laminated problems

question for ya's....

i've been dealing with richard's over the last 4 months to get a laminated stock. the first one i got back in december, the rosewood forend had a gaping crack in it upon delivery, and got sent back for replacement.

the next one, received early february, had a smaller crack at the end of the forend. upon talking to Richard's, we agreed that since i was going to cut the forend back at an angle anyhow, i could go ahead and try to cut the crack out, and if it reappeared, we could deal with it then.

i got a chance to work on it last week (break from college), and cut it back. after sanding it a little, the crack began to reappear, just a little. it doesn't appear to be too deep, but is noticeable.

so here comes the question part -

is this normal? the rosewood appears to be a really, really dense wood, and i don't think the crack would open up the length of the stock. any other thoughts?

secondly, if i approach the finish job with a "wet sanding" sort of method - sanding with oil to fill in pores/cracks, will this close up the crack so that it is unnoticable? the way it is now, it's a fairly pronounced mark in the end.

i have an agreement w/ Richard's that if the crack does open up further, i can either a) send the stock back for replacement or b) they will send me a chunk of rosewood and i can replace the forend myself.

any thoughts on how i can smooth the crack out? should i try re-doing the forend? should i just send it back? this makes 4 months for one stock, and it's getting kinda annoying, but Richard's is being very cooperative/helpful, and for the money i've paid, frankly, I expect quality.

thanks
ledz

(p.s., the whole stainless on electric blue with the 20" GM barrel looks real nice. should have some pictures to share within a couple weeks)