# No more slippery slingshot!



## Greavous

Im putting this in the slingshot mod section because that is what I did, I made my daily driver slingshot better. I also made my slingshot but that was back in the fall so this would be a modification.

I hope Im not the only one that sometimes drops his slingshot but it happens to me because of my archery background/form sort of thing. When Im not dropping the thing sometimes I dont grip it the same way every time and I fire off some unexpected tragictrory projectiles. So in order to find a solution to a few of my shooting problems it only seemed logical to get some traction over a reather smoothly finished slingshot.

I decided to add some checkering to my slingshot. I was fortunate enough to purchace myself a brand new over/under shotgun a few years ago and the stock was had hand cut checkering and it was sharp! I remember thinking about how pressed checkering (the cheap way) just gave some traction where cut checkering grabbed you!

Anyway, please keep in mind I have never done any checkering before. I just bought a nice set of tools and did a few practice patches before jumping in with both feet. The slingshot is alum. core with mesquite wood.





this is the back side


----------



## Arber

Do your hands not chafe after extended periods of use due to its roughness?


----------



## Rayshot

Looks good for first time!!


----------



## The Warrior

Pretty dang cool man. I need to get a set of checkering files.


----------



## ash

Nice one. Show us the tools if possible, too, please


----------



## treefork

I like it ! Looks good also.


----------



## GrayWolf

Well done!! This looks great, especially for a first time and on such an odd shape. Checkering is an art and take time to do well.

Keep up the great work.

Todd


----------



## e~shot

Cool!



ash said:


> Nice one. Show us the tools if possible, too, please


Yes.. if not secret, show us the tools


----------



## Greavous

I picked up the Master kit although it still lacks a thing or two which IMO should have been in the box for the money. For the better part they are all (6 tools in my case) files and after doing some careful layout and scribe work its all about mind numbing paying attention.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/stock-work-finishing/hand-checkering-tools/checkering-sets/18-lpi-sku241700018-26277-13547.aspx

If interested do a search on youtube and you will find several videos on the process.


----------



## Imperial

thats some neat checkering. ever consider attaching a lanyard ?


----------



## treefork

This would be nice on a HDPE shooter.


----------



## GrayWolf

Greavous said:


> I picked up the Master kit although it still lacks a thing or two which IMO should have been in the box for the money. For the better part they are all (6 tools in my case) files and after doing some careful layout and scribe work its all about mind numbing paying attention.
> 
> http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/stock-work-finishing/hand-checkering-tools/checkering-sets/18-lpi-sku241700018-26277-13547.aspx
> 
> If interested do a search on youtube and you will find several videos on the process.


You are right about the kit needing to include more. When I sold all my checkering tools, I had 3 sets for different LPI (lines per inch) and every set had to have extras just to be able to do the job right. Brownells is where I got all my stuff as well...love that place.


----------



## GrayWolf

treefork said:


> This would be nice on a HDPE shooter.


I'm not sure how the files would work on the HDPE. The material might clog up the teeth fairly quickly. I would like to know if it works...might be worth the investment in the files again.


----------



## Greavous

i made a set of grips (scales?) for my Ruger Mk1 today out of mesquite. Ive got one side about half way checkered and see myself making another set of grips before its all said and done. They are bookmatched so once one is ruined its a double do over... I may be able to salvage them but the more I do the better it gets so as long as im having fun.


----------



## Greavous

what would I have around the house that is HPDE and thick enought to try a few lines on?


----------



## GrayWolf

Greavous said:


> what would I have around the house that is HPDE and thick enought to try a few lines on?


a cutting board, maybe a coffee can or a pop bottle lid. Those should be thick enough to at least see if the file loads up.


----------



## Greavous

Ill scrounge something up and give it a whirl and report back on the findings.


----------



## e~shot




----------



## Tentacle Toast

Knice knurl...


----------



## Lacumo

Good idea and a good job!


----------



## Samurai Samoht

Looks great!


----------



## JonM

Nice job for a first time. another option for hdpe would be an engraver. I've seen some interesting stuff done on Glock grips.


----------



## toolmantf99

King me! Awesome job and a great idea!


----------



## Flatband

The "Knurled Look"! Very cool Bud. Love it! I'm an old time machinist. Knurling is the word we used for checkering when working metal. Looks even better on wood!


----------



## ruthiexxxx

How interesting! I've never come across checkering tools before. I have done checkering occasionally but only using a very small 'V' gouge (or 'parting tool' as it is sometimes called).


