Looking for a checkerer who does mullered borders. Classic Checkering/Tim Smith Lyon has been recommended to me, has anyone done business with him?

BTT

I did not use a border at all. It was to hide an over run. What is a mullered border?

Mullered borders are only done by hand AFAIK, and they would not take much more time than conventional borders, but it would require a pretty snazzy rifle to make it worthy...

http://www.hallowellco.com/mullered-border-2.jpg

I wouldnt use him again. I used him twice, both time had issues with the pattern even after sending him pictures of exactly what I wanted. Also both stocks were returned smelling like cigarette smoke

Comparison. Two that I have done, but I am no expert

Sorry, but it is obvious you have never done Any mullered border checkering

You would be very wrong there. I suggest you reread what I said.

Looks very good to me.

I've seen the cutters for these and they look a lot like a double line cutter except the center is rounded in the center to create a beaded shape.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...er-vex-replacement-cutter-prod26289.aspx

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...ering-cutters/no-b-1-tool-prod26296.aspx

And you can fairly easily make your own.

I was referring to your comment about "...they would not take much more time..." Again, obvious you have never done it, sorry, but.. I normally agree with most of your comments but no this one, Mullered borders take more time to do.

I only replicate mullered borders on old patterns I re-cut. I think they were popular back in the day because they can be a device to camouflage minor boo boos on borders created by harried checkerers in factory settings. I do also think they add a touch of elegance on new custom jobs, but that may be a result of my fondness for old pieces.

The couple of times I incorporated mullered borders on fresh panels I first established my borders then cut the mullered borders to about half depth, and then proceeded to fill in the patterns. After that was done I finally took the borders down to full depth. That allowed me to have a distinct border to work up to and made the mullering easier to accomplish. I don't know if that's the correct protocol but it worked for me. It still made for a lot of touching up/completing those little tiny partial diamonds along curved borders but that is the devil of it in any style of checkering, at least to me anyway.

To deal with the tiny partial diamonds try using a Dembart S-1 tool with the cutter installed 180 degrees from normal so that it cuts on the pull stroke. Makes it easier to complete those pesky little buggers without running over your borders. It's a trick I picked up years ago, it works for me (most of the time).

To be more specific and tying it to my "hand-cut" reference. When using a Foredom the addition of a mullered border is a large increase. When cutting by hand the difference does not seem so large. Tiny over-runs are usually a PITA but a mullered border cleans more of that up.

Me too. Sometimes a bent riffler works better, sometimes not.

That's how I work up to borders, on the pull stroke with both standard and short cutters. I don't see how it can be done cleanly otherwise, but it did take a couple stocks before I wised up to it! Ah, the hubris of youth. I typically work a pattern with three tools set up, those two and a standard cutter on the push stroke, after laying out the lines with a two row cutter. I started with Dembart tools decades ago and don't wish to switch at this point!

Hmmm. Interesting. How would one go about doing that?

No more expensive than cutters are it make no sense to make your own, this isn't the 1930's and Alvin Linden. Can't see how you'd relieve the back side of a border cutter so that it would cut.