Anyone that has shaped a chunk of wood into a finished stock by hand  knows it is lots of work, especially in the beginning.  So, there was a question on a method I started using on the last gun I did, and a second that I am currently working on.  There are several way to rough shape a stock blank so I'm not going to say this is the best, but just one of them. But as we get older it's nice to find ways to do some of this work that is easier on the arms and body.   

So I thought it may be helpful to anyone thinking about working from a blank and don't know where to start, or maybe just interested in how it's  done, to see some of the process in the early stages.

So starting with a blank as shown in this first picture, I draw the rough shape of the stock on the wood.

I'm not getting into inletting here, that can been seen in other threads by me and others, but the action obviously needs to be attached to the wood as well as the buttplate. Then the final stock layout can be done and rough shaping started.  This second picture shows how much wood needs to be removed just to get to a rough finished dimension. 

I then use bandsaw to remove most of the wood, to a close finished profile, of the top and bottom.  Third photo.  I have left a little more wood on the belly at this point because I wasn't quite sure where the bottom line would end up as it transitions into the buttplate.

In the case of this gun, it's a Stevens 44, so it has cheeks that will protrude from just behind the back width of the action.  This being the widest portion of the wood, at that point, it is marked on the top and bottom from the center line, with a little extra, just for comfort. The same at the back at the buttplate.

Photo 4 and 5 show the top and bottom with the lines drawn. 

Bob

I like how you do layout lines, Bob.  I do somewhat the same, but you're a lot more precise and thorough!

In this first photo I am showing the final picture of the rough grip width completed.  By using a good angle of the lighting, it is easy to bring this down to the final flat surface, without cutting past your original layout lines.

Reading this, it might seem like a long process to get a flat surface, just to a couple lines.  I do it this way for a couple reasons.  First is obvious in that it is accurate and gets you to that flat surface.  You could just rasp this off without all the angles, and that's what I would have done in the past.  But, doing it this way I have found it is much easier on the arms. 

As far as time goes, using the picture time stamps, it took 6 total  minutes to do, which included setting up for pictures.  I would guess, actual time, 2-3 minutes, per side, without stopping for the pictures.

This next picture shows the the front of the wood after removing the bulk from each side.  Still looks like lots of wood to come off, and there is.  I have a rough estimate that the peak of each cheek is 3/16 inch wider than the frame width.  So I have left about 1/4 inch for a margin of safety.

This third picture is of the rasp I used to do the previous work on the grip. It's an Auriou number 3 rasp.  It is very course and in tough wood hard to push, but is the chain saw of rasps!  This rasp is what I would use, in the past, to remove the bulk of wood from a blank after the bandsaw.  If you want a workout buy one and go at a chunk of tough wood with it.  Some caution is suggest if using a rasp like this, I alway support the the wood front and back.  Using a tool like this, with the wood not well supported will put lots of stress, especially on the grip area.

The bulk of wood can be removed using any of several different tools.  A few being, the rasp I just mentioned, chisels, drawknife, hatchets, wood planes, I suppose someone has tried a chainsaw and I'm sure there are more I can't think of.

The fourth photo is of the drawknife I have used one a few stocks but I have found it really only useful in more straight grained wood.  Figured wood just gets too hard and hard to work with one of these. 

I've tried wood planes, and some people like using them, but I find they don't remove wood fast enough for me, and are limited as to where they can be used in stocking a gun.

I haven't tried any other method but maybe someone else has, and can add to the list.

This is very interesting Bobw! Not being much of a woodworker I find it educational. A question though, how do you hold the wood as I always find that problematic. Do you use vices and/ or wood clamps to hold it in various positions? As long as the action is attached that could be used to hold it.

Vall, I really prefer working with an unfinished action or one that need lots of filing and polishing in order to clean it up.  This one can’t be beat up at all!

Richard, I use clamps as you will see coming up.  First side is easy, second a little more challenging but not too bad.  The way the disc works it really doesn’t grab or push so it takes little to hold the wood.
Bob

Vall, the clamps are how I held the wood while grinding outside on a piece of plywood.  I'll show a picture shortly how I hold the gun in the shop while hand shaping.

This going to be fairly picture heavy, but I don't know how else to explain what I am doing.

Photo 1, The stock is clamped to the plywood and the first pass with the grinder is done down to the line.  This first grinding is just to quickly remove wood down to the approximate final stock thickness.  Shaping will take place after this operation is complete.

Photo 2 and 3, The right side is done, too thickness, and fairly straight from front to rear.  The amount of wood left for final shaping can be seen at the buttplate.  The area where the ruler is laying is always the hardest to work down, the grinder makes short work of it.

Photo 4, still working the right side, I make a contour line of this thickness, I call it a light line or high point.  Doesn't need to be perfect at this point but I just need something to work to.

Photo 5, at this point I also marked out the comb lines and will grind to them as I shape the stock.
Bob

Photo 1, top of the left side after grinding.

Photo 2 and 3, back in the shop.  It took exactly 30 minutes, by photo time stamps, to grind this stock.  This saves hours of hard work.  A couple better pictures of both side of the stock just after grinding, nothing else has been done at this point.

Photo 1, Started shaping the front side of the cheek down to the frame.  Metal foil tape with two layers of painters tape on the frame.  First layer gives me an idea where I'm at, before hitting the frame with a rasp.

Photo 2, Shaping the center of the grip around to the top tang.  This also shapes the top of the cheek and gives it the rounded profile, back around to the center of the grip.

Photo 3, I shaped the center of the stock around to the lower tang.  Gives an idea of what it will look like, still not real straight but this is just rough work anyway.  This will be finished with a very fine rasp that cuts much slower than what I have been using so far and leaves a better finish.

Photo 4, view from the bottom again. I won't do anymore on this side for now until the other side is shaped.  But, I can say the front side is not what I like yet.  It's at too steep of an angle, and not curved enough.

Photo 5, This what the stock looked like when I stopped today.  Two hours from the start of grinding to this point.

I don't start anything else on a stock until the full grip it pretty well established.  This is because the rest of the stock needs to flow up into the grip area and it is impossible for me to know how to do this until the grip area is roughed in.
Bob