Good Saturday morning,

As stated in my intro, I am a gunsmith in SW PA, where there always has been a shortage of gunsmiths - and in the past couple years, the fella I apprenticed with prior to formal training, and one other GS have passed away, and one is no longer taking work (health accident and age).   That leaves me covering a LARGE area.  So, from that situation, I have been getting inundated with work...both a blessing and curse.  To the point, by receiving a larger number of customers, I have a larger % who are wanting to cut the stocks of their new/nearly new rifles for one reason or another.  Some stocks are from Grandpap's handed down rifle, others have been high end finishes or new field grade stocks.  My concern is cutting into finished wood without making splinters on the exit side of the wood.  If significant enough, rarely can the splintering be repaired in such a way to meld in completely with the manufacturers color and sheen.  I now have a brand new shotgun on the bench where the owner wants a complex recoil reducing mechanism installed.  This time, I thought I would canvas a woodworking forum to start my grey matter churning in an attempt to improve my odds at a better result.  The woman is small, with a very small length of pull (distance between the trigger and end of buttstock).  The butt stock (walnut) being quite nicely finished from the factory, and of course being oval in shape has me pondering the best way to ensure no blade exit wounds.  I have used tape on the back side of wood (which can work decent at times, and have the opposite effect as well), used another piece of wood behind the subject wood (which works with flat projects), and have cut half the depth, flipped the stock and cut the remaining half (that can cause other issues that must be cleaned up, but is usually my current practice...project dependent).  I should add that I have high tooth count blades available on each of my cutting tools (scroll, bandsaw, etc.).  Has anyone had experience with a way that reduces the % of failure or potential damage that must be repaired?  Please share.  Thanks.

Welcome! Lots of talented folks here with years of experience. I think the first question would be, do you have pictures of what you are trying to do?

 

If you need help posting images, let me know and I'll try to help.

 

I'm not a gunsmith so I have no idea what you are trying to do.

Edited November 18, 20232 yr by lew

i'd look at building a sled/jig to hold the stock, and then be able to push the whole mess thru a bandsaw, which should leave the least amount of tear out.

 

sled would be able to adjust the miter angle as well as the bevel, so you can exactly cut the line desired, as well as adjust the distance from the stock to the blade. i'd look into using some screw type adjusters to move things around and then lock the setting down with a jam nut.

Having butchered a couple of stocks trying to put recoil pads on them, I think the cut in 1/2 method you're using is about the best approach. If you're cutting with a saw that uses  a circular blade (table saw or RAS) I would say that having a negative hook blade might help.

Edited November 18, 20232 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Might try scoring the cut line before cutting any wood as first method.

 

Second method cut longer than desired and then d=sand back to that scored line using oscillating spindle sander.