Could you guys please give me some advice on refinishing a stock and touching up checkering on a bolt action stock that has previously been checkered? I don't have any problem refinishing a stock that has no checkering but am not sure how to go about refinishing a checkered stock. Also, how do you seal the checkering and touch it up or recut it? Thanks!

Wiktor, You could probably tape over the checkering and sand very carefully so as not to damage it further. I would probably refinish as normal and then go back over the checkering to clean it up. I use an oil type finish, checker and then just brush in a couple drops of oil into the checkering.......DJ

In the past I had luck doing the following:
1 - Place masking tape over the checkering and trim to the
edge of the checkering
2 - Prepare the stock for refinishing using the masking
tape to protect the checkering from more damage.
3 - When the stock is ready for the new finish, remove the
masking tape and clean the checkered areas with lacquer
thinner using an old tooth brush(won't last long -
some melt pretty quick in the lacquer thinner) or any
brush that you can use to get any old finish or grim
out of the checkering.
4 - Use a single point checkering tool to clean up any
damage that is feasible to make look right. For bad
gouges you might try steaming the area up to get the
wood back to the same height. Be careful - poor
checkering looks worse than damaged checkering.
5 - Apply the new finish to the stock. Again use a tooth
brush(or similar brush) to apply any finish to the
checkered areas. A little finish goes a long ways in
checkering - don't let it build up or the checkering
will not look good.
I hope this helps as it worked well for me.

Thanks for the reply's guys!

wiktor,
You are best off to cover the checkering while you refinish. For two reasons, you dont want to sand the tops of the diamonds down any further than they areand you don't want to fill the checkering with your finish. Good luck on your project.