Standard practice on a construction site is to make multiple cuts to depth
with a cicular saw and clear the waste with a chisel or hatchet, depending
on the desired appearance.

wrote in message
oups.com...
How would you go about cutting a notch in a regular 2x4 stud
across the grain, so that the notch is 1.5" into the grain
and 3.5" along it? (i.e. to embed one 2x4 crosswise into
another).

I guess a jigsaw could be used but it seems that there's
got to be a better way. What tool should be used to make
this cut?

RPM