Gunstock laser checkering - 1st attempt

[Skip Weiser]

I had the stock removed from my Ruger 10/22 so I thought I'd see what I could do with it. I'm at a disadvantage right off the bat because I can only engrave black and white, no grayscale.

I just tried the fish scale pattern from the Post Script Fill in Corel, added the RUGER text, converted it to a bitmap and engraved it.

It's nothing spectacular but it did improve the looks of the stock.

Skip

[Mike DeRegnaucourt]

Looks great Skip!

[Mike Null]

Skip

Nice work.

With considerably more work you can change ps fills to gray-scale or any other color. Save your drawing as an editable PDF then open it in corel and change the colors. Also change the line width and spacing to suit your needs. It may take several passes to achieve the look you want.

[Frank Corker]

Skip that looks fantastic, Ruger will be happy with it :p

[Thad Nickoley]

I think that is as close to spectacular as you can get!!

Nice work.

[Larry Bratton]

I had the stock removed from my Ruger 10/22 so I thought I'd see what I could do with it. I'm at a disadvantage right off the bat because I can only engrave black and white, no grayscale.

I just tried the fish scale pattern from the Post Script Fill in Corel, added the RUGER text, converted it to a bitmap and engraved it.

It's nothing spectacular but it did improve the looks of the stock.

Skip
Skip:
Hey Dude....I mean...what kind of standards are you setting for yourself???? That is BEAUTIFUL work!

[Steven Wallace]

Here is a picture of my first attempt at something very close in appearance on the fore stock of a Remington 870 shotgun.

[Steven Wallace]

another pic

[Skip Weiser]

Thanks to all for the comments.

Steve, that is beautiful work. It gives me something to strive for.

Thanks,
Skip

[Arturo Villegas]

Great job steve,

Jusy wondering how you were able to laser engrave on a curb piece that good. I am always scared of trying anything thats not flat.

Thanks,

Art.

[Ray Uebner]

That looks real nice hope that I will have the nerve to try it someday when we get time.

[Eric Fuller]

Nice job dude! Did you do that with the 2.5" lens I sent?

[Skip Weiser]

Nice job dude! Did you do that with the 2.5" lens I sent?

No, I put that one in a drawer for a backup. I did the stock with the lens I've been using, it's a 2.125" (54mm).

[Steven Wallace]

Thanks to all for the comments. I used my rotary tool to do the work shown. I found a piece of threaded pipe that was roughly the size of the hole in the stock and correct length. I then cut a couple of slightly oversized wooden washers to hold the stock in place and still allow the piece to rotate without contacting anything. I used regular pipe caps to hole the washers securely in place. If anyone wants I can take a picture of the fixture and send it to you.

[Dave Lyda]

Thanks to all for the comments. I used my rotary tool to do the work shown. I found a piece of threaded pipe that was roughly the size of the hole in the stock and correct length. I then cut a couple of slightly oversized wooden washers to hold the stock in place and still allow the piece to rotate without contacting anything. I used regular pipe caps to hole the washers securely in place. If anyone wants I can take a picture of the fixture and send it to you.

Hi Steven. I would like to try that on my Remington 870. Your work is beautiful. A picture of your fixture would be nice. Thanks.

[Steven Wallace]

Here are a couple of pics of my fixture. It is really simple. I cut a couple of wood washers from .25 inch stock, a length of .75 inch pipe threaded on both ends (12ga shotgun barrel is close to the same diameter) and 2 pipe caps to hold is all in place. The fixture rides on the rotary tool with the wooden washers in contact with the driver and idler wheels of the rotary tool. I did have to remove the material stop on the rotary tool, the one that is used for positioning the engraved material to the reference point on the left side on my epilog machine.97211

97212

[Stephen Beckham]

Steven - just like a pen mill.... Duh.... Why didn't I think of that - thanks for the picture of the layout, even though I've made close to 1,000 pens, I would have never thought to use the rotary like that....

Anyway - had a fella bring in this copy of the 'only' lever action 12 gauge shotgun ever made to have it etched. It was a knockoff since the originals run upwards of 5 figures now being they are from the 1890's... He was nervous as a cat as I was laying it out. I had to force him to watch the red light trace the lines to make sure he was happy with the placement. Then he went to the corner and rocked like a baby while I closed the door and hit the green button. It was just too much fun making ooh's and ahh's and oop's type noises. Poor fella, he's been in here a bunch, but I figure he'll be 'gun shy' for awhile from coming back.

Sorry I didn't zoom in any better on this photo. It's a basic diamond cut. It's walnut and so I wouldn't have to color fill it, I used vector lines and ran them that way at lower power. They cut really nice....

