Ladder back chairs made from green wo…
ChrisMBeebe | Posted in General Discussion on
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Hello, Maybe someone out there can help me. I recently started to make primitive ladder back chairs from white oak. The legs and backs were very wet (Im not sure what the moister content was) when split out of the log, and then left to air dry for a week before they were turned to there finished size. After a few days I was getting checking on the ends of the legs and backs. Im sure its because the wood was to wet but im confused about how to solve this problem. I want to continue using and learning about green wood. If anyone could tell me how to get rid of the checking I would be very thankful. Chris
Replies
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Slow down the drying at the end grain. 1) either coat the endgrain with something waterproof, or 2) add moisture occasionally to the endgrain.
Or, I wonder if you could put a little Saran wrap around the ends and a strong rubber band to hold it on? I think once the MC got down to about 15% you'd probably be ok.
*Chris,Steven Shepard has specializes in this type of furniture construction he recently published an article on ladderback chairs. He has been helpful when I contacted him. His website is http://www.ilovewood.com Hope you find what you need.Matt-
*You can make the legs 3 or 4 inches longer (the next time, of course) and then cut off the checks and splits to make the leg the correct length. It also helps to make the legs overly large in diameter, let it dry a bit and then finish it to the final size. The amount of time it needs to dry depends on the cross sectional size of the leg, the ambient humidity, etc. You probably already know that the legs should relatively wet and the stretchers should be very dry when assembling.
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