The Final Stretch, Grip Layout Continued

The task of bringing all the lines to depth at the grip must be done with the same care as the forend. Additional care must be taken in the curve of the grip to keep the deepening cutter from skipping out of the groove, the length of the cutter comes into play in this area and the shorter the better. Care must also be taken to keep these lines a parallel as possible. Due to the geometry of my grips and the style of this border some additional tooling is required. There are 6 of these tools, the 2 curved and modified rifler files, 2 engraving tools and 2 dog leg tapered chisels for trimming and cutting into the V's on the borders. I like to use a 3/32" square engraving tool sharpened on an angle to allow me to cut the diamonds to depth in this tight area. I also use a # 2 curved rifler files that I have surface ground to the same approximate width of my border to smooth out my initial chisel cuts. Where the border at the rear of the grip makes a radial up-hill curve I use another 3/32'' square engraving cutter with more heel ground onto it's cutting face instead of a veiner to establish this tight corner. With the pattern cut to depth I then begin to cut in the angular border flats on both sides of the grip. Time is now spent cleaning up the borders and looking for any diamonds that are still slightly flat topped. Apply finish is right around the corner.