Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there
is a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from
the top surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top
and bottom surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and
one inch on the other. If the crack was to further extend through the
piece, I would roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...
I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there is a
hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from the top
surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top and bottom
surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and one inch on
the other. If the crack was to further extend through the piece, I would
roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

If it is only a hairline, you can wick water-thin CA glue into it to hold as
you turn. Important to renew the wicking periodically as you continue
turning, and to ensure that the stuff is cured before you spin it onto your
arm and whatever else you might have in the way when you power back up.

You want, as always, to stay out of the throw zone as you turn, and no music
or ear defenders, as you're interested in the slightest change in impact
tone or a "tick" should the side of the crack slip like the San Andreas. If
it does, it's your decision whether or not to glue and continue.

If you want to use the crack as a "feature," and you have an idea of where
the rim of the bowl may be, bore a hole across it and chisel for a
Nakashima dovetail in contrasting wood.

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

James
There is no one answer in a case like this. Personally I would likely cut
along the crack line and use the wood for something else. I have tried the
other route and have never been happy with the results. I would rather work
with a wide crack as a design feature than a hairline, but that is just me.
This is personal business.
If you go the route of using thin CA to stabilize the crack and then turn,
continue to use the glue as you turn the bowl. It may have wicked all the
way in first time but then agian it may not. Remember that it will show up
in a wood like maple and that many finishes will make it even more obvious.
Which ever way you do it, the turning will be fun. Nothing to lose so go for
it.


--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...
I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there is a
hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from the top
surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top and bottom
surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and one inch on
the other. If the crack was to further extend through the piece, I would
roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

Life is too short to fool with something like that unless you see the
crack as a "feature". I used to screw with things like that a lot (and
still do if I want) until as Darrell pointed out, the glue will
contaminate and discolor your finishing in many cases.

CA glue doesn't hold up well in heat. So if you are using a friction
finish and really "burn it on" you will be guaranteed problems.

I have also had CA pick up (especially the water thin used repeatedly
in a crack) dark stuff that lives in the crack and make itself apparent
with other finishes.

And no one needs a piece of wood flying off the lathe this close to
Christmas; if it is a broken up as you say it is, why take a chance?

Robert

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

In article ,
James Krzanowski wrote:

I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there
is a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from
the top surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top
and bottom surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and
one inch on the other. If the crack was to further extend through the
piece, I would roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cut it. If you must have a bowl from it, and can't think of anything to
do with 4x4x8 parts, cut 3/4" or so out of it and laminate in a board,
perhaps cherry or walnut, for a feature (a contrasting stripe).

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

Here is my 2¢ worth.

Every type of wood appears to behave differently.

In many cases, filling a hairline cracks with the appropriate glue gives
satisfactory results. Each case has to be handled individually.

I at one time was turning cherry wood and part of it flew off. Luckily, I
was wearing safety goggles. In hindsight, I should have been wearing a
complete face shield.

Since then when I turn cherry and oak blanks, I hunt for hairline cracks
first. If I find a hairline crack, I use the blank for something else.

Several times, after finding hairline cracks in cherry, I have split the
blank in two halves and glued them together.

Then after turning the glued blanks, the results were not too satisfactory.
I hate to discard cherry blanks with hairline crack but safety comes first.




"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news:VOThh.90404$rv4.14108@edtnps90...
James
There is no one answer in a case like this. Personally I would likely cut
along the crack line and use the wood for something else. I have tried the
other route and have never been happy with the results. I would rather
work with a wide crack as a design feature than a hairline, but that is
just me. This is personal business.
If you go the route of using thin CA to stabilize the crack and then turn,
continue to use the glue as you turn the bowl. It may have wicked all the
way in first time but then agian it may not. Remember that it will show
up in a wood like maple and that many finishes will make it even more
obvious.
Which ever way you do it, the turning will be fun. Nothing to lose so go
for it.


--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...
I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there is
a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from the top
surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top and bottom
surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and one inch on
the other. If the crack was to further extend through the piece, I would
roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

Maybe I'll do that - cut into two, cut out the cracked sections,
resurface the faces in my planer, and then glue them back together. A
somewhat smaller bowl, but probably safer to turn?
A while back I was taking a woodturning class, and while scraping the
outside of a bowl it literally exploded - I never did find all the
pieces. I think maybe I would like to avoid that again if possible.

wrote:
Here is my 2¢ worth.

Every type of wood appears to behave differently.

In many cases, filling a hairline cracks with the appropriate glue gives
satisfactory results. Each case has to be handled individually.

I at one time was turning cherry wood and part of it flew off. Luckily, I
was wearing safety goggles. In hindsight, I should have been wearing a
complete face shield.

