Reply To: Using Wood Directly from a Tree
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I don’t think there is a reliable way to dry sections without cracking. You may be able to achieve this with the right species and drying technique, but I wouldn’t count on it. Two months is not enough time for wood to dry if it’s held as a log. I have year old quarter logs lying around, which are still significantly moist inside. Secondly, wood shrinks in that direction the most; imagine the growth rings getting shorter, the more the longer (closer to the outside) they are. I have turned bowls from fresh half logs and they shrink so much that the long grain sides drop by about 1cm each for a 17cm bowl. And thirdly, as already mentioned, you will have a very weak structure if you insert legs practically parallel to the grain. Wood splits most easily that way with nothing to stop it, as opposed to compressing the end-grain of to two sides if the leg is perpendicular to the seat’s grain.
What you could do is split or saw it in half, let it dry, plain it true and glue it. I still wouldn’t use it for a chair, but as a chopping board or plate, it could be nice. End-grain is hard to work, as you already noticed.
Don’t give up, though, green oak is very nice to split and work with a drawknife. I recommend Peter Follansbee’s blog (https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com) for a wealth of solid information (search for oak, split, splitting, froe, riven, riving and the like).
Cheers,
David