rotten door jamb
 

Im goint to cut out a portion of the exterior door jamb that is rotten. It appears that the door stop strip is milled into the jamb as one piece. is the best way to cut this out with a reciprocating saw or what any advice?

Welcome Stan:
I have many years of building and remodeling behind me but I have a strong inclination to do plumbing work. So, the reciprocating saw is a favorite tool for many applications.
After you cut the rotten part out, you can replace it with a new piece, fill it with wood putty, sand it smooth and paint.
However, you may run into more decay than you can easily repair and want to replace the whole door frame. It is a little more of a challenge but it gives a lot of satisfaction. Here again, you can take the casing and brick mould off and cut the fasteners with the ol' recipro.
Glenn

thanks very much for the reply, Im going to try tomorrow.

If existing damage indicates that much of the exterior door frame needs replaced, it may be just about as cheap to totally replace the door with a new, pre-hung entry door. It almost always takes less time for an experience carpenter to install a new prehung exterior door rather than cut out damage protions and try to replace.
my .o2, Doug