Cutting Buttstock

[smoke]

Hi: I don't have a bandsaw so how do you cut the buttstock ? Do you mark it then score with a knife then cut with a hacksaw or do you tape it so it won't splinter and then cut? Dan

[smylee grouch]

Are you working with a stock blank or a finnished stock?

[smoke]

Hi : The stock is shaped but not cut cheeck piece etc all done just long. Dan

[Ed Wenger]

Dan,

You can tape it if you like, but most times you have extra wood on each side of the butt piece, so you have to rasp anyway to get it flush.

After you mark the outline of the butt piece on the stock, you can make a series of horizontal cuts from the end grain, towards the outline.  Instead of taking off one big hunk, you get a series of little pieces.  It's a little easier to follow your butt piece outline that way.  Using a thin blade saw also helps.  Don't be overly concerned about a smooth cut because you'll be doing lots of rasping to fit the butt piece to the stock.  Hope that helps...

              Ed

[bgf]

I use a jigsaw and just stay clear of the line (runout can be a problem, although it isn't as bad as you might think).  Works amazingly well, if you have a good halfround rasp and big halfround file to clean it up; very easy if you can clamp the stock down "sideways and square".  As the others said, you want to fit to the buttplate slowly, so you don't want to cut it out exactly.