and tool are always in roughly the same place, while the work is being slowly turned under the cutter. Learning to use the tools properly will be a challenge at first, but all it takes is practice.

Figure 28: Begin adding lines, right to left for right-handers.

Figure 29: Leave these lines for later.

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When you come to the ends of the lines, a com-mon problem is for the lines to curve, just a bit, into the border. It seems to happen to everyone, and it’s because the stock isn’t rotated enough as the line is finished. Train yourself to inspect the end of each line for straightness as soon as you complete the cut. These mistakes must be discovered and corrected as soon as they are made, as the mistakes are compounded with each line added, and in about three lines the job will be ruined. The best way to keep those lines from curving is to stop roughly ⅛” short and finish cutting them in with your veiner or single-line cutter, keeping the spacing consis-tent and the line straight by eye. You can then clean up the area with your single-line cutter or your spacing cutter. When you get to those short lines that will be included in a point, the layout can become a challenge, particularly when you don’t yet know where they will end. Stop your layout at this point, and finish those lines only after you’ve laid out the lines coming from the other direc-tion (Figure 29). When you get that one all-important line cut in that establishes the other converging line of the point, then you’ll cut in the short lines that will complete the layout of your first set of lines.

When checkering point patterns, you’ll come to a place where the line you’re cutting needs to be extended to begin a new set of points. Use your Scotch Tape for this (Figure 30). Get the shadows right by adjusting the light over your work, and then lay the tape down with its edge along the line you’re going to extend. Just put your knife blade into the groove where you left off and extend the line on out, stopping just short of the yellow line you’ve drawn indicating where you plan for the lines coming the other way to come out (Figure 31). You can finish out the line when you cut in the lines from the other

Figure 30: Use Scotch Tape to extend the line.

Figure 31: Extended line.

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direction, as then you’ll know precisely where to end it. For now, succeeding lines will need to be a little short, too. Lay out all the lines in the panel on that side of the masterline, then flip the cradle and use your two-line spacer and your veiner or single-line cutter to finish laying out your lines where they were started short (Figures 32 and 33). You now have all the lines in one direction laid out, with the exception of that one little area. Now go to the other masterline and redefine it, then space-in the lines the same as you did on the first set of lines. You’ll alternate the deepen-ing passes in this order, for the same reason you had to deepen the second masterline (Figure 34). That is, each pass tends to make the lines cut in the other direction appear faint, and if you

were to deepen the same set of lines twice with-out alternating, you just might not be able to pick up the lines crossing them. This way it will be easy to see which direction is next to be cut in each succeeding pass, thus keeping the depth of cut even. As you cut in the crossing lines, when you come to that little patch you didn’t complete, you’ll extend that all-important line that will establish the other leg of that point. Once you’ve estab-lished the crossing line, you’ll know where to end those short lines (Figure 35). Cut them in now, and as you come to the shortest lines, just lift the handle of the spacing tool so you’re us-ing only the front teeth. These can also be cut in with the veiner or single-line cutter, but the

Figure 32: Flip the cradle and f inish the lines where they were started short.

Figure 33: First pass completed.

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Figure 34: Crossing lines are weakened, so each pass must be made in proper order.

Figure 35: Use the pocketknife to cut along the tape.

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spacing needs to be at least faintly established first (Figure 36).Now inspect the entire pattern, making sure all lines have been cut up to the borders (Figure 37). A common problem is that if this first lay-out pass isn’t completed to the ends of the lines, it will be difficult to point up the diamonds’ tops when doing the finishing passes. If you remove those small amounts now, it will be much less of a job getting them cut to full depth later. When you’re sure all lines are cut full length, use your single-line cutter to go around the borders, not cutting too deeply, but redefining the bor-ders (Figures 38 and 39). The reason for not go-ing too deep here is that you want to leave some wood for a buffer because when you deepen your lines of checkering you’ll be bumping into those border lines. You’ll be deepening the lines of checkering and the border lines incrementally. Note that the instructions given for cutting in the forend pattern apply to the wrist as well.

Figure 36: Cutting short lines.

Figure 37: Be sure to f inish the lines to the ends. Pictured is the 90° veiner at work.

