Checkering & Carving of Gunstocks [Hardcover]

Monty Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1990

America's leading stock-makers have contributed photographs of their handiwork and full-size line drawings of checkering and carving patterns.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 2 edition (November 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811706303
• ISBN-13: 978-0811706308
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Checkering Review, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Checkering & Carving of Gunstocks (Hardcover)

I like this book, but it does not do exactly what I had hoped for. The initial part of the book is written by Monty Kennedy in a down home style which is interesting and easy to read. Monty gives great and detailed descriptions on how to make checkering tools, which frankly can now be purchased quite inexpensiverly. Unfortunately he gives very sparse instruction on how to actually use the tools. His checkering instruction is very generalized. I had hoped for more detailed "how to" information for the novice. The rest of the book contains checkering/carving patterns by other artists, along with some tips and a few techniques. I would recommend this book as a general reference and resource for the serious checker or hobbyist, but I would not recommend this book if you are looking for information on the technique itself.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More funny than useful, October 18, 2002

By 

Conrad B. Senior (Easton, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Checkering & Carving of Gunstocks (Hardcover)

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I found the writing style, with its poor grammar, distracting. On the other hand I liked Monty Kennedy's sense of humor.

My advice for those who are interested in learning how to checker is this:

First, choose hard, fine grain wood to practice on.

Second, ensure the wood is as smooth as possible and all grain is filled with varnish--this makes the checkering process less error prone. Uneven material surface and grain is likely to cause your tools to deviate from the your chosen path.

Third, don't use too fine a checker or the diamonds will break off.

Fourth, purchasing a decent set of tools.

Fifth, scribe your reference lines and trace your outline pattern and go at it.

Sixth, your best bet is to skip the book and practice on smoothly prepared sample material.

Seventh, don't get discouraged if your intitial results are not perfect, keep practicing, making smaller items like pistol or knife grips before tackling bigger projects. Be sure the grips are entirely shaped, smoothed, and finished, with holes drilled before you start checkering.

The book is good for some sample pictures, but these can easily be duplicated by a visit to your local gun shops to study finely checkered stocks. In fact you will get a better idea of what you like by studying many gun stocks.

The book is good for it's dry humor, which is sure to give you a few chuckles. I liked the book but did not feel it was worth the price. Invest your money in a set of tools.

Conrad B. Senior

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Of no real use to a beginner, June 20, 2009

By 

Munster (New England) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Checkering & Carving of Gunstocks (Hardcover)

Most of the book consists of patterns for various types of checkering. This is very nice and lets the experienced checkerer employ a variety of unusual designs.
However, the book is useless if you don't already know how to checker. The photographs don't show the process in sufficient close detail to enable one to discern what's going on; the pictures of the tools are not detailed enough in general and the text is near-worthless.
The text is some kind of folksy patois that is annoying and non-informative. The authors of the various sections cannot distinguish between irrelevant detail and the main points. Everything is weighted equally and nothing is well-described. I am trying to learn how to checker and after reading this book I still have no idea what the tools look like, which ones do what and how to use them.
If you think you might like to checker or work on gunstocks, don't buy this book.