Want to do a piece with cherry

[MAKNDAK]

I have a concept in mind that will look great in cherry. It is a stylized design, but the final size will be about 16" high by about 6-7" wide if I include the base. Do most of you look for a piece of cherry that wide or do you run a thinner piece through a planer and then glue and clamp several of the pieces to get the width?
What are the drawbcks of using a single thick piece?
Can I start out with a piece cut from a large cherry tree?


Dave

[brent]

Fresh cut wood has to season properly or it will check (sometimes badly) depending on your location and the humidity for your area.
Gluing up would probably be the best way to go.
Cherry is a very hard wood so the tools have to be SHARP and kept that way through the process.
Cherry has been carved for centuries and in most forms. It is possible.
Give Chris Pye's web site a look see. He covers just about everything one wants to know concerning carving.
He even explains the best way to glue up to avoid the wood curling or twisting and for the movement of the wood after you finish working it.

[Donsexton]

Cherry is bad to crack so glued up boards will do you a better job unless you like some cracks I do at times.

[mobjack68]

Have you ever carved a piece with glue joints? There is nothing wrong with glued blocks, (carousel horses) you need to consider how the joints will figure into the finished piece.
Also need to plan the grain for the separate pieces so when/if you carve thru a joint, the grains don't cause a great deal of grief.

Pros and cons to every strategy. Me?? Stylized piece??? I would go with a solid piece. If you cut from a tree, rough it out and dry it slowly. (I use trash bags...ventilate as needed to release moisture). There are ways to deal with stress cracks/fissures and with a stylized carving they will be much easier to repair.

[Robson Valley]

If you want to see the capabilities of thin sheets of cherry, you need to have a look at the wood cut prints of Maria Arango. She likes that stuff. After that, make up your mind.