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Cherry Wood

I have a Cherry tree in my back garden that i have recently pruned getting some quite straight branches that i intend to use as neck stock. My problem is i removed the bark from one piece and left it to dry in the sun and it cracked badly. Now the sun ain't so hot in the uk, so how can i dry out the rest without cracking?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Lillo on May 16, 2011 at 8:56am

keep it out of the sun. It also helps to cover the end grain with wax so it doesn't dry too fast.

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Permalink Reply by Ben on May 16, 2011 at 9:09am

Keep in mind that the drying process is EXTREMELY long...a matter of years in most cases. I know I've seen some posts in the past where there's an equation for thickness measured in inches to number of months needed to cure the wood. Perhaps you can locate those or the original poster will chime in. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Brian Hunt on May 16, 2011 at 2:11pm

hope this helps.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for55/for55.htm

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Calvetti on May 16, 2011 at 2:21pm

Drying wood naturally is a very risky process. I've used a lot of backyard wood for carving before, and it's always a bit of a gamble. A piece that is long enough for a neck is probably going to warp significantly throughout the drying process. If not, you might get to the very end of your project only to have it crack after you've glued everything together.

I'm not saying "don't try it", but just be aware that it might not turn out the way you wanted it to. On the other hand, it might come out really well, which would be awesome!