Stock making

I'm wondering if 2" thick will be enough thickness, unless you bend the stock to get the correct offset, which is generally 1/4" or so to the right for a right handed shooter. This offset generally starts around mid-way of the grip.

I have walnut here that I have cut into 2-1/2 thick boards due to this. I have made a few custom stocks, but generally, I send out the order to someone with a duplicator.

The receiver recesses and the barrel channel are the hardest, and every other measurement is taken from the centerline of the bore. There are a few good books on this, which show the basic layout. See the gunsmithing book by Dunlap.
 
Update on my stock, I have decided against the padauk. It would have been awesome to use it, but for my first ever stock, I'd like to use something a little easier to work with, so I am going to use walnut. I'm going to see if I can get it in 2.5" thick by 7" wide.
 
Get yourself a piece of english chip walnut. It is better than American black walnut. Cuts are cleaner. It will cost you about $100 for a plain straight grain piece without figure.
 
Easy place to get walnut blanks- Boyd's. Their profile will accommodate most rifle stock designs, thickness is 2-1/4" which is MOL the industry standard.

I buy my hardwood blanks elsewhere now, but used to purchase from Boyd's and found them to be of decent quality for standard grade Walnut.
 
Yep, for a beginner, as suggested already, buy a Unilet stock from Boyds to use for your first attempt. Exterior of it is already shaped (but needs additional work) and requires inletting for the barreled action/trigger guard. Last Unilet stock I got from Boyds was in their clearance section. I didn't expect much when I ordered it. It was for replacing a butchered military stock on a mauser that had been sporterized. I got lucky, wood had some decent color and figure in it.
 
A word about the 2-1/2" thick boards I have cut. 2-1/4" is the standard, but after talking with several stock makers over the years, they have ran into problems with run out of the blank on the outside of the stock, while in the duplicator. In other words, they found out that they didn't have quite enough width, and it left a flat on the outside face of the stock due to the offset. I actually bought some of these duds from a maker to use the wood for repairs, and sure enough, the outside face of the stock had a flat to it, that the duplicator missed. The wood was mounted in the duplicator on its center. Though, if the wood was offset in the opposing direction, it might of helped, but what would it do to the grain, and cracking? So just a word of caution on the thickness.
 
With a duplicator thicker is better

Especially with light weight machines
Like a Terroco Duplicaver , like the one I have.
 
In school stockmaking was a whole quarter study .
But you have plenty of good advise already.

Get the best tools you can buy.

For barrel inletting I use chisels and a Dem-mart(sp?) tool that looks like a round Surform.
 
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