Thread: first go at checkering

Worked with timber all my life from chopping them down, milling them to building houses - but you guys blow me away your skills, amazing. Just a cave man by comparison.

Beautiful stocks mate! What did you use for the grip caps and fore ends?

Used acetal, caus I had some.
I turned a dovetail spigot on both bits to go into corresponding holes in the woodwork and glued them in with epoxy,
Shape the outside when glue sets.
BTW. Re checkering. Utube is your friend. Check out checkering with chuck parts 1 and 2. use masking tape for keeping track of your borders rather than pencil though.

Picture probably explain it better.
NRF

You're doing good. Wraparound pattern on the foreend is harder than people think. Its like paddling to Australia in a bathtub and hoping you'll hit Sydney.

Your best friend when checkering is a sharp knife - when the line wanders away run the knife along and then to where it should have gone and correct it.

Another tip is to get your hand and arm straight behind the tool and the line your scribing out, not on an angle.

Pay strict attention to the little lines going into the corners, they will turn on you unless you are vigilent - mark rough lines going across in the areas you are going to fill in the corners with a grease pencil, or ink pen, across so you can judge and keep the lines at the right angle.

When you start getting tired or start feeling like you want to hurry because your taking longer - its time to stop.

Thanks for that, all good advice.
Yeah def chucked myself in the deep end with the wrap around.
Figured out the sharp knife thing if a line wanders off.
Best to fix it before moving on to the next line.
I find planning ahead a few lines can help avoid mistakes.
Getting there, pretty satisfying when things go right
Cheers NRF

Gotta be happy with that!
I also like the idea of using acetyl instead of ebony too, might have to look into getting some for my stock build