RECHECKERING
BEFORE & AFTER
Did you purchase a stock that has poor looking checkering, an uneven pattern, a stock that someone tried to rechecker themselves, or you would prefer more full coverage checkering? (There's this guy called "Ooops" and he sneaks into folks homes at night and tries to recut checkering with whatever he can find! Really the only way to know he has been there is sometimes you hear him saying his own name and your checkering is all messed up the next day.) I can usually fix it so you'll never be able to tell there was a problem! (see photos below)
Do you want to replace that pressed in checkering with the real thing or just clean up an older stock? In some cases you won't even need to sand off, or even sand down the old checkering for me to re-cut, make changes or additions.
Here are a series of photos showing how easy it can be to change or add to an existing checkering pattern. Also, re-cutting old checkering or checkering filled in with finish, can bring new life to your worn looking stock!
If you are planning to completely redo your stock, you should always do the refinishing work first, before having your checkering done, or re-cut. You won't want to damage your new checkering while you are trying to sand off scratches, dents and dings on your stock. If you think that you will sand off the existing checkering during your refinishing project, it is always a good idea to take a photo or a rubbing of the checkering pattern (just take a piece of plain white paper, lay it over the checkering and rub with a pencil to get an imprint of the pattern and/or the lines per inch, so that I have something to go by should you desire to have the original pattern replaced.
While doing a re-cut job, I always try to follow the original lines, but occasionally there are flaws in the old checkering that I will try to correct, such as squiggly lines, lines that are not evenly spaced, over-runs or panels that are not even or are mis-shaped. Sometimes it is not possible to correct certain abnormalities due to the size of the pattern (if the pattern cannot be stretched out or made larger to cover up such imperfections) I will stick with the original pattern exactly. When re-cutting an older style pattern, I will always add in the original elements, such as an extra border, unless you specify differently.
If you are only working on one piece of a two pieced stock set, please let me know if the remaining piece has an extra border running around the pattern so that I can match it on the piece I have. Likewise with the lines per inch. All you need to do is take a rubbing (about a 2"x2" area) of the checkering on the piece I do NOT have, so that I may match up the lines per inch.
Usually, I tell customers to go ahead and completely finish out the stock. I can work on it at any stage, but I really prefer to have some finish on the wood. After the checkering is completed, you can add a coat of finish to the checkered areas using a toothbrush.
I do not expect to be held liable for damages that occur to any stock due to dry, brittle or cracked wood or finish.
Pricing for recutting checkering is the same as for a new job.
Here are some projects that I have worked on over the years.
Click on the smaller (thumbnail) photos to enlarge and see a description!
You can also click on the arrow at the end of the row of thumbnails to see more!
Please email me if you have any questions!
checkering@aol.com