power checkering tools

[Tom Flanigan]

Does anyone have experience with power checkering tools. I am thinking of getting one. They don't eliminate the need for hand tools but cutting the first pass can go much quicker. They are also supposed to be good for cutting very short lines easily.

[Brian Dudley]

I personally prefer working strictly by hand as that is what i have gotten used to. But i know i will want to go power in the future for the sake of my hands.

I do have an okd MMC power cutter that i was planning on selling. If you end up having any interest, let me know.

[Tom Flanigan]

Are carbide cutting wheels available that will fit the MMC heads? Do you have a motor that powers the head for sale also?

[Tom Flanigan]

[QUOTE=Brian Dudley;243665]I personally prefer working strictly by hand as that is what i have gotten used to. But i know i will want to go power in the future for the sake of my hands.

I'm a bit surprised that you as a professional would use hand tools only. But I'm guessing that you can do jobs a lot quicker than I can.

That MMX tool brought cut checkering back on some factory guns. They went to pressed checkering because they couldn't recover the cost of hand checkering. Then the MMX tool came out and firms like Ruger used it on their factory guns. The cut checking done by manufactures is pretty decent.

[Mark Beasland]

My daughter uses one of these and loves it.
https://www.hosfordco.com/tools-measuring-1/power-checkering

[Brian Dudley]

I can hand checker quick enough to where i am happy with it at this time. And it is how it was always done in the past.
To me, the only benefit to a power tool is speed on larger patterns, and the flexibility you have in adjusting the spacing.


I was going to look closer at hosford’s tool at the NE this year. It is very lightweight which is nice.

[Mark Beasland]

Brian, Lots of life long checkers feel as you do. My daughter only uses it for lay out and for her it is quicker and does a better job. She uses the NSK power unit .

[Tom Flanigan]

I can't disagree with sticking to just hand tools. But doing very small areas like those found on the tips of Parkers where some of the lines have to be very short can be easily, I believe, done with a power cutter. With hand tools in this area, it takes some time to do to avoid runovers and get the right depth.

Brian can probably do the first cut quickly without power tools. I can't. I have to go very slow to avoid run overs and crooked lines. This is especially true on high figured grain stocks. Those hand tools can tend to follow the grain if you are not careful.

[John Campbell]

This is just one man's opinion...

But checkering done by machine is not checkering. Just like engraving done by a machine or laser is not engraving. They are cold mechanical substitutes for human craft and art, devoid of passion or soul.

Remove the human element, and you might as well enjoy the aesthetics of a black plastic stock...

[Tom Flanigan]

I have to disagree with you Kensal. The checkering is not done by the machine. Checkering with an MMC type tool is quite similar to using conventional tools but faster and able to cut short lines easier without runovers. It uses a spinning carbide wheel to cut the lines instead of the push method used by unpowered tools. That is the only difference. It is hand checkering aided by the spinning wheel as opposed to unpowered pushing through the wood with a cutter. It is not a mechanical substitute for human skill. Cutting checkering with a carbide wheel is still hand checkering, only with the aid of a power tool and requires practice to build skill levels. It is used to cut the initial pass which is then finished with hand tools. It does not eliminate the need for hand tools.

It is nothing like laser engraving. Pressed in checkering is. You can not tell the difference between checkering using the push method or the wheel method. The wheel method just cuts the time to complete the initial pass and helps to prevent runovers in tight corners. Carbide wheel or hand tools, it is still hand checkering and requires skill to do competently.

[John Campbell]

The checkering is not done by the machine. Checkering with an MMC type tool is quite similar to using conventional tools but faster and able to cut short lines easier without runovers. It uses a spinning carbide wheel to cut the lines instead of the push method used by unpowered tools. ....Cutting checkering with a carbide wheel is still hand checkering, only with the aid of a power tool and requires practice to build skill levels. ...The wheel method just cuts the time to complete the initial pass and helps to prevent runovers in tight corners. Carbide wheel or hand tools, it is still hand checkering and requires skill to do competently.

Errr... ahhh, right. NO machine involved. At least one that makes any part of the job easier. I'm convinced.

And maybe 100 years from now, some collector will point to a pattern on your DHE stock and brag, "This here checkering was cut with a full power MMC carbide wheel, not a machine"!

Count me out...

PS: It's YOUR stock. Do what you want.

[Tom Flanigan]

I have not yet used a power carbide cutter. I began checkering at 16 years old with hand tools and 52 years later still use them. I am simply looking for a way to do extensive patterns more quickly and help cut short lines to the proper depth without having to worry about run overs.

Parkers were not totally hand built. They used pulleys to work the machines and jigs that did the initial cuts on frames and other parts and then finished them by hand. Modern fine shotgun builders use CNC machines to do the same and finish by hand the way Parker did with their pulley system. Holland and Holland now uses CNC machines and Connecticut Shotguns always did. Are these guns or Parkers lessened by the use of machines? Certainly not.

If somebody looks at my checkering 100 years from now they will be admiring the attention to detail and the perfection of the job. They will care less if the initial cuts of the checkering were done by cutting wheels. They would have no way of determining that any more than they will look at a Parker produced frame and comment on the machines that were used to do the initial cuts. It makes no difference. It’s the finishing hand work that means anything at all. If I go to a power carbide cutter, my work will still be hand done with no apologies.

[Mark Beasland]

All the checkers that I know that use power cutters only use them for lay out, guided by hand cutting one line at a time and after layout they deepen one line at a time by hand till pointed up.

No diference in the look of checkering layed out with power tools vs hand tools.

[Tom Flanigan]

Exactly! That is how it is done. Skill and a steady hand are still required when cutting with the power tool one line at a time from right to left and then back again to the right if wanted. All work is pointed up by skillful hands as are the mullered borders or any border for that matter. It is true hand checkering, no doubt about that.

[Carl Baird]

I’d like to throw in one other benefit of the power tool. It makes checkering horn much more enjoyable with superior results.

[Patrick Lien]

Errr... ahhh, right. NO machine involved. At least one that makes any part of the job easier. I'm convinced.

And maybe 100 years from now, some collector will point to a pattern on your DHE stock and brag, "This here checkering was cut with a full power MMC carbide wheel, not a machine"!

Count me out...

PS: It's YOUR stock. Do what you want.

Kensal,
I wonder if you have ever actually put a checkering tool in your hand.

PS: Could you today or 100 years from now even tell the difference of a mechanical vs. hand checkered stock?

PML

[chris dawe]

For what its worth ,I only use hand tools - i'm quite comfortable with what I can do with them ,that being said I've never seen let alone used a power cutter ...my neck is my biggest issue a power cutter wouldn't help there

[Robert Brooks]

My neck bothers me a lot while checkering. Bobby

[John Campbell]

Kensal,
I wonder if you have ever actually put a checkering tool in your hand.

PS: Could you today or 100 years from now even tell the difference of a mechanical vs. hand checkered stock?

PML

Mr. Lein:
Since you've asked nicely, Yes. I've checkered stocks for over 50 years. With hand tools. And yes, I can tell the difference. Also in people...

[Tom Flanigan]

Mr. Lein:
And yes, I can tell the difference. Also in people...

I'm backing out here. Harsh attitudes don't have a place on this site in my opinion. I sometimes disagree with those on the site. Sometimes I'm proven wrong, sometimes I am right. It makes no difference. As long as one shows proper respect and disregrees in a manner that moves the discussion forward, it is all good.

No more posts for me on this thread.