----------



## Greavous

Unlike parting tools or veining tools the checkering tools are really more of progressive files and the checkering is scratched into the wood.


----------



## ruthiexxxx

Greavous said:


> Unlike parting tools or veining tools the checkering tools are really more of progressive files and the checkering is scratched into the wood.


How interesting. I suppose that...as with the 'V' gouges...successful checkering with depend on very closegrained wood. The problem is usually grain 'break-out'. You've got a great, sharp cut finish


----------



## Greavous

im sure checkering woods with tight, low porisity grain produce the better results. In my case im a bit of a mesquite adict. The wood is a supper wood in my view. It dries to about 6% moisture content and stays there so it is unusually stable, it machines well and I can cook with the scarps. Im grilling half a hog for tonight on some mesquite! I had read that maple can be problematic to checker as it tends to fuzz up with little micro fiber hairs. I need to find some HDPE to test fly today. The only downside to checkering is when things go wrong there isnt always a fix and you might simply ruin what you are working on or at least have to live with the result.


----------



## Ole Man Dan

Greavous said:


> Im putting this in the slingshot mod section because that is what I did, I made my daily driver slingshot better. I also made my slingshot but that was back in the fall so this would be a modification.
> 
> I hope Im not the only one that sometimes drops his slingshot but it happens to me because of my archery background/form sort of thing. When Im not dropping the thing sometimes I dont grip it the same way every time and I fire off some unexpected tragictrory projectiles. So in order to find a solution to a few of my shooting problems it only seemed logical to get some traction over a reather smoothly finished slingshot.
> 
> I decided to add some checkering to my slingshot. I was fortunate enough to purchace myself a brand new over/under shotgun a few years ago and the stock was had hand cut checkering and it was sharp! I remember thinking about how pressed checkering (the cheap way) just gave some traction where cut checkering grabbed you!
> 
> Anyway, please keep in mind I have never done any checkering before. I just bought a nice set of tools and did a few practice patches before jumping in with both feet. The slingshot is alum. core with mesquite wood.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this is the back side


Reminds me of the Round Butt S&W Pistol grips of yesteryear. Should work just as well.


----------



## Aries666

Really great work man. I wood love to work with wood : ) but my wife would kill me if I took up another hobby.


----------



## HP Slingshots

Looks nice and grippy, great work 

-Epic


----------



## Mr.Teh

Again so nice to see, i like work like this, thanks for showing !!


----------



## Longers7

That look great for your first time, I think it makes the slingshot!


----------



## RTR104

I kinda just started in this whole world of SS, I often wonder why not more venders do this to their slings...I know it is a huge time investment, but seems if you had a CNC it would be simple to add. Nice work though, never heard anyone say Checkering is easy.


----------



## kwinpr

Looks good!


----------



## sharp eye

I like the idea and the checkering look on the handle.


----------



## Metropolicity

rtr104 said:


> I kinda just started in this whole world of SS, I often wonder why not more venders do this to their slings...I know it is a huge time investment, but seems if you had a CNC it would be simple to add. Nice work though, never heard anyone say Checkering is easy.


It's not as easy as it sounds. You have to take into account that your design has to be already translated into something that a CNC can product, not only that, checker has an insane high tolerance and multiple parallel lines. Any kind of run out or sloppy track and boom, the checkering is ruined.

That being said...not impossible


----------



## VillageSniper

I think that is a great idea. Checkering is one way of adding some nice texture to the grip. Stippling the grip would also look great and would be easier for a guy to learn and faster to produce, as seen on many match pellet rifles and pistols. The stock maker up the road from me does real nice work on checkering. He has an oil that he seals it with that won't clog it up or raise the grain (swell). I think you did a fine job and I myself would like checkering on a slingshot. I don't think it would add any discomfort to shooting, and even if it did, a leather shooting glove could be worn and then your grip would be really rock solid.

Vs


----------



## stinger

Amazing! It looks really amazing! Well done.


----------



## Greavous

Thanks again for all the compliments, learning to checker was frustrating at first but with practice the results have improved. As for adding grip, it sure does that well.

Its been a while since ive cut any but I have plans to make some mesquite stocks for an old Daisy BB gun I have. It looks just like a 30/30 Winchester 1893. When I was a kid that BB gun was made super solid and had wood stocks if I recall correctly. It also had parts which were then metal and now plastic. Im going to make wood stocks and checker them up and with any luck it will turn out well enough to show.


