Checkering grips(en inglés pero qué linda herramienta casera

[Duque_]

de http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=182832

This tutorial is not the end-all of grip checkering knowledge. I am merely a neophyte attempting to help others by explaining what I have taught myself to do. This is not gospel, most likely much of what I will tell you is wrong, but it is a way to start learning the lessons for yourself and hopefully avoid some of the mistakes I've learned the hard way. I fully expect others with more experience to analyze, critique, and to expand onto this thread.



Pattern Layout

Placing the master lines on your grip is the most important step in this process. If you start out with crooked lines, all of your other lines will have the same crook. Because of the way you trace from line to line any mistakes tend to be amplified. A small bend in your master line will grow to an obvious curve very quickly.

The pattern for 1911 grips is typically very simple compared to long-gun stocks. Double Diamond is the traditional favorite while the "Half and Half" keeps some checkering for grip yet still shows off the grain in the wood. I typically use the H&H on pieces of burl or ironwood, I can't bring myself to cover it all up with DD...

H&H is a simpler layout. You can have your first master line running from corner to corner, or at a shallower angle. I mark my master lines with blue painter's tape. The "correct" way is to use a pencil to transfer your pattern. I'm assuming this is great when you have the curved lines on a long gun stock, but it's a whole lot easier to use the masking tape to get a perfectly straight line.

For DD use the pattern piece that came with your checkering set to lay out the initial lines. Exact placement is up to you, I ballpark it by lining up the number for the diamond length/width ratio in the center of the grip screw hole and pointing the tip of the template down the center line.

In the picture I have the center line marked with the ubiquitous blue tape again. Taping one side of the template to the grip lay down the tape along the working edge making sure it goes down straight.



Now we can cut our initial master line. I use the course single line cutter for this job. To push or pull is up to you, I prefer having the cutter set up to pull. I push first to make a tiny scrape along the tape (the tape makes a perfect edge for the cutter to follow) then I gently pull letting the cutter do its work. Why not just pull and get it over with? The scrape created by the push is very light, but as the teeth are not cutting I've found it less likely to go astray as the teeth don't have the opportunity to catch and head in unintended directions. Pulling along the scrape the teeth are somewhat captive and more likely to stay straight. This is all done with very little pressure on the cutting head. Too much pressure and the tape you are following won't mean much as you go off course. I joke that the pressure I use is the weight of the cutting head itself, probably not that extreme but start out very light. Keep your forearm in alignment with the line you are cutting and move your entire arm to make the cut, don't move the head with your hand or wrist. They should be perfectly still as your arm moves forward and back. The only time is use my wrist and fingers is when I'm working in tight curves or cutting up against a section not to be checkered, more on that later. Keep pulling along the line to deepen it, as you go deeper you can start to use more pressure, but don't overdo it.



Once your master line is maybe 1/4 total depth remove your original tape guide and attach new tape for the opposite direction. Repeat the process above until that line too is at 1/4 total depth. Make sure you are happy with the straightness of both lines! If you have a section that is astray you can make it slightly deep while biasing the head in the direction the line needs to move. It won't take you far, maybe ten-thousandths max, but as the errors tend to amplify that's a lot.

Starting the Checkering

Switch to the trace cutter. It has one V with cutting teeth, the second is smooth (like the "safe" side of a file). The safe side will ride smoothly in an existing line while the working side starts to cut the next line. Being a righty I like to work from right to left so I can see the working side of the head. The most important thing is to cut consistently. Go very shallow on each line. You want enough depth for the safe side to follow it when you are working the next line, but too much depth WILL RUIN YOUR PATTERN! Seriously. I've learned this the hard way.