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Completing Your Checkering Job

The hard part is done. The rest is just deepening and refining your lines, plus a final smoothing pass on each set of lines. The masterlines are of no further use and can be forgotten now.For right-handers, all passes will be started on the right side of the panel, regardless of ori-entation, and lines will be deepened working to the left. Use your 2-line cutter for the first

deepening pass in each direction, then switch to the single-line cutter for all remaining passes. You’ll find that with each pass you make, keep-ing the cutter in the groove and running true will become easier to manage. While the work that remains will be somewhat easier than what you’ve done so far, it will be time-consuming. Just plan on it, and don’t hurry.Be sure to start on the set of lines that you first laid out; if you deepen the same set of lines twice without alternating, you can partly obliterate the lines crossing them and cause yourself problems. Deepen the lines gradually, making sure you cut

Figure 38: Borders before deepening. Figure 39: Borders defined.

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them to the ends. You may find it advantageous to leave the sawdust in the lines as you cut them, as it will serve as a visual guide when selecting the next line to be deepened (Figure 40). As you did when laying them out, flip the cradle and finish them where you started them short. After each pass is completed on both sets of crossing lines, refine the borders lightly. Be sure you leave wood on the borders to clean up on your last pass, as you’ll want to be able to get rid of all those little nicks when the job is complete.It is usual to make four, five, or even more passes on each set of lines to get your diamonds pointed up. When we talk about pointing up diamonds, it can get confusing, as most of us think of the diamonds’ sides and ends being pointed. But if the checkering isn’t deep enough, a flat spot will remain on the top of the diamonds, and these are the points we refer to here.

If you have laid out bad lines and then corrected them, you may have taken wood that will pre-vent the neighboring diamonds to be properly formed. If they aren’t repaired correctly, there will be a low spot in your panel when the job is complete. But there’s an easy fix. If you have some fine sawdust available, mix it in with a little super glue to form a paste. Make the paste thin, as it needs to settle into the low spots as well as being built up in the damaged area. Use a fine-end tool, toothpicks work fine, to lay it in carefully and avoid getting it in the areas where it isn’t needed. Build the damaged area up to the level of the surrounding wood. Let it dry for a couple hours, because if it isn’t completely cured, it will fill up the teeth of your cutter. The new material needs to be fully hardened in order to be worked.

Figure 40: First deepening pass. Figure 41: Plan on making several passes each way.

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Use your pocketknife to score the built-up area and follow up with your single-line cutter to connect the correctly spaced areas on either side of the repair. Before deepening, score and slightly deepen the lines in the other direc-tion, too. Alternate your passes until the repair matches the surrounding area. The super glue mixture will darken the area, but when the oil is applied at the end of the job, you won’t be able to find any trace of the repair.When you think you have gotten everything deepened sufficiently, darken the room, turn off your checkering lamp, and shine a light at a

low angle across the workpiece, toward yourself (Figure 42). The flats will appear as shiny areas. If you discover there are just small areas that still need to be deepened, and there always are, you can go over just those areas, alternating passes (Figure 43). Now go completely around the border, taking it to final depth. Pay particular attention to places where lines end in a point, or where border lines meet each other, and clean them up. These are places where the sawdust tends to dam up, and if not dealt with, the checkering won’t have a crisp appearance.

Figure 42: Shine a light low across the work.

Figure 43: Unfinished diamonds show flat spots.

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Figure 44: All that remains to be done is the smoothing pass.

Figure 45: Lightly dab with f inishing oil.

When you’re convinced the job is complete, make one last pass on each set of lines, not cut-ting deeply, but smoothing and evening every-thing out (Figure 44).Now you’re ready to apply the oil. Use the same oil you used to seal the stock, thinned just a bit. Use a ratio of about five or six parts of oil to one part mineral spirits. Dab it on with an old toothbrush, scrub it in thoroughly, and let it set for ten minutes or so (Figure 45). Then scrub it out completely, blotting as you go with a rag (Figure 46). Do not use a paper towel, as it will disintegrate and make a mess. If any oil is left in the checkering, it will make the panel shiny, and most prefer a more subdued look. If your first checkering job hasn’t turned out quite as well as you’d hoped, don’t be discour-aged. Nobody’s first job turns out all that well. You’ve learned a lot, and your next try will yield a better result. Each one will be better than the last. By the time you’ve checkered three gun-stocks, you’ll be feeling pretty good about your newly acquired skills.

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Figure 46: Be sure to scrub it all out.

