Here's a link to Gunline Checkering Tools.
Take a bit of time and look thru the different Checkering Cutters and the Checkering Tools (handles).
http://www.gunline.com/cutters.htmlI'm not recommending these over any others' It's just a fairly simple layout that you can get a good idea of the different checkering tools are and sort out the specialty from the basics.
I use some GunLine,,some Dembart, some home-made, It's getting to the point with availability (lack of it) that you have to take what you can find in some instances.
Some of what used to be very high quality as far as the detachable cutters lately has been pretty bad in my experience w/ LPI not exactly matching what is presented.
Can't get in too much trouble with a single line tool through!
I 'rough' the pattern out with an MMC that I've been using since the 70's. Always finish up with hand tools. Never have I been able to finish a pattern with the power tool exclusively , but it certainly is a time saver,,,
and it'll get you in trouble quickly too if you are not watching.
There's quite a choice of different shapes and specialty tools. But simple single line cutter tools are just that.
About the only differences you can get in to are the length of the cutter,,, the coarseness/fine degree of the cutter and the actual angle of the diamond it will cut.
Single line tools can be used quite often when recutting for getting right up to the old border. Since you are cleaning out and/or just slightly cutting, the point of the tool can be depressed at the border edge and dragged backwards to complete a line to the edge. Not the primo way to do things of course. A better way is to use a small Veiner chisel, a V shaped palm held hand tool to cut that last little bit of each line up to the border. They are also good for getting into those acute border angled areas where the checkering exists, but the lines are so short betw the borders, your checkering tool won't fit or you can't move it back and forth to cut anything.
Most common US checkering is cut with a 90* tool.
But most European and a lot of earlier US checkering was cut using 60* tools. The 60* gives you a steeper diamond because you have to go deeper to get to a point with each row.
Lots of earlier US work was cut and left with Flat Tops on the diamonds. That was to avoid having to go so very deep on the 16, 18 and even 20 LPI patterns in order to attain pointed diamonds at 60*. Even at 90* the 16 & 18 look better most times flat topped if done well.
(There is English Style Flat Top Checkering also. It is different from the above. Cut with straight sided tools, no or very slight taper to the lines. Very tough to do when compared to Diamond/pyramid checkering)