Deep guidelines are easy to follow, the process is faster, but don't be tempted. For the safe side to follow the groove it will have to sit deep, no longer keeping both V's parallel with the grip. When this happens your spacing will be closer together. Its like the oft-copied movie scene of a car on two of its side wheels slipping through tight traffic. Rotated it is thinner. Cool yes, consistent when checkering: no. I think this was the toughest thing for me to learn. ANY deviation from parallel will affect the layout. As you move over the curvature of the grip, especially towards the edge it is very easy to forget to be perfectly level to the surface where you are cutting. If I'm not paying attention it is very easy for lines to begin widening in one section of the grip turning my razor straight layout into the start of a gentle spiral.

Heres a nice pic of the tracing in action....



This brings up the most maddening part of the entire process. Making parallel lines across a round object just doesn't work. End of story. Look at a globe vs. a world map and see the difficulty of thinking in 2D in a 3D world. If you make your grip as flat as can be this isn't an issue, but I like flowing lines. If I wanted flat and utilitarian I would have stuck with Glocks. Realistically you will have a curved workpiece, and as you approach the tighter radius of the curve with a diagonal line it will spread out from the one next to it. Using the trace tool will only drive you insane.

Trace across the front, but stop 3/8 from the edge. Once you have the flats traced and parallel you can draw in the lines with pencil to the edges to keep the pattern even, then cut with the single V cutting head. The pattern will be slightly wider on those edges, but I've yet to find a way to get past this issue, at least they will be consistently wider and not a haphazard mix of thin and thick checkering.

I trace one direction to about 1/4 depth, then trace the other. When you have lines abutting your diamonds or uncheckered half be very careful that you don't have an overrun. The trace tool can't get too close to the diamond without having an overrun so just stop short. Later on you can come in with a single V cutter and get right up against the diamond. When I'm trying to avoid overruns I set up my cutter to push and push away from the diamond with the front of the cutter pointing at the ceiling. The back edge of the cutter is the only metal touching the wood. Its almost a "picking" motion to get the rear edge to dive deep enough right off of the diamond but keep at it.





Don't just make a deep canyon around the diamond hoping to trap overruns, leave as much wood there as possible so you have something to repair overruns with. You can cover the area to be protected with the blue tape for some protection, I've been meaning to try electrical tape...

Going Deeper

I repeat all of the lines once with the course single V to deepen to about 1/3 depth, then use the double V cutting head (no safe side) to even the diamonds out. Notice I don't blow off the dust, it helps me keep track of where I'm at in case the 3 year-old steals a tool.



Again, only go a little way, this time to about 1/2 depth. Switch back to the course single V and start deepening. Don't get impatient and bring one direction to full depth before you work the other direction deeper.

Baby steps, one direction then the other. Once you are very close to full depth switch to the fine single V head. Very lightly do one more pass in both directions.

Clean-Up

At this point you have checkering, and it might feel great in the hand, but hold it in the light, rotating it to see any reflections off any flats where there should be non-reflective sharp points.



Rework those areas very lightly from both directions and recheck. For complicated adjustments I put a very light coat of Tru-Oil on the grip to darken things up before I try and fix anything. It lets you see where you do any clean up on the checkering. Staring at a section of checkering for too long will give you vertigo, this helps you keep your bearings since you can see the lighter color of your recent cuts.

Don't get too aggressive on fixing things, I've taken checkering down so far it leaves a dent in a section of the grip. It was horrible, I turned it into an expensive piece of firewood. Accept the mistake and move on. Perfection is attainable, but on a different set, later.

I'll get into the shaping and finishing aspects in a later post, there's a certain member in Arizona I've been promising to get this out there for and I've taken waaaay too long.

[Lagartus]

Esas cachas son muy parecidas a las que tenés en la Colt.... o estoy   ??

[Duque_]

Noooo... ni a palos  
Ya quisiera poder hacer algo así

[el357juancho]

LA HERRAMIENTA ES MUY BUEN PERO LOGRAR ALGO ASI LLEVA AÑOS DE PRACTICA Y MUCHA PERO MUCHA PACIENCIA , YO NUNCA LO LOGRE .ME FALTO LA PACIENCIA