It came to us wrapped in newspapers and plastic grocer's sacks, smelling of something that has been hidden away for decades. My brothers and I gently dissected the package, more odors... Camphor? Naphthalene? Yes, mothballs. More newspaper wrapping... crumbly, old... 1950's newspaper. A double-barrel emerged with a bag of parts and wood chunks. It was my Great, Great Grandfather's 'CENTRAL ARMS CO' sidelock shotgun. A cheap old 'trade brand name' gun made by Crescent Fire arms Co for Shapleigh Hardware Co of St. Louis MO, circa 1904-1930; from the days when a shotgun was a MUST-OWN item as the primary source of meat and game for a poor family. He literally used it until it shot itself apart.
How to put it back together? Some research reveals it was created 1912, not a lot of useful information available. The checkering was worn flat... no, it was cut flat... Common for turn of the century and European shotguns. Lots of missing chunks of wood- that'll make it interesting. More research... A whopping two suppliers of stock blanks. No suppliers of 'Flat Diamond' hand checkering tools on the whole web. Time to make another tool and learn a new skill, regular diamond checkering isn't bad, how hard could 'flat' be?
So, with a torch, a hammer and a vise-anvil, I shaped a flat checker cutter from .25" steel round stock. I could turn a handle, but for a mere $2 I could install a simple hardware store rasp handle in about a minute. Alright, now I can start, how long could it take?
So, after hours and hours of forensic reconstruction, shaping, chiseling, sanding, scraping. test fittings, adjusting, function checking, more adjusting, more checking, adjusting, checking, adjusting, staining and oiling I ended up with a reasonably well matched replica with a pretty decent looking checker job to boot.
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