I threw a pin cherry log on the mill today. I’m hoping to get the gunwhales and thwarts out of this if it isn’t too badly checked. The log was cut almost two years ago but it has been up off the ground. The ends were very checked but after cutting off as much as I dared to and still be able to get the gunwhales full length it didn’t look too bad.
The cants that I took off did curve very dramatically once they were sawed. I’m hoping to use that to my advantage since the gunwhales need to perform a compound bend anyway. The bottom half of the log stayed much flatter. I assume that tension in the upper half was due to the way the tree was growing out of a hillside.
It’s too bad you won’t be able to smell the wood under the epoxy and varnish. This cherry smells amazing as it’s being cut.
The cants are stacked away under cover now to dry out some more before I try and get some usable trim out of them.
