Arthur Turner & Ashmead's Kernall

[Kleftiwallah]

Gave our Arthur Turner (apple tree) a severe pruning, that branch is now the bird table support.

Pruned our Ashmead's Kernall and that branch will be the shaft of a large hoe, (I picked up the business end in Greece). I have removed the bark, smoothed down the branch stubs and it's now in a contraption of baulks of timber and G cramps to hold it straight. How long should I leave it to dry straight and true? Cheers, Tony.

[Brocakat]

Begging your pardon - but isn't it 'Ashmead's Kernel' ?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Kleftiwallah

I have removed the bark, smoothed down the branch stubs and it's now in a contraption of baulks of timber and G cramps to hold it straight. How long should I leave it to dry straight and true? Cheers, Tony.

you could ask on avwoodwork site like ukworkshop or the woodhaven, but the short answer is that would always moves as it dries, and if you try to force it to stay straight it will crack and split.

better to let it dry naturally then plane/spokeshave/adze it to ther shape you want

also removing the bark was a bad idea as this encourages fast drying which is more likely to cause movement and splitting - you might want to coat the surface with wax to slow down the drying rate.

in terms of drying times that depends on how thick it is - the usual rule of thumb for air drying in a covered but unheated environment is 1 year for each inch of thickness.