If you leave it in the log, especially with winter coming, you will lose but
little. I generally cover the freshly cut end with a plastic bag between
sessions, though shavings, which you will have in abundance, will work
nicely. Good thing about cherry heartwood is that it does not seem
vulnerable to fresh decay, even in summer.

When ready, take about an inch and a half off the end, then your pieces for
turning, recover and repeat until the log is gone. Be especially aware of
heart splits when you chose your cuts, and cut away until the smallest
annual ring is about an inch or more in width on the rim to get best
results. After that, you're on your own. I don't coat, just keep low to the
floor in the cool basement until they are no longer clammy to the touch.

Within the limits of your design, you might want to avoid going too thick
(8-10% of diameter) or making the walls too vertical. Either seem to make
the blank more prone to pulling apart.

"Phil Anselm" wrote in message
...
Add-on question:
I'm being given a trunk of a tree that a farmer friend of mine refers to
as
"wild cherry". It's over 20" diameter and 15' long.
There is no way I can rough-turn all of it in time to store it. Should I
only take what I can rough-turn, or is there a way I can preserve the
other