Ribbons, fleur-de-lis, whatever.

I'd rather see some "Good Checkering" Then if it happens to be fancy great.

avatar

32 LPI complete 360 degree wrap-around

It is refreshing to see a checkering design that is a little differant yet tasteful and very well executed.

A pattern wrapped, connected both top and bottom requires great skills and much talent.

if i can get photobucket to work i'll post some pict. i'm not one for fancy, do nothing checkering, but i do have a few pieces for some of the masters like hal hartley, which are rather plain but beautifully executed. you might want to take a look at some modern guys like kobe,who does a most excellent job of over the top wrap around jobs

dietrich apel ? Chilean m98







Win Hi-wall 219

quote:

you might want to take a look at some modern guys like kobe,who does a most excellent job of over the top wrap around jobs

Have one of his. Just a nice wrap point pattern. But beautiful none the less.

Nothing fancy as I prefer simple. Unknown builder on my pre-war M70 270. Absolutely flawlessly executed.





Roger Green's work. Again, simple but flawless.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by richj:
dietrich apel ? Chilean m98



Richj, Dietrich Apel started New England Custom Guns.

a buddy owns 3 or 4 rifles done up by NECG. These pics are in Geo. Beitzingers shop. I think the engraving is Willig.

Rich

My Enfield with checkering by an unnamed artist.


Stock by Jim Kobe,checkering by Kathy Forster
My Hyper Single in 257 Roberts


My 250-3000 stocked and checkered by Jim Kobe

This is my VZ24 stocked and checkered by Jim Kobe

Leonard Mews

Beautiful rifles!

I love this stuff.
Here's a decent wrap around Tim Smith-Lyons he did for me on my small ring a couple years ago. I was thinking of replacing this stock with a darker stock, getting bored with the cheek piece shape and the pink hue to the claro.
Beautiful stuff guys.

Some checkering on my rifles. The first two photos is fare from my pre-64 Model 70 .458 Lott stocked and checkered by Gary Goudy in a fleur de lis with ribbons pattern.

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/
Next is from my G33/40 .25-06 also by Gary Goudy checkered in his standard fleur de lis pattern.

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/
Finally, my .257 Ackley, also on a G33/4- by Pete Grisel. It is a skip-a-line pattern that originated with Leonard Mews I believe.

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/

http://s147.photobucket.com/user/Tsquare_02/library/

Looks like the photos didn't post for some reason. I'll try again





Next is the Goudy .25-06.





and finally the Grisel .257AI with the Mews pattern skip-a-line pattern.

Here's a few more to have a look at. The first two photos are from my pre-64 Model 70 .338 checkered by Curt Crum.





Next is my pre-64 Model 70 .280 stocked and checkered in a point pattern by Gary Goudy.





Last is my Dakota 76 in .257 Wby. It was checkered by a guy that did nothing but checker, Dennis Richards. Alas, he passed away all too young a few years ago. He is one of two checkering artists that I know that did not use a checkering cradle and held the stock in his lap while checkering.

More awesome talent here. Wow!

Some beautiful work on display. The skill required to do quality checkering is not trivial and is one mark of a fine craftsman and artist in wood. I'm awed by the skill required to do the ribbons and panels and cut fine lines without run overs. That said as I get older I find I now prefer a simple point pattern cut on good wood, without run overs, fine enough and smooth enough to still show the wood grain to any fancy pattern.

I'm a fair hand at point checkering. What I'd like to know is how those mullered borders are done. Anyone done a video on that?

Hoffman 505 on a #20 Oberndorf

Guys,

I try to follow the philosophy that anything done in excess is usually bad, and most things in moderation are good. A fine custom rifle is, or should be, the sum of all its parts. Each facet must conform and flow with all the other facets. When first viewing a fine custom rifle, if a feature of the piece jumps out and grabs you, in my view, it is overdone. It could be overly ornate engraving, checkering, wood grain, gold plated sling swivels, or anything else.

The older I get, the more I gravitate toward the simple, but very well done. When I was a young buck, I sought out the flashiest walnut I could find, the more ornate checkering patterns, and when I had engraving done, it was glitzy. I might add, I also drove a Porsche 911SC.

These days, I opt for either no engraving or strategically placed scrollwork, I seek out walnut blanks that have perfect grain flow and very nice color, but pretty subdued flash and glitz, and perfectly done checkering patterns with no ribbons, curlicues, or didoes. For rifles, 22 to 24 LPI is perfect and for shotguns, perhaps 28 LPI is the cat's meow. My vehicle is a Toyota 4Runner these days.

Tom,
Is that why I drive a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer with 210,000 miles on it?
Maybe it is to leave money for the important things.

Butch, Amen brother.

T:
It's all about the flow and let the design match the hardware and wood quality and let no feature overshadow another. The more customs I see, in addition to a nicely grained wood stock, I find that I appreciate a fine gold band on the barrel, a thin gold border and maybe a gold S-F on the shroud way more than many gold animal inlays even ones on high end rifles costing 6 figures which can be a bit of a distraction on a otherwise highly refined work of art and craftsmanship.

An example of what I consider a mis-match of features is the rifle I showed above. To start, Richard's messed up the notch at the bolt release and cut it too far forward. Result: no wood in front of the release. (sorry that the release is stuck outward in the picture, still had to shave the wood a bit) But, being pumped up as I was to keep the ball rolling on my first 100% ground up "custom", I still completed the inletting, finished the stock and sent it off for checkering.
Having said all that, even though the forearm is flawlessly executed, the grip is wimpy and narrow. The tail is gone now. But, it just doesn't flow or match the rest of the gun.
Have fun.
CB

The request was for FANCY checkering.
I don't consider conservative point patterns fancy, regardless of how well done.
And I drive a Toyota and most of my rifles have point patterns.

Another beautiful Hoffman pattern called the Hoffman Bear:

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:
The request was for FANCY checkering.
I don't consider conservative point patterns fancy, regardless of how well done.
And I drive a Toyota and most of my rifles have point patterns.

Another beautiful Hoffman pattern called the Hoffman Bear:

Precisely why I qualified my reply....

The thing is, I figure if I keep trying and if I have a particularily good day, I can turn out a point pattern which won't make ya puke. No matter what, I would never be able to copy that Hoffman pattern. If I tried, I might end up with something which looked like a bear but it would be just as likely to look like a cow or a beaver. Likewise, I would avoid any attempt at a fleur des lis pattern. That pattern by Gary Goudy is really nice. Regards, Bill

Here is a butt place with a little pattern to match a fleur de lis. I hand filed this one from a 3/16 in. 1018 steel and had a cap to match on this rifle. This will keep you busy for a couple of days.

Beautiful work Les!

+1. Nice work Les. A nice deep rich blue for the metal would make that pop. Is that the plan?