What to do with some cherry and a couple of beech logs.

[Dave Shepard]

I've got the logs from this tree home and anchorsealed. I'm wondering what I should cut them into. I've only cut flooring from cherry, but I think these deserve better than that. I was thinking about making some big slabs for Roubo style workbench tops. I also have a couple of beech logs that I want to make workbench or plane parts out of. Any suggestions as to thickness and grain orientation? Thanks.



 

[Nomad]

     Dave, I don't think I'd use Cherry for a real working benchtop.  The Beech is denser and harder.  It'll make a great Roubo style bench if you've got enough of it.  Personally I'd either try to use quartersawn or build a butcher block style top for durability, but beech will take a lot of punishment even flat sawn.  If you're serious about doing handwork on it, I'd go with at least 4" thick.  5" would be even better, and about the same for the legs.
     If the bench is going to be an ornament or only lightly used, Cherry should be fine.

[Andries]

Great choices for the uses of this wood!
I agree with Nomad, and would repeat the recommendation for a butcher block style for the top. A glue-up of smaller pieces gives more stability over single slabs and also gets you a bench top quicker because of the shorter drying time.

Milling thicker stock looks great for the vice, legs and deadman, but again, how long will you have to wait for the air drying to bring the stock down to 20 - 30 MC? ... and then the kiln after that? One year per inch of stock thickness equals a long time! Glue-ups for all of those parts of the workbench could work out really well too.

Your projects all indicate a true "from tree to final use" practice, great to see!

[Dave Shepard]

Yes, cherry is soft compared to beech or maple, but that really doesn't bother me. If you are beating your workbench to bits, then you aren't using it correctly. The biggest risk is chopping dovetails, which is why you have a chopping board to protect the benchtop from dents and accidental chisel hits. Christopher Schwartz's Roubo bench is cherry. He also makes a lot of benches from yellow pine, which is only 2/3 the Janka hardness of cherry.

I'm not worried about drying time. If I do saw 5" thick, it will just get put aside until it's ready. No rush. I also have a bunch of nice, but smaller, ash logs that I might saw up into something that I could use to laminate a top from.

[WDH]

I would cut most of it 2 3/8" thick.  It can be used flat for things like table tops or counter tops, or you could orient it edgeways if you needed 4 or 5" thick. 

[Dave Shepard]

I think that might be a good way to go. I could even resaw some of it if needed later. I also have some nice ash logs that I want to cut up for bench parts. Should I also cut that at 2 3/8? I've air dried 5/4, and it seems to do ok. I'm thinking the ash would be laminated to form a top about 3" thick.

[sealark37]

If you can possibly handle it, don't leave that cherry stump in the woods.  Pressure wash it and slab it to whatever thickness you want.  It will produce some beautiful figured slabs.  Regards, Clark

[YellowHammer]

Remember that most cherry slabs or boards will split badly through the pith, more so than most other species.  So try to take your widest and best slabs away from there, otherwise you will end up with twin narrow slabs. ;D Also, try to saw along the axis of the log and parallel to the bark if at all possible for the highest grade wood so the thick slabs won't have a tendency to twist or warp when they dry.
Looks like a fun project.
YH

[Dave Shepard]

There is no stump, the tree was rotten in the middle of the butt, and fell on it's own. I'll probably make tomato stakes out of the pith portion, or some maybe even some fence posts.

[WDH]

Pith cracking is cherry is about the worst that I have seen in any species.