I'd like to take a crack at doing this at home. Do I really need to spend 100.00+ bucks on the Marvel jig or does somebody have a cheaper idea?
In short, - no! people have been doing this long before that guide was ever mass produced. There are lots of alternatives. 1 make your own jig/guide. 2 use your vise as a guide. 3 weld in an insert (like Wilson or EGW) and blend.
If you just want serrations and not cherking then i suggest you sue your vise as a guide. you'l have to get creative with your set-up if you are doing this to a frame with gripscrew bushings and/or plunger tube, but it's a sinch if you have a bare frame. for vertical serrations:
Use alum angle or brass plates to pad the frame from being mared
Clamp in vise about 1/4" below the top of the jaws, then use the jaw(or pad) as a guide. for horizontal serr.:
You'll have to do some careful measuring to make sure you're at 90 deg. and clamp, rivet, screw, bolt,weld -whatever you can to those top vise jaw pads & use that as a guide. sort-of like this pic shows
If you've never done it before, practice on some scrap pipe or bar stock. it's pretty easy to get the hang of once you learn how to feel those grooves and keep the file straight. That's all ther is to it try these links, that's where the pics came from
http://www.blindhogg.com/gunsmith/checkering.html
http://grahamcracka.dns2go.com/1911frame/1911frame2.htm
As to the serrations its not hard to do but you will need a checkering file either 20 or 30 LPI files are available from Brownells and 25 LPI is availalbe from Rio-grande jewelry catalogue. If all you want is the verticals make a jig like the one in the photo below and start stroking. Its not hard but will take some time, keep the file flat with all the teeth contacting the fronstrap when moving it back and forth. You will only get two or three lines when working with the jig. When they are cut halfway deep or so remove jig and freehand making a new line by slowly rolling file to get around frontstrap. Only try to create one new line at a time. My checkering page would have better pics but I quit hand checkering several years ago as I can do it in 2 hours on the mill or 10 hours by hand.
Just wanted to add: what blindhogg said can be misleading, you don't want to put preasure on the file in both directions if you plan to use it for long -it will dull the teeth pretty quick * if you order a new chkg. file & read the instructions it will warn you of this * another thing to do is load the file with chalk to prevent metal filings from "clogging-up" the teeth.
You'll be surprized how well you can do it after a little practice
quote:
Do you have contact info for rio-grande
But of course, Rio grande sells 25 LPI files Part#114-846 $28.25 or 35 LPI files Part # 114-847 for $28.25 and they are at www.riogrande.com or 1800-545- 6566.
As to the filing, what TX400 says do not stroke the file backwards but on the forward stroke all the teeth should lay flat against the front strap. In my Wilsons book it says they checker with just the front of the checkering file and it is held at an angle to the frontstrap. Bro I tell you what it don't work so well as only one or two rows of the file are in the grooves and it pops out and can ruin your lines way too easily. Also always mark both sides of the file and once you start with one side do not flip file over because if you start with the side of the file against the guide and you flip the file over accidentally the lines will not line up with the new side of the file.
Good luck
PS did you ever get the scallop jig going, if so lets see some pics.
Scores of smiths always have and continue to do this sort of thing "by eyeball." Many a frame's edges do NOT run straight anyway, and those edges WILL be the way that your serrations-checkering will be gauged, by everyone who looks at it. :-)
Blindhogg I got the jig done and used it once,heck it even worked however my wife decided I wasn't making enough money in Law enforcement so she ran off with a rich lawyer friend of mine and I had to sell the mill and jig off e- bay. Never fear however I will return to the world of mini-machining someday.
You mentioned that you now do all of your frame checkering on the mill rather than doing it by hand. What sort of cutter do you use for this? Is it something like maybe a sixty or ninety degree double angle cutter? Or maybe a single point thread cutter?
Yep I only do machine checkering nowadays as hand cut checkering takes way way too long. I use a 60 deg double angle cutter (Carbide) I use a 3/8 diameter one for the verticals and a 3/4 cutter for the horizontals.