Red oak bed posts

[dean herring]

I'm cutting some 6x6 red oak for a friend to build a bed. Should I center the heart .

[Don P]

No, it will check. You're better off with a free of heart piece, typically rift sawn was preferred because it looks pretty much the same on all faces. That is big stuff, I'd cut extra. Then it's going to take a long time to get down to furniture dry. He might want to think about gluing up 2x stock, it could be marked up and be sequential.

[Blackgreyhounds]

Could also glue 3/4 -4 4 ish stock around a poplar core.

[scsmith42]

6" oak will take years to dry, and it will most likely distort notably during the drying process.

Unless the posts are going to be turned, I would suggest gluing up 4/4 stock and then slicing and slip fitting a piece of veneer to cover the glue seam faces.

Much more stable, much faster drying, and very clean.

[Larry]

I get called on to turn large posts for tables and such.  I will turn solid posts from customer supplied wood if they insist.  They end up cracking....

The only way I'll make large posts using my wood is from some type of glue up.  Most of the time it is near impossible to tell it was a glue up. 

[kantuckid]

Tough to answer with specifics unless we know the posts end shape is turned or square, etc.? 
It could also be a 4 piece box of 6" wide sides. 
My dining room table has legs from old chestnut logs drug from the forest floor , dried and turned, few cracks. Much factory oak furniture has turned hex or octagon glue ups.

[low_48]

Does your friend own a castle? 6x6 posts will look gigantic in a bedroom! 4x4 will even look big, but if the headboard is big it can look to scale.