A while ago I did some full ribs and a couple of quarter ribs with a knurling process, it stresses the part immensely not something I want to do to a barrel.  I made a couple of knurls, added wavy lines and all.  With what I saw it do to the quarter ribs, the matting on a barrel needs to be cut.  I have a full length tapered ovate barrel I'm making for an English configuration, time added for cutting the matte will be miniscule in comparison.   

I made a couple of stippling punches using a tap with a couple of flutes ground off as my mill, the punch set up in a dividing head to get a diagonal pattern on the face, they still need hardened and tempered - it's a time thing.   Made them while the idea was a fresh thought quite a while ago, just haven't got back to them yet, maybe next month?  2152, you may have motivated me a little bit.  In another case, I filed a few lines in a smaller punch once and used it on a gun stock, with patience it produces an interesting pattern on wood.

Bob,
No I'm not using a guide of any sort.  I did practice a little on the bottom side of this barrel, first with a coarse checkering file, a 12 lpi, then a 16, and I've settled on a 20LPI.  The first few strokes are critical to get things going - a guide there may help some.  A lot of this is you need to pay attention to body motion and alignment of the file.  Stroke is only in one direction and I advance the file about one line with each stroke with pressure focused on the trailing line.  I've been checkering some hammer spurs and lower tangs so this practice is good.  I'm my worst critic and with some experience, I see flaws quickly, both with mine and that done by others.  With a few more miles of checkering I'll get better or I'll care less  - not unlike my woodwork.
GT

I often wondered if they used some tool similar to those used to roll knurling on knobs and similar steel pieces? Just with a different pattern to do so? Seems like using a tool like a knurling tool mounted in a mill with the barrel on the deck would make the process somewhat easier than any other method.

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bobw wrote on Apr 24^th, 2026 at 12:04pm:


I'm waiting patiently to see the Singer build! Another great SF gunsmith whose not well known to most.

Take a piece of flat, mount a bump knurl in your Bridgeport quill and roll the knurl into the flat and it will be bent when you take it out. Every one of those divots is inducing stress, that is what Greg is talking about. 
I was going to try a barrel once, but never did. My plan was to use a fence at an angle on my shaper and a cutter like a threading tool. Never got it done before the urge faded so it's still a hypothetical concept. With my 16" shaper it would take 2 set-ups per side and another 2 for the opposite angle.

Could give a cutoff piece of barrel a try to test this by checking bore diameter with a pin gauge before and after to see the difference. That should tell you it gets crushed or bent with pressure.

Otto, 
Cutting those at 30 lines per inch does sound tedious. That's an advance each move of .033"?  It looks good, I'm surprised no one has gigged you yet about the  torx screws.   
What's the barrel for?
I sweated my full ribs on and screwed the quarter ribs on, caught grief from my peers about not timing the slots.  Then when I timed the screw heads I timed them crossways and caught grief that they would've looked better lengthwise... Couldn't win tough crowd I used to hang with...
GT

Gregg, I once had a near-identical looking pair of Colt Single Actions and one always was my favorite. Couldn't quite put my finger one why until I noticed that the screws on the side were aligned on one and catywampus on the other. Not custom, though, just coincidence. No, they weren't a matched pair- different caliber, but visual twins. Other than the one thing.