I'm sure this has been posted before but I was hopeing to get some ideas or pictures or even links where to purchase a really good cradle for stock checking .
Thanks in advance !!!

Here's a picture of my setup. I used Uni-strut and two cheap c-clamps to build it, and mounted it with a Wilton Pow-r-arm. It's very adjustable and very fast to swing around.

BTW , for various projects you will find that using a light source [incandescent or flourescent] that has a spectrum that matches sunlight will be much easier on the eyes .
Checkering, soldering circuit boards , sewing etc are made much easier !

TT

Could you be talked into a close up or two of the business ends of that nice checkering cradle.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
BTW , for various projects you will find that using a light source [incandescent or flourescent] that has a spectrum that matches sunlight will be much easier on the eyes .
Checkering, soldering circuit boards , sewing etc are made much easier !

Which basically means getting a fluorescent tube with a color temp above 4500. these are available at the box stores and are usually a T8 which may require a new ballast. You can't just swap out T12's for T8's and expect it to work.

What I will say though is in my two car garage of a shop i have four, 4 bulb fixtures mounted to the ceiling I hit the switch and it's like being outside on a clear summers day at noon. Bulbs I run are 5600 color temp or something close to it, Off the top of my head I don't remember the exact number. Just get the highest ones they got and you will not believe the difference. Regular Fluorescent tubes will look yellow after you see these. And you will never go back to the old T12's either.

What I need to do next is install motion sensors on them so they shut off when I'm not in the garage and forget to hit the lights on the way out.

Also In Monty Kennedy's book Checkering & carving of gunstocks. They pay careful attention to lighting and light placement to develop the proper shadow so the checkering pattern is more easily seen. Light directly over head will blur the pattern to the point that your eyes cannot focus on the pattern and you won't be able to tell the peeks from the valleys.

a globe/tube colour temp of >6000 ( often referred to as "cool white")is very stark & provides high contrast.
its in the blue tones and can be very hard on the eyeballs for extended periods.

The human eyeball has evolved to be efficient with natural sunlight . this is approximated with colour temps in the mid 5,000's.

colour temp of 4500 ( often referred to as "warm white" ) is yellowish & 'soft' on the eyeballs, but provides poorer contrast for detailed work.

The effort to locate "natural white" globes/tubes at a colour temp of 5500-5600 will be appreciated by your eyes when undertaking extended periods of detailed work & even more appreciated by yourself with general eyesight condition in older age .

another issue is that fluoro lights ( CFL or straight tube)is not constant like an incandescent globe.............it pulses faster than the brain recognises , but reacted to by the eyeball iris............it contributes significantly to eye tiredness & strain and hastens eyesight degradation with age.

FWIW

Buy bulbs at a photo shop. The daylight balanced bulbs for enlargers and studio lighting are exactly on target.

Thanks for all the responses ... Like Kevin stated , John Farner, showing a closeup of both business ends would be super ...
I also like the ball vise .... great idea !!!

Here's mine, sorry I don't know where the parts came from, It was free.

Per request:

What type butt end holder do you use on a curved butt stock with skelton butt plate with checkering? I prefer to have an adjustable clamp padded with cork bought at the auto supply house. A machine swivel base is used at the butt end. Over all length of my checkering cradle is 26 inches of hard wood. I find that the shorter it is the better to rotate to change ends when the grain of the wood changes direction. I use a long pointed forend rod to hold the barrel channel end holder. When I am checkering I like to be able to look straight down the line. That is my reason to use a shorter cradle with the short ends. You can get closer to the stock to be able to see when you need as much help with the Opti Visor #7 as my eyes are going south. Here is a close up pic's.