Since then when I turn cherry and oak blanks, I hunt for hairline cracks
first. If I find a hairline crack, I use the blank for something else.

Several times, after finding hairline cracks in cherry, I have split the
blank in two halves and glued them together.

Then after turning the glued blanks, the results were not too satisfactory.
I hate to discard cherry blanks with hairline crack but safety comes first.




"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news:VOThh.90404$rv4.14108@edtnps90...

James
There is no one answer in a case like this. Personally I would likely cut
along the crack line and use the wood for something else. I have tried the
other route and have never been happy with the results. I would rather
work with a wide crack as a design feature than a hairline, but that is
just me. This is personal business.
If you go the route of using thin CA to stabilize the crack and then turn,
continue to use the glue as you turn the bowl. It may have wicked all the
way in first time but then agian it may not. Remember that it will show
up in a wood like maple and that many finishes will make it even more
obvious.
Which ever way you do it, the turning will be fun. Nothing to lose so go
for it.


--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...

I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there is
a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from the top
surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top and bottom
surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and one inch on
the other. If the crack was to further extend through the piece, I would
roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

You may experiment with different method.
However, even two parts epoxy and other strong glue, when use on oily wood
require mechanical fastening devices like screws and joinery to make a
permanent bond. However gluing small segments of wood with no stress or
load appear to work satisfactory.
A good example is segmented bowl turning.

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...
Maybe I'll do that - cut into two, cut out the cracked sections, resurface
the faces in my planer, and then glue them back together. A somewhat
smaller bowl, but probably safer to turn?
A while back I was taking a woodturning class, and while scraping the
outside of a bowl it literally exploded - I never did find all the pieces.
I think maybe I would like to avoid that again if possible.

wrote:
Here is my 2¢ worth.

Every type of wood appears to behave differently.

In many cases, filling a hairline cracks with the appropriate glue gives
satisfactory results. Each case has to be handled individually.

I at one time was turning cherry wood and part of it flew off. Luckily,
I was wearing safety goggles. In hindsight, I should have been wearing a
complete face shield.

Since then when I turn cherry and oak blanks, I hunt for hairline cracks
first. If I find a hairline crack, I use the blank for something else.

Several times, after finding hairline cracks in cherry, I have split the
blank in two halves and glued them together.

Then after turning the glued blanks, the results were not too
satisfactory. I hate to discard cherry blanks with hairline crack but
safety comes first.




"Darrell Feltmate" wrote in message
news:VOThh.90404$rv4.14108@edtnps90...

James
There is no one answer in a case like this. Personally I would likely cut
along the crack line and use the wood for something else. I have tried
the other route and have never been happy with the results. I would
rather work with a wide crack as a design feature than a hairline, but
that is just me. This is personal business.
If you go the route of using thin CA to stabilize the crack and then
turn, continue to use the glue as you turn the bowl. It may have wicked
all the way in first time but then agian it may not. Remember that it
will show up in a wood like maple and that many finishes will make it
even more obvious.
Which ever way you do it, the turning will be fun. Nothing to lose so go
for it.


--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

"James Krzanowski" wrote in message
...

I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there
is a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from
the top surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top
and bottom surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and
one inch on the other. If the crack was to further extend through the
piece, I would roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

James Krzanowski wrote:
: Maybe I'll do that - cut into two, cut out the cracked sections,
: resurface the faces in my planer, and then glue them back together. A
: somewhat smaller bowl, but probably safer to turn?


One thing I've seen, but never tried, is cutting a blank in
half, and removing a wedge-shaped area, then gluing in a contrasting
wedge. This can look very dramatic, and I think owuld be better
than just regluing the initial blank.


: A while back I was taking a woodturning class, and while scraping the
: outside of a bowl it literally exploded - I never did find all the
: pieces. I think maybe I would like to avoid that again if possible.



Aw, no sense of adventure, eh?

I have a shard -- with a really sharp point --- that
flew (just) over my head during a Chris Stott demo.
Nice reminder that these things can happen.


-- Andy Barss

Cracked wood - OK to use?
 

Don't know how many vases you've done, but 2 - 4X4X8 pieces make a pair
of very nice vases if you are willing to try and hollow them.


James Krzanowski wrote:
I have a maple bowl blank that is 8x8x4 in size. The probelm is there
is a hairline crack that has appeared on the end grain. It runs from
the top surface to the bottom near the center of the piece. On the top
and bottom surfaces, the crack extends about 2 inches in on one side and
one inch on the other. If the crack was to further extend through the
piece, I would roughly end up with two 4x4x8 blanks.
Should I (1) proceed with the bowl turning anyway or (2) Cut it into the
4x4x8 pieces and do something else with it? If I go the bowl route, what
precautions should I take? Thanks