Steve

[Bob Keyes]

Skip, Nice looking stock. You should be proud and I am sure that Ruger would be also.

If I might ask, where did the fish scale pattern come from?

Thanks.

[Skip Weiser]

Skip, Nice looking stock. You should be proud and I am sure that Ruger would be also.

If I might ask, where did the fish scale pattern come from?

Thanks.

Thank you, Bob.

The fish scale pattern comes from the Post Script Fill in CorelDraw. On the left side toolbar, the next to the last tool (paint bucket) and the fifth tool over on the flyout, the one that has PS on it.

There is also a cross hatch pattern. You can adjust the spacing and line width and vary the patterns to suit your needs.

Skip

[Bill Cunningham]

Steven - just like a pen mill.... Duh.... Why didn't I think of that - thanks for the picture of the layout, even though I've made close to 1,000 pens, I would have never thought to use the rotary like that....

Anyway - had a fella bring in this copy of the 'only' lever action 12 gauge shotgun ever made to have it etched. It was a knockoff since the originals run upwards of 5 figures now being they are from the 1890's... He was nervous as a cat as I was laying it out. I had to force him to watch the red light trace the lines to make sure he was happy with the placement. Then he went to the corner and rocked like a baby while I closed the door and hit the green button. It was just too much fun making ooh's and ahh's and oop's type noises. Poor fella, he's been in here a bunch, but I figure he'll be 'gun shy' for awhile from coming back.

Sorry I didn't zoom in any better on this photo. It's a basic diamond cut. It's walnut and so I wouldn't have to color fill it, I used vector lines and ran them that way at lower power. They cut really nice....

Steve

When doing a 'nail biter' I usually paint some black liquid shoe polish, or turtle wax color cure on some transfer tape, then line it all up, and laser the image onto the tape first (20%p @ 100% speed, 300 dpi) If it looks good, I peel off the tape, and burn the real thing.. And I NEVER let the customer watch.. I Simply won't do items on a 'while you wait basis' (usually too busy anyway) . Sign on the wall says: Shop rate $60.00 hour, $70.00 if you watch, $80.00 if you help..

[Daniel Dumitru]

Hi Skip and Steven,

My father has a small gunsmithing shop. I would like to help him an do some laser checkering.
Could you please advice me if it worth the effort and investment into a laser engraver to do that ?

Also could you please tell me what laser power do you recommend ? Optionals : 4th axis ?

Daniel

[Skip Weiser]

Hello Daniel,

I'm too much of a rookie myself to be giving any advice. I'll let the more experienced members try to answer your questions.

Skip

[Ray Uebner]

Hi
The investment in a laser is somewhat costly. You would have to first determine if you would have enough business to pay for the investment. There are other items in the gunshop that you might be able to laser also but be sure you have the business before you just buy one. As for Wattage I realy don't know for doing gun stocks but my thought would be no less that 45 watt and bigger if you can. Well that is from someone that bought a laser and made sure it fit my business and sales before I bought it. Good luck and hope that this helped some.:):)

[Steven Wallace]

Daniel,
I concur with Ray. Gunstocks are not my only service. Not being in the gun business, I don't have the traffic flow to judge if it is worth the investment. Most here, I think, will agree that the laser is not a small investment. There is also the learning curve. Someone brings you a $$$ firearm. You want to be able to assure them that it will be what they want when they pick it up. Mess it up and it becomes a costly mistake and we all have experienced that "oh no second". That moment when you realized you just screwed the pooch. If you think you have the business to support the investment. 45watts is probably the power you want (I have a 35w) and you want a bed that will allow you to fit the largest size material you will want to engrave. The first item I was ask to engrave was baseball bat... too long for my machine. You can get creative. I did engrave my Ruger 10/22 stock in my machine. But I wish I had been able to afford a larger bed tool. Good luck and make a decision based on data not emotions.

[Bill Cunningham]

I've done lots of baseball bats on my TT.. I simply cut a hole in the left side where the opening in the frame is, then fitted a sealed door over the opening. I got fed up of taking the side off every time I wanted to do a longer piece like a gun stock, baseball bats or paddles. So, the last time I took it off, was the last time I took it off.. Now I just open the side door and use magnetic sheeting to cover all the open door hole except the area actually blocked by the piece going through so the air flow is not affected at all.. You can check this by holding a sheet of cardstock over the front grill. If the cardstock sticks, the airflow is holding it there and cooling is not affected. The TT MUST have the airflow across the tube for proper cooling.. Don't know if you could do this with a mini though!