I want to built some Roorkee chairs and the stresses on the chair parts are pretty extreme. The way they were made in the 19th century was to use riven wood instead of sawing so that the grain would go the full length of the part.
So, to you Windsor chair folks. You need extreme strength in those thin parts. Do you just go to the lumber yard and cut your wood to follow the grain? Do you rive the wood. Do you start with green wood. How big a deal is this.