I cut a crotch wood stock blank a couple of years ago and want to find out from those more experienced than myself it if it's flaws are too bad as to render it useless. I am thinking about trashing the miscut Issac Haines precarve stock I have shown lately and using this blank instead.
Here is the walnut blank, the picture angle makes it look distorted but it is a normal stock blank. It is 3/12" wide so I have plenty of room to plane the knot in the wrist and one cracked place out of it. The line in the butt is not a crack but where I made a pass with my hand held Harbor freight planer. I checked the M/c with my meter and found the blank is 10% in the forearm and 16% in the butt. I do have a wood drying box so i would put the blank in the box for a couple of months before I try to use it.
The pins may or may not disappear when I plane off more wood, will they be a problem if I send it off for buttstock shaping and barrel inletting? Also what width should I shoot for so I can plane it down to get rid of the most flaws?