Replies

1. 
   john_c2 | Oct 27, 2023 06:26pm | #1

   You want legs and stretchers to be very dry. Drier than the seat, but I don't know how wet you want the seat.

   Chairmakers will often put legs in a small kiln to get them good and dry before knocking them into the seat.

1. 
   user-2885708 | Oct 29, 2023 09:30am | #4

   Thanks, John.
   This isn't a project I have any experience with.
   I'll follow your advice, as well as that of jharveyb and mj.
   Peter A

2. 
   jharveyb | Oct 27, 2023 07:50pm | #2

   John is correct. Chairs & benches stay together better if the round tenons are dry and the mortises shrink around them as they dry.
   You want to seal the ends (paint or oil based varnish) to prevent rapid moisture loss and end checking. If you have the blank cut out, seal the ends with a finish that will be part of the final look.
   You can apply an exterior "stain" (like a deck finish) right away as long as it is not a complete moisture barrier, i.e., as long as it is a breathable finish. You don't really want rapid moisture loss, as that can lead to surface checking, but you also don't want to seal in all the current moisture either.
   By the way, if your slab contains the pith (the center of the tree), you will have checking develop as the wood shrinks around the pith. If the slab doesn't contain the pith (is all on one side of the center), there is less chance of big checks developing. If you go ahead and make the bench now, with the heart side up, the seat will become somewhat convex on the top and concave on the bottom, as the wood dries. If it happens to twist in drying, you can always trim one of the legs later to get it to sit level and solid again.

   Remove the bark as soon as possible, if you haven't already. Cherry sapwood is tasty to boring beetle larvae, who come from eggs laid by the adult females in cracks in the bark. The larvae may be in the wood already, in which case you are pretty much stuck with them. I'm not sure if they are a problem in Vermont; we are very familiar with them here in Southern Tennessee.

1. 
   user-2885708 | Oct 29, 2023 09:32am | #5

   Mr. Harvery,
   Many thanks for your strong advice. I will follow it to the letter.
   I dry my wood outside, so it'll be too chilly for any bugs for the immediate future.
   The butt was lying down for ~2-3 mos before it could be pulled out of the woods, so it's had plenty of exposure.
   Thanks! PA

3. 
   _mj_ | Oct 28, 2023 10:07am | #3

   I hope your friends are young and strong! 4x13x72" of cherry will be a 2-man move even after it dries. Dry time will be more like 5-6 years at 4" thick. The 1" per year thing slows down around 3".

   Check out the recent articles about Roman workbenches, that's pretty much what you have planned.

1. 
   user-2885708 | Oct 29, 2023 09:34am | #6

   MJ,
   Thanks so much! I may end up thinning it a bit. I'll warn the friends who gave the wood to me.
   Meanwhile, I've made one of them a cherry bench for changing his boots. That cherry is all dry.
   Meanwhile, as suggested, I'll turn the legs out of dry cherry.
   Thanks! Peter A