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A checkering cradle should be considered a necessary part of your checkering tools. The fixture shown in Figure 1 is a good example of a simple and practical homebuilt cradle. While there are more complex and versatile cradles available, the design shown here can serve just fine to get you started.The plans illustrated in Figure 2 are just a sug-gestion meant to get you thinking. What you actually put together will only be limited by your imagination. For instance, the method you choose to secure the forend can be, as suggested, a sharpened length of threaded rod and a PVC cap. Or you could use a lathe-turned cup se-cured by the same threaded rod with the threads removed at the end and inserted into a drilled recess in the back of the cup. Another option would be to secure a wood dowel, of the larg-est diameter that will fit, into the barrel chan-nel of the gunstock by screwing or taping it to the stock, which would then be skewered on the sharpened threaded rod. Another approach would be to cut a recess into the forend holder with a spade bit. But, if you choose to hold the stock directly, be sure to protect the end of the stock with a piece of soft leather inserted be-tween the tip and the fixture.

The easiest method for securing the butt end of the stock is to sharpen a length of threaded rod to a point and stick it directly into the butt-stock (with the recoil pad removed). This seems pretty basic and perhaps a bit crude, but it will secure the stock from slipping out and being damaged. Employing the clamping or saddle system is a good option, but if you choose to use it, be sure to tape or somehow secure the stock from slipping out.Use wing nuts instead of standard nuts in the places you will be constantly making adjust-ments, such as the buttstock tensioning rod. There are knobs readily available for fashioning a handle for the threaded rod that goes into the buttstock, but a wingnut jammed against a hex nut will work almost as well. Wingnuts on op-posing sides of the butt holder will allow ten-sion to be adjusted and locked. If you plan to checker shotgun or two-piece rifle stocks, you can use the remaining length of 2x4 to make a short cradle. When working on short stocks, all that extra cradle length can be un-wieldy, and making an extra beam is only a mat-ter of drilling a few holes.

Figure 1: A checkering cradle can be very helpful for holding the wood steady while you checker.

Addendum - Building a Checkering Cradle

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Figure 2: Plans for a checkering cradle.

Materials List

1 - 2” x 4” x 8”

2 - 5/16” - 18” x 51/2” hex bolts

2 - 5/16” - 18 nuts

2 - 5/16” flat washers

1 - 10” length 5/16” all threaded rod

2 - 5/16” - wing nuts

1 - 5/16” x 36” dowel rod

1 - 3” PVC (plastic) pipe cap

NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE RISK: I fully recognize that there are dangers and risks to which I and others may be exposed to arising out of the handling and repair of firearms as part of the course of instruction provided by Trade Training Company, LLC dba Sonoran Desert Institute. The following is a description and examples of specific, significant, non-obvious dangers and risks associated with this activity: inadvertent discharge, unauthorized use of firearms, and improper repair. RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY: I, on behalf of myself, my personal representatives, heirs, executors, administrators, agents, and assigns, HEREBY RELEASE, WAIVE, DISCHARGE, AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE the Trade Training Company, LLC dba Sonoran Desert Institute, including its governing board, directors, officers, employees, agents, volunteers, and any students, hereinafter referred to as "Releasees" for any and all liability, including any and all claims, demands, causes of action (known or unknown), suits, or judgments of any and every kind (including attorneys’ fees), arising from any injury, property damage or death that I may suffer as a result of my participating and/or receiving instruction from Trade Training Company, LLC dba Sonoran Desert Institute and the handling and repair of firearms as part of such instruction REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE INJURY, DAMAGE OR DEATH IS CAUSED BY THE RELEASEES. I further agree that the Releasees are not in any way responsible for any injury or damage that I sustain as a result of my own negligent acts. INDEMNITY: I, on behalf of myself, my personal representatives, heirs, executors, administrators, agents, and assigns, agree to hold harmless, defend and indemnify the Releasees from any and all liability, including any and all claims, demands, causes of action (known or unknown), suits, or judgments of any and every kind (including attorneys’ fees), arising from any injury, property damage or death that I or any third party may suffer as a result of my participating and/or receiving instruction from Trade Training Company, LLC dba Sonoran Desert Institute and the handling and repair of firearms as part of such instruction, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE INJURY, DAMAGE OR DEATH IS CAUSED BY THE RELEASEES OR OTHERWISE.