I hate it when that happens.

First--when I dry my bowls, I try to encourage the interior to dry first and
to discourage the exterior. To that end, I put them in a plastic shopping
bag, loosely tucked (not sealed) into the bowl top, but with as much of the
interior exposed as possible. I figure that if the INSIDE dries and shrinks
while the outside is still a bit wet and pliable, cracks will be avoided.
That sort of works. As the wood loses moisture, I eventually remove the
plastic bag and let it fully dry.

When the lip is cracked, I shudder, because there is a lot of stress there.

But when I have cracks, I hit them with CA glue, right at this stage, trying
to get the pieces to adhere. As I remove wood, I add more glue, on the
theory that I might just have turned away the only part that is glued. And
finally, in this situation I'd turn a thicker rim than usual because no
matter what you do it will be weak.

Finally, if I do end up with a crack, and it's a weak bowl, I stop before
making the very last cut inside and out and patch it with epoxy glue. If
there is a void there, I will put a masking tape dam on the inside or
outside. I've added some oil artists colors to the glue to try to make it
look like the tree filled in the crack, not me, and it helps. It's a messy
process, and I get dribbles all over, which turn off very nicely on the
final cut.

I really haven't lost too many, and I've turned some really wet wood.

Good Luck,

Old Guy




"Woody in TN" wrote in message
...
I've been turning bowls for almost a year now and have run across this
problem several times. I usually turn wood I collect from the yard or
woods nearby. I've made several bowls that had checks in them, some
have even broken on the lathe. I just roughed out a 10" bowl in
beautifully spalted silver maple and found a check that runs from the
lip all the way to the bottom nearly to the center. The bowl is wet
now and as it dries I'm afraid the check will grow and ruin the bowl.
Is the bowl doomed or is there a way to save it? FYI... I slow dry my
bowls in a paper bag filled with shavings, usually from the bowl just
turned.