There are big differences between a blank treated properly and one that has been abused in drying assumiing they started into drying similarly. The chisels taste the difference immediately.
No reason for a rookie to avoid building a stock. It is far from rocket science to start. A little bit of an eye is all that is really needed.
Most folks starting out skip the parts I find most important. Doing a semi-inlet instead of starting from the squared up blank does not give you time to find out anythign about the wood and its condition. Cut it in stages and find out what it is about as you go with none of the limits a semi-inlet imposes.
art
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
| 
