I agree with almost all of the above. I have not read Joel's book but I'm sure that it is a VERY worthwhile addition to our knowledge base. Hey I've been doing this for over 40 years so it's hard for me to change - sorry! If I were just starting out and planned on doing this as a paying profession I would buy an electric checkering machine. However, since I tried one when I was passed 65 I hated it
I, personally, do not care for the Dembart tips and much prefer the Gunline style. Since these tips have been very hard to get and sporadic to say the least I have had a very good friend make checkering spacers of very high quality. His name is Steve Earle and his web site is as follows:
http://steveearleproducts.com/ He does not have the spacers listed but they are available in all sizes from 18LPI to 28LPI. They are not cheap ($20+ per each) however they are made from A2 steel on a CNC machine, are finished using a wire EDM and are heat treated. He also has single line spacers available. One major advantage in using these spacers is that you do not have to remove the machining burrs that are on the Gunline tips - that drives me crazy! You will not find these tips listed on his web site yet but they are available, just call him and leave a message, he'll finally get tired of people calling and update his web site. The down side of any of these tips is that they do not last forever. I expect to get maybe 2 jobs out of a spacer before I make a change. They can be sharpened but I simply don't have the time, it's just part of the cost of doing business.
I will be seeing Steve next week and he has expressed an interest in making a reproduction of the W E Brownell full view handle. We will see!
I highly recommend to carbide tools from Michael Ullman. They are my "go to" tool for pointing up checkering.