----------



## Susi

Checkering certainly is an art and has its place. It's difficult to keep the lines straight also. A good checkering kit is needed obviously and is a good investment if only used a few times to make hand guns (for functinality) and even long guns (for appearance) and SSs (for appearance and functionality)more stable in the hand. As to chafing the hand over say 300 or 500 shots, if a hand has medium callouses it's not a problem. And besides, a thinish leather glove used by car and truck drivers to gan purchase on the steering wheel, and light gloves are used in both pistol matches and hand ball and of course, yes, good to use for SS shooting. A light glove with an open back is great for SS shoting. I use my old hand ball gloves sometimes on cool days when my hands don't sweat. So if checkering chafes the hand in absence of callouses, just use a "shooting glove".

Back to checkering. I've seen a few SSs on the forum which had checkering and it looks great and is functional as well. Gunsmiths often offer the service and it's not cheap for it's time consuming and requires practice and talent else there are over cuts which mess up the whole job or the lines are not straight or are irregularly spaced. For your first time you did a great job! Hey, it's also satisfying to know YOU did it. I personally think checkering service could be sold here. I've often wanted to buy a checkering tool set but lack the time to invest to really get good at it. Being a former gold smith I am good at small detail but there's a limit of time having a small farm, five dogs to take care of/bathe/groom/feed/vaccinate blabla and a Susi wife who needs my time aqs well (I'm lucky). If you got really good at this you may be able to contract with some members and some vendors here...worth a shot anyway...make an offer.

There are a few of us who work with polyethylene plastic, either purchased or recycled/melted into a billet. PE is slippery anyway, to me it feels like a far of soap whereas wood or finished wood is more cohesive to hand skin. I think checkering HDPE SSs would be a good idea since the material works sort of like wood. Even a checkered wood inlay fastened into the plastic might be kewl to meld both worlds of wood and plastic. Micarta and G10 are checkerable I think as well as carbon fiber composites. So checkering realliy isn't limited to wood alone. Anything that will file and hold an edge through hand use and the raised parts of the checkring will not break off tiny pieces or otherwise slough off, will checker.

Chuck


----------



## The Pocket Shot

The checkering looks sharp. I wish I could make mine in wood/ to have that Wood grain finish but it would cost a fortune.


----------



## Yago

treefork said:


> This would be nice on a HDPE shooter.


This must be a great on big HDPE frames


----------



## Greavous

Kinda neat when one of your old threads pop back up!

Checkering was just one of those skills I had wanted to learn for many years. Fortunately for me, slingshots coming into my life made it all happen. As Susi has stated its time consuming but with practice the curve lessens and what used to take 3 hours can be done in an hour or so, baring issues.

I scratched around on some HDPE and made headway but nothing to boast about. Also spent some time on micarta with results but not spectacular. I think a power checkering tool is the ticket there but they are high dollar!

This shooter turned out far better than my first. Still not perfect but not too shabby. Convex and concave along with compound curves can be tricky to keep perfectly straight at times.


----------



## Mr23779

Stunning work, Greavous!


----------



## THWACK!

Fine indeed!

For me, personally, I wouldn't have the patience to do such focused work (I brush my teeth with a toothbrush "machine" and maybe it takes ten seconds, even though I'm missing only one tooth) - for my poly-slippery slingshots I use 3M Vetrap. See my post under the topic "Slippery", which I believe is in the modifications forum.

Again, nice job!


----------



## THWACK!

ruthiexxxx said:


> How interesting! I've never come across checkering tools before. I have done checkering occasionally but only using a very small 'V' gouge (or 'parting tool' as it is sometimes called).


Are these of "Swiss made" manufacture, by any chance?


----------



## Blue Danube

Using conventional checkering tools on synthetics will dull them in short order. Carbide tools can work but are prohibitively expensive for once in a while use. Not to be hyper critical, thats exceptional roll over/contour work, but there is a lot of tear out you could clean up with a medium the fine cut 90 degree bent file.
That will help you parallel define the facets of each diamond and add a hairline at the base of each groove.
Checkering perfect panels is tough enough, rolling cuts over that sharp a radius would challenge and perplex even a master stock maker!


----------



## wll

Wow, you know I get naturals and just about destroy every one just by putting a lanyard hole in the grip, I tape, I have sharp drills, bla, bla, bla. and you turn out an incredible piece of art like this, I have no idea how you do it !

If something is made of wood, it should be against the law for me to touch it .... you do very, very nice work my friend, just beautiful !

wll


----------

