Hi All,
I'm trying to figure out how to proceed with building from a crooked blank that also varies in thickness from side to side. I did find the crooked blank/hickory Bucks thread but I'm not sure it answered my questions and the pics are no longer available. I've squared(relatively) all four sides of the breech/lock panel/ forearm area of the stock. My initial drawing shows me where the breech and lock panel should be but I think drawing anything else on the blank now would be sketchy as while that area is square the thickness varies by over 1/4" through that area. I think you can see all this in the attached picture. The barrel is placed in a best guess position just to show the challenge.
I'm thinking that I should inlet the barrel and then, keeping everything square as possible, true up the rest of the blank before drawing my plan on the blank. My concern is that truing up the stock before inletting the barrel will 1) relieve tension that will allow the blank to go off kilter even more and 2) make it even harder to inlet the barrel and to draw a good plan on the blank.
I welcome any thoughts and advice on how to proceed including what I might be missing, don't know what I'm talking about
and that I might be over thinking this. Many thanks in advance.
John