Tony:

Thanks for the reply. I will put the birch aside for another project and order some White Ash. I much appreciate the advice. John Keydash

: Everything seems ok but the birch part for stem. Birch tree will follow the
: sun twisting to place the best side towards the sunlight. This creats
: interest grain pattern to wood when plain saw. This is great for turn
: furniture but we prefer straight pattern for the stem - for obvious
: reason.
: Unless you want a sawn outer stem, you need to bend the wood. Twisted birch
: would break when bend. Birch are great wood, just save it for your
: furniture.