Repro checkering
 

I was reading the thread on General Discussion about Parker checkering which raised this question/comment. I am very impressed by the checkering quality on repros, especially the higher grades such as the A-1s which have flawless wrap-around 32LPI. I assume all repros are hand checkered, wonder if it was done in Japan or USA? Skilled artisians, whom ever.

The checkering was done in Japan. Even the A1S guns that came over 'in the white' were checkered when they arrived, to the best of my knowledge.
The DHE Repros were checkered to the Remington Parker standard but not exactly. The border which is not truly mullered, as Remington did not muller the borders (the Parkers that Tom Skuese sent to Japan to be used as exact patterns for the Repros were his Remington Parkers), are not done exactly as Remington did them... but they are probably as close as necessary.

Those workers were some real craftsmen/women for sure. The way they wrapped the fine 32LPI checkering around the English grips on A-1s w/o straying or interuption is amazing. Not many custom gunsmiths I know today could accomplish that as well. Only other Japanese shotgun I have owned was an early Win101, made at the same factory, and its checkering was also very precise, although fewer lines per inch.

I have no experience with the Parker Repro so I would ask the question do we know if the checkering on these guns including the A1-S was hand cut and not machine made. I believe today the checkering on most guns with the exception of the very finest would be accomplished with lasers. This is faster, cheaper, and requires little or no skill.

I've had but two Repros. I paid a lot more attention to the first (DHE) and there were minute telltale signs of handwork. Hmm, I suppose it's what, 20 lpi?

The lower grade Repros (DH) have anything but high quality checkering. It was relatively crudely cut. And, the patterns were outlined first and then filled in. So, the spaced lines match borders on one side and not on the other side of a pattern.

The high grade guns are very nice though.

Sounds like hand checkering to me ! ;)

Repro Checkering
 

I have 2 DH repros and think they are a good buy. I would have been afraid to open this can of worms but will since Mr. Dudley's input. When Mr. Dudley speaks, people listen at least I do. The checkering on my repros are dreadful. It looks to me that they did the border first and then the checkering. I guess that would be ok but they did not do the checkering parallel to the borders. Also, the width of checkering varies. It is not like anything I've seen on Parkers. Again, I think the DH repros are a good buy, beautiful reproductions and good shooters. Bob

I have owned 8 DHE Reproductions and I can attest to the rather mediocre hand checkering. However, it is relatively easy to chase the checkering with a single line tool and improve it considerably. I have done this to several of mine with good results.

Well, I just took another closer look at my repros and I guess the checkering isn't perfect. There are some over-runs, but all mine are within the borders. Not all perfectly parallel with the borders either but that is impossible to accomplish with borders that bend down. At any rate, all are much better than any pre-64 Winchester and most of my other factory guns. I still am amazed at how the lines wrap around the bottom of the stocks on the A1s.

Not all that impossible. Just takes proper layout of a pattern and knowing when not to close a pattern in.

I believe you, you are a better checkerer than me, but I still can't see how one maintains lines parallel with curved borders that taper to a point, like at the bottom of an English grip. Have any pictures?

I went back and looked at my remaining DHE. The checkering is quite good. Yes, it's bordered and then filled in, but aside from the process, the workmanship is excellent. The wide, unmullered border is perhaps a little off-putting. The whole of it is certainly superior to that on my ratty-ass Perazzi.

The key to any checkering pattern is knowing the type of pattern you are laying down and anticipating possible pitfalls. Sometimes it is knowing where you need to go and not where the tool may want to take you.
This is especially important when working around curves and things such as forend latches.

The proper way to checker a pattern is not to scratch in the whole outline and then fill it in. You scratch in one side of the pattern, and then your master lines and you fill in to the other side. So, your opposing borders are determined by the spaced lines you are cutting in. So, if the lines end up taking a hair of a deviation, it is not known by the end.

In a straight grip pattern, layout is critical since the lines are long and need to be straight. I use the rear border as my one master line so that way it is guaranteed to be where it is suppoed to be. Then work forward, closing the pattern in at the front.

A little difficult to describe. I will start a thread in the restoration section that will better illustrate what I am trying to say.