Gunsmithing Assignment
For this week's reflection assignment, we were provided two videos for our paper. I chose the first video titled "Gunsmithing: How to checker a gunstock". The video features Mr. Larry Potterfield, the founder and CEO of Midway USA. The video was presented by way of youtube.com, and was posted by Midway USA.
Mr. Potterfield begins the video by explaining the role of checkering on gun stocks. It aids the shooter by providing extra grip, and is visually appealing as well. He showed several different variants in the beginning. Each one of the examples he shows has their own pattern, and design. I must say that I do like the ones with margin, as they look more clean. The others with the checkering all the way down sort of lack that professional looking appearance, as they are not tapered off. Mr. Potterfield goes on to show where to make the markings for the checkering of the fore end of a weapon. To begin the …show more content…
checkering process, he secures the stock in a checkering cradle. It allows the stock to be rotated, while keeping it secured. He then draws a centerline with a fine tipped marker in order to keep the checkering patterns uniform. From the centerline, he then makes his margin lines where the checkering will go. He also used a ruler prior to this to mark the margins from the centerline. He then copies the pattern onto the opposite side of the stock. He then used a layout guide to ensure the markings are even as the travel the stock. Next, he began making his lines with shallow cuts using a sixty degree single cutter. The work appears to be very tedious, and time consuming. Mr. Potterfield then used a checkering template in order to mark his diamonds. This allowed him to scribe his master lines, and also confirmed a good diamond pattern. Once his simple lines are cut shallow, he removes the marker with some mineral spirits.
He continues by deepening the border, and master lines to about 2/3 of their final depth.
Mr. Potterfield uses the proper tool for the job he intends to do. He shows that the cutting tool only cuts on the push, and not on the draw. When he nears the border, he switches back to a single cutter. Because he cut the border almost all the way down, it provides a "catch" for the cutting tool. This ensures his lines do not exceed the border. He also showed the hook and pull technique in which he turned to tool around so it cuts on the pull. Near the corners there is little room for error, so he employs a Xacto knife blade to make those fine lines. One thing I found interesting was the cross sectioning of lines in order to make the checkers. We use that in the tattoo industry whenever we are tattooing scales, like on a snake, dragon, or koi fish (except their semi curved). This video was really informative, and reinforced the text for this week's material. I have a fairly good understanding of the checkering process, and look forward to practicing in the near
future.
Mr. Potterfield begins the video by explaining the role of checkering on gun stocks. It aids the shooter by providing extra grip, and is visually appealing as well. He showed several different variants in the beginning. Each one of the examples he shows has their own pattern, and design. I must say that I do like the ones with margin, as they look more clean. The others with the checkering all the way down sort of lack that professional looking appearance, as they are not tapered off. Mr. Potterfield goes on to show where to make the markings for the checkering of the fore end of a weapon. To begin the …show more content…
checkering process, he secures the stock in a checkering cradle. It allows the stock to be rotated, while keeping it secured. He then draws a centerline with a fine tipped marker in order to keep the checkering patterns uniform. From the centerline, he then makes his margin lines where the checkering will go. He also used a ruler prior to this to mark the margins from the centerline. He then copies the pattern onto the opposite side of the stock. He then used a layout guide to ensure the markings are even as the travel the stock. Next, he began making his lines with shallow cuts using a sixty degree single cutter. The work appears to be very tedious, and time consuming. Mr. Potterfield then used a checkering template in order to mark his diamonds. This allowed him to scribe his master lines, and also confirmed a good diamond pattern. Once his simple lines are cut shallow, he removes the marker with some mineral spirits.
He continues by deepening the border, and master lines to about 2/3 of their final depth.
Mr. Potterfield uses the proper tool for the job he intends to do. He shows that the cutting tool only cuts on the push, and not on the draw. When he nears the border, he switches back to a single cutter. Because he cut the border almost all the way down, it provides a "catch" for the cutting tool. This ensures his lines do not exceed the border. He also showed the hook and pull technique in which he turned to tool around so it cuts on the pull. Near the corners there is little room for error, so he employs a Xacto knife blade to make those fine lines. One thing I found interesting was the cross sectioning of lines in order to make the checkers. We use that in the tattoo industry whenever we are tattooing scales, like on a snake, dragon, or koi fish (except their semi curved). This video was really informative, and reinforced the text for this week's material. I have a fairly good understanding of the checkering process, and look forward to practicing in the near
future.