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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

My neck bothers me a lot while checkering. Bobby

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...

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.