Looking for a technique to mark lock panel thickness

[Jerry V Lape]

How do you mark the thickness for the lock panel with a swamped barrel so the tail end of the panel accounts for the flair off the barrel?  Previously I just inletted through deeper wood and then planed it down to the bevel of the lock plate once it was fully inletted.  I think I made this more difficult by partially shaping the top of the stock around the tang first but thought it would give me better perspective on lining up the lock tail with the wrist.   I am ready to thin the lock panel down close to final thickness but am having considerable doubts about starting to plane that surface down without having established some marking lines to work to. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

While the stock blank is still square, and after the barrel and tang are in, I mark along the top of the stock for the thickness of the lock plate at the bolster at both ends of that thicker part of the plate.  Then I extend the line rearward well past the end of the panel.  Measure at some point that you draw completely around the stock, like where the tail of the plate will be, from the centre of the stock to the lock's panel line you've just made, and transfer the dimension to the bottom of the stock too.  I assume you have a centre line running lengthwise all around the wood.  Now you can now plane off the wood right down to but leave the line.  this will set the lock flush with the stock, and the wood will need to be pared down further to allow the bevel to be proud.

[Jerry V Lape]

Taylor,

I can see how that should have been done in retrospect, however I didn't mark the extension of the bolster line before rounding the top of the tang so it is now difficult to do.  Problem is I got the order of work out of sequence.  Meanwhile, I got to thinking about my laser level - so I laid the stock and barrel on it's side, leveled up the lower rear portion of the barrel and used the laser to extend that bolster line.  Not exactly historically correct but it  worked perfectly to get me moving again. 

Thanks for sharing your correct procedure - I will use it on the next rifle.