any basketweave know how?

[nekshot]

when I was a kid I met a friend of my dad who made custom gunstocks and would basketweave instead of checkering if wanted. He showed me how to do it and I had the idea and pattern right but 50 years later I can not remember how he showed me. I googled and learned nothing there so maybe some one here knows how. His basket weave looked better than remingtons BDL 760 pump rifles with basket weave. It is not for every gun but I have a few I could use it on. My meds don't allow me to checker anymore and maybe I won't be able to do this but I won't know till I try.

[Blackwater]

Nekshot, I'm not entirely sure, but I've always thought it must be done with carving knives??? Does that perhaps ring a bell?

[pietro]

.

Here ya go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgxjCHztjoY


.

[nekshot]

yup! he had a couple knives and I do remember how to lay out the pattern but when he did it it was almost like magic watching the weave take shape. Maybe I am overthinking this thing. That youtube doesn't down load on my computer.

[Reg]

Check out "Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks " By Kennedy. Good section devoted to it.

[nekshot]

Ok, I'll get that book. I often wanted to get it but its expensive but the future generation will enjoy it. Thanks every one for your input.

[quack1]

If you buy a used copy of Kennedy's book, make sure it does have basket weave carving in it. Mine was printed in 1978 and has a whole section of carving, but doesn't have anything about basket weave. I just went through it, page by page.
I have seen step by step basket weave instructions in a book, but unfortunately, can't remember the books title or who wrote it. If I remember right, he used a couple of specially angled wood chisels to get the "over and under" look.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Gunstock Carving by Bill Janney covers basketweave. Amazon carries it.

[44man]

Just takes different cutters for spacing. It is not carved. I did both.176962This is carving. 176964This is my checkering. Basket weave is spacing.

[44man]

Notice I did not use borders with checkering, they correct over runs.
Now if you want a basket weave like on leather, good luck. I did leather work too. Ask for that on wood and you must be rich.

[Blackwater]

44man, every time you show that carving on the muzzleloader, I just sit and marvel at its beauty. Thanks for posting it again. Wonderful work! I envy your talent!

[RustyReel]

Do-It-Yourself GUNSMITHING, an Outdoor Life Book by Jim Carmichel also has a section on it with several photos. Looks easy enough, just requires a few sharp tools and a bit of concentration. I lack both so never gave it a try!

Nekshot, keep us posted on your project and I would like to see some pics of your progress.

Best of luck!

[Reg]

Opps, I do have to stand corrected on this one. My copy of Kennedys book is from 1962 and it's not in there either but checked in Carmichel's book it is, starting on page 198.
Both are excellent books and if you like to work with wood and such you really should have both.

[PerpetualStudent]

The Janney book does cover it. It's also a more modern take on the art of decorating stocks, he uses a dentist drill with tiny rasps to do most of his work. Also does extensive work with scrolls. The book itself is kinda light but I found a copy at the library and leafed through it. Interesting stuff.

[44man]

44man, every time you show that carving on the muzzleloader, I just sit and marvel at its beauty. Thanks for posting it again. Wonderful work! I envy your talent!
Thanks my friend. I was crazy. Made stocks from planks and left them 1/8 thicker. Carved and took the rest to final size. Never figured on taking to size first and having carving.
Checkering was tough too. Need to finish the stock fully. I tried on scrap when I got the hand tools and tore wood to shreds. Like dry firing, waste. I have border cutters but found no need to hide an over run. I don't know how I did it all.

[Blackwater]

:-D I actually understand. I used to do some things occasionally that took that kind of absorptive concentration, but my focusing ability just won't hold up as long now, so ... I leave it to guys who can. It's wonderful when you're doing it, though, and then, when you stand back and see what you've done, you're shocked that it came out so well. It's all a matter of resolve, determination and focus. Sure wish I had more of that! And now that my hands just don't work like they used to, it's pretty much a lost opportunity. Funny, isn't it, how when we reach this stage, how we wished we'd taken more time in doing stuff like that, instead of the things we though we "really needed" to do back then? Excellent work, and you should be proud of it.

[44man]

I don't know how I did things. I built my addition and had the guy up the road dig the hole. Money limited so I went with a 4' crawlspace. I formed the footers after looking in the hole and said "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING." I only had a string level and laid over 300 block and never did it before. The jack rafters on the roof did not follow how to measure so each was cut to fit, up and down, over and over. My roof is 4-12 and the addition is 5-12 to meet the peak perfect. I drew the plans on big sheets of paper with 1" squares and got every dimension and piece of wood perfect. Also made a 2' over hang to match the house and one in front. Bay window and Andersons , door for the deck and I replaced all the junk windows in the rest of the house. Big bathroom with built in shower. When I dry walled I got to the last corner to find I was 1/8" out of square.
I did the electrical, plumbing, roofing, siding, ALL of it.
I think back about it and and the guns I made, I was crazy! Friends brought me $300 blanks to make custom rifles with fancy checkering. Dare not screw up! Stare at stuff for weeks but start to cut and you can't quit.
Then furniture from white oak slabbed in my woods with a chain saw. Gun stock from cherry out of the woods. That is the checkered stock shown.177103 Carols pie safe from the woods. I don't have a picture of the coffee table.
Now I is old as dirt. Look back and you wonder why I get out of shape when a guy can't cast a boolit! 177106 Here is an Enfield stock I finished and checkered.
I wonder how I did it. When something did not work I made the tools by hand.
Now days they come out of school with liberal arts but can't find their butt with toilet paper and want to run the country. WHAT THE HELL IS LIBERAL ARTS?

[nekshot]

sounds like some of us are drinking out of the same spring!

[Geezer in NH]

Just takes different cutters for spacing. It is not carved. I did both.176962This is carving. 176964This is my checkering. Basket weave is spacing.
Skip line is NOT basket weave

[44man]

Skip line is NOT basket weave
Understand but it is 3X the work. With all I have done, I am not capable of it. It IS carving each spot. I have the Kennedy book and there is not any basket weave shown and I have never seen one.
I did it on leather but will not try to duplicate in on wood.