I used a rasp on the outside, then filed and sanded, before it was completely dry. I stored it for over a year in a cardboard box filled with sawdust and
shavings, to keep it from drying to fast and checking to much. What a difference that made. When I pulled it out there was only one shallow crack. Because
it is so tall, I drilled a bunch of holes before burning out the inside. I had an air pump from an old air-mattress that I used to fan the coals. It made the
work a lot faster, but at the cost of control so I had to be more careful. With the drill and air pump I was able to burn it out in a few hours. Then a
couple days of gouging and sanding to finish it off. I have another piece of cedar to work with but it wasn't stored in sawdust so the checks are fairly
deep. I'm going to have a smaller piece then I wanted and a lot of wasted wood.
