Book by Kennedy is considered the best source, but its a lot of patterns that you will drool over but not use immediately.
If you can find a video by Joe Balickie it will give you an idea of how a master does it.
A recent new book by Joel Schafer on checkering was also a nice read and its more current. It shows you some interesting ways to hold the stock and some of his methods.
I have been checkering on and off for quite a few years and you have to be detail oriented A type personality to really enjoy it. Its tedious work, sorta like reloading. You have to be able to get into the groove and go, but also have a feel for the wood and the grain. You have to put in hours of time and learn from your mistakes.
I would suggest starting off by finding a gun with checkering already in place but worn down and recut it. YOu can follow those lines and get a sense of how the tool cuts without having to learn how to layout the pattern, start your master lines, and then space.
Master line layout and spacing the lines is the most important and extra time spent going slowly to space properly from well set master lines means that your follow up passes go smoother and it looks great in the end. Otherwise you spend hours on your second and third cuts dealing with issues around spacing and you may not have evenly sized diamonds that look odd.
My two cents.
Jason
Last edited by JLN; 05/18/16 10:08 PM.
