Come Into Bawanna's Famous Grip Emporium

[dao]

Those are beautiful Colonel! Looks like those sharp replacement cutters you bought are paying off. Had you done skip line checkering before?

[kenemoore]

They are very purdy.
Do you, make thin grips? Every try Ironwood?

I have been thinking about getting a slim set of Ironwood grips for one of my Gov't models.

[Bawanna]

I've done a lot of skip line checkering, many folks don't care for it and a lot of people that checker don't like doing it. I don't understand why. It's no different than regular checkering. This wood checkered really nice. So far I've only used one new cutter for final touch up. Hoarding the rest. Still need to find some single cutters but I'm ok on the doubles for quite a spell.

Kenemoore, I did a lot of Ironwood (also called Epay?) in the past. It works pretty well but lord help ya if you get a splinter in your paw. Hurts instantly and everything stops till you get it out and it still hurts for a while.
I'm not sure if I have any left around or not, I'm thinking the just might be. I'm a devout thin grips guy. This last set I did on standard bushings hoping that I could use the officer size for a model without always having to take the bushings in and out all the time but I'm not sure it's gonna work. I got another set, same stuff I'm gonna try to thin more. If that fails, we'll just swap bushings. Wish I had an old beater officer frame to use as a model so I'm not risking my carry guns so much to scratches and piles of sawdust etc.
Send me a PM on what you're thinking on your Gov't model, models?

[Bawanna]

Very nice! Love the checkering!

I saw a set a fella did on Fakebook where he left that border on the front and back and kind of liked it. So tried it myself. Funny I'd never seen that before. Guy was a relatively new checkerer and as usual a few kind of razzed him but they looked great to me and I kind of stole his border idea. I usually just run the checkering off the edges which is of course easier, you don't have to worry about crossing the line or overruns as the good guys call them. I got lucky and had zero on this set. That normally don't happen to me.

[dao]

If you decide those fat grips aren't for you Colonel, well, I know a guy who likes them

[Bawanna]

If you decide those fat grips aren't for you Colonel, well, I know a guy who likes them

I thought of that and they might work with the magwell too. I did bevel the bottom but might still work.

[BirdsThaWord]

I saw a set a fella did on Fakebook where he left that border on the front and back and kind of liked it. So tried it myself. Funny I'd never seen that before. Guy was a relatively new checkerer and as usual a few kind of razzed him but they looked great to me and I kind of stole his border idea. I usually just run the checkering off the edges which is of course easier, you don't have to worry about crossing the line or overruns as the good guys call them. I got lucky and had zero on this set. That normally don't happen to me.

After looking at this last set you made I finally went and watched a "how to" video. I think it was a Brownell's and he did a rifle stock. I now understand why you have so many different files, etc and now understand that it is quite the time consuming process. I see what you are saying about the border and understand about the over runs as he cleaned them up on the edges in the video. After watching that video, I have even more respect for what you are doing to go from a hunk of wood to a finished set!

[Bawanna]

Time consuming a lot like wearing your fingers to the bone polishing I imagine. I had a set of checkering tools long long ago that I could never figure out how to even use, until I saw in a book or something.

Just takes patience I guess. I never had that back when I had legs (actually not much patience now neither) and that's the main reason I was able to learn it. While everyone was out hunting, fishing or stuff like that I had time at the bench. No regrets although I'd love to have legs for about a month, I could get a lot of stuff done around the place.

[dao]

Ah, I hadn't noticed that they were beveled. Probably wouldn't look "right" above a magwell. Drat.

[BirdsThaWord]

Time consuming a lot like wearing your fingers to the bone polishing I imagine. I had a set of checkering tools long long ago that I could never figure out how to even use, until I saw in a book or something.

Just takes patience I guess. I never had that back when I had legs (actually not much patience now neither) and that's the main reason I was able to learn it. While everyone was out hunting, fishing or stuff like that I had time at the bench. No regrets although I'd love to have legs for about a month, I could get a lot of stuff done around the place.

That patience stuff comes and goes with me. Hence some of them sitting unfinished for so long.
i'm often surprised by what you say you do get done while in the chair. Cutting wood, shoveling this and that. Not sure I would. A lot of stuff goes undone around me anymore just because of back pain. I would have to say you have more get up & go in you than I have. Wasn't that way when I had a good back
Nice you found the books and ran with it. When I say/think, "what did we do before the internet", your example is the answer.