Is this like Mac or PC? Which is better? Do the cutting heads interchange between handles?
I prefer a full view handle from Brownells and you can adjust cutting angle with it and either cutter you mentioned will work with it. Both make cutters work well. Bobby
the cutting heads mostly interchange. there is a slight misalignment between the holes but they still work. i like dembarts. the last time i tried to use gunline, the teeth were so coarse that it jumped the tracks more easily than i could deal with. i just checked brownells and what the pics and listings show is either coarse or a finishing grade and their coarse is just way too coarse. for my skill level anyway. the dembarts have been much easier for me to use w/o screwing up.
roger
I like the old W.E. Brownells cutters. They have individual teeth and can be resharpened with a little knife edge file. I use W.E. Brownells handles exclusively
So basically we're saying what ever is comfortable for you. I have both and you are right the Gunline is very coarse. Good to know they interchange though.
For laying out the checkering Gunline two line cutter is fastest for me because you can cut from right to left or left to right without using another cutter.On dembart which work very well you have to have a right to left and another left to right cutter.I use F1 dembart single line cutters to recut patterns and sharpen up diamonds. I do not like Gunline single line cutters,only the two line spacer. Bobby
Neither of them last very long. You need carbide cutters if you plan to do more than one or two stocks.
Gun line short cutter requires a special handle.
Gun line offers a 60 degree cutter, useful for older guns that don't have pointed diamonds. For true flat diamonds, you have to make your own cutter.
Not having used Gunlines, I'd go for DemBarts over the full view Brownell's handle. DemBarts work fine for me. OTOH, the Brownell handle seems to squeak and chatter. I tried Ken Hurst's suggestion of using epoxy around the cutter. Didn't work. Then I wapped a rubber band around it to act as a damper. Didn't work. Maybe it's the combination of the cutter and the specific piece of wood I'm currently checkering. I go with the DemBart handle and a single line fine cutter. Works for me.
"So basically we're saying what ever is comfortable for you."
That's probably it. FWIW, I use all Dembart. I don't care for carbide or lifetime anything. I want to put in fresh, sharp, cheap and disposable when the mood strikes me. I don't use the safe-sided spacers; I start the layout with the same 2-line cutter that will take me tohrough at least 3-4 passes. I tried a see-through handle and couldn't love it. Hell, I read the books and built a cradle and it's been collecting dust in the rafters for 30 yrs. I do use pinstriping tape a whole lot more than I've seen others suggest.
i've got dembarts that cut on both. they come either way. or used to. my skip-line cutters i have to have a left and right but those are the only ones i have that way.
i have begun considering checkering cutters "expendables". new one per stock on the spacers. abt every 2 on the single pointers. still less than i spend on each stock on sandpaper, finish, etc.
Of course this is all great info. I would not expect anything less here. Thanks Fellas'