I know there are some books out about it, probably pretty easy to find one on Ebay. I'm not a big fan of pine for Rustic furniture, but many are. (I prefer oak, hickory, etc.)
As for curing it, for rustic furniture it's a simple of matter of just putting it in a relatively cool dry location where some air will circulate. Even up in the raters of a pole barn is a good spot! You'll want to leave your 'sticks' at least a foot longer than you guess you'll need, so you can cut off the ends later on. Sounds like you have plenty, so I wouldn't bother with waxing the end cuts and such. You'll want to harvest when the sap is down too, I believe. I believe Rockler sells some tenon-cutting apparatus, both one you can use in a regular drill, and one that works with a router. If you have maple on your property, consider that. I like hickory because harvested in the winter, you can do some "bark on" furniture with it without the bark flaking off. Bark HAS to be removed from pine, also. |
