John,

I've got a left-handed stock I pulled off my 1948 FN. It's pretty Weatherby-esque with a high Monte Carlo and cheekpiece, but has some nice figure, so I'd like to work it down, removing the useless (for me) cheekpiece and maybe the Monte Carlo to cut weight and possibly turn it into a good stock for irons.

What's the best tool for fast removal of the excess wood? I was thinking maybe a large Sureform tool.

Thanks.

I've used a Surform, but eventually switched to a farrier's rasp, normally used for trimming horse hooves.

Found a bunch on Amazon.

Thanks again.

Don't ignore good old Stanley hand planes for such work. Material can be removed accurately and quickly with one. The Nicholson #50 pattern maker's rasp is a great tool to remove wood in a hurry while leaving a surface ready for fine grit sand paper. Also, keep a good straightedge handy to maintain a straight line from comb to heel.

Don't be tempted to pick up a power tool. Slow and steady using a sharp plane, rasp and long, rigid sanding block will prevent dips and hollows.

Good files are cheap, good rasps are not. Not so good rasps do not cut nearly as smoothly as a good one.

A series of good files and a single great rasp will make things much better... but the great rasp will cost far more than all the rest combined. And is probably not worth it for a single bit of work.

Thanks all.

Chain saw and duct tape.

I like the No-Clog files Brownell's sells. Cutting speed varies markedly depending on how much pressure you use. And - surprise - they don't clog up. Leaves a smoother cut.

I suspect some have misunderstood the first question. He was asking about removing LOTS of wood, not final shaping, which is why I recommended the farrier's rasp.

I have several good rasps of the kind called pattern-maker's or cabinet-maker's for smoothing a stock down to final dimensions before sanding. But they do NOT take excess wood--such as entire cheekpiece--off very quickly. A farrier's rasp does.

As does a chainsaw!!

With some pieces of wood I've often considered a small electric chainsaw to shorten the job!

Since I also shoe horses and mules I have been using a farrier's rasp for many years with stock work. I have about a dozen around of varying sharpness Cheap ones are thicker, the more expensive ones are thinner and easier to handle. I have had several of the stock makers rasp and they won't hold their sharpness.

When I lay a stock out in a 3" thick plank. The heavy cuts ,I take off with a standard router then switch to a smaller router, and then to the farrier's rasp. A flexible shaft hamd piece gets the tight corners etc .

John,

The No-Clog file will remove wood like mad with some pressure. Never looked into it but I suspect "file" and "no clog" relates to soft metals. The "teeth" are a series of arcs cut across the face and work more like planing than gouging. The farrier's rasp is the classic suggestion, more a matter of taste than effect I suppose.

Saddlesore,

Bivens or one of the other black powder luminaries wrote about using routers to good effect to inlet barrel channels. And said one little slip and the blank becomes really good firewood. But otherwise works great. I haven't the guts to try it - I make enough mistakes with hand tools.

--Jon

It does take a steady hand. If I was doing a barrel channel I would use a guide and not free hand it.I have done several on a m milling machine though

Yes, the author used a guide. From my foggy memory it was a strip of steel screwed to the blank. Still lots of caution was advised as well as practice on a plain plank or cheap blank. He was apprenticing with a smith producing quality black powder rifles so the time savings was important. The smith was skeptical but the time savings and quality as good as hand inlet won him over. Pretty sure it was Bivens but maybe not.