Fruit wood

[F Flinstone]

Do to a friends orchard being re-developed I have a lot of Apple/ Pear and Cherry wood, I have cut them into 100/150cm lengths, the diameters are from 32cm to around 15cm. Some websites state that its best to cut into planks and then dry for a year for each 1" thickness of plank, I need some thick pieces as I want to build a fruit and nut workbench, so the legs, in Cherry wood will need to be 15cm sq, what is the best way to dry them out, whole or sliced? Thanks FF

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Fruit wood is notorious for splitting during the drying process especially if left in the round ,I would get it resawn into boards and put it in stick to air dry it very slowly ,yes rule of thumb is one inch takes one year,but only if the board is one inch thick,that is to say two inch may take longer than two years,it all depends on species.You could of course make your bench out of the green wood,but be prepared for a lot of movement and horrendous splitting.Orchard wood is well known for problems because it usually contains a lot of reaction wood,hope I haven't put too much of a downer on your project but forewarned is better than disastrous results,regards Kevin.