Clark O'Neill
Member
- Messages
- 177
- Location
- Decatur, Illinois
this is the second time i've had a problem with wet cherry cracking. the first time i had rough turned a hollow form and soaked in alcohol then left it dry on a rack, and forgot it overnight. i attributed the cracking to leaving it exposed too long after the alcohol flashed off. some replies to that incident on this forum said maybe the rough turning was too thick (10% of the diameter)...and i remember bill grumbine saying that he turns wet wood all the way to the final thickness in one session and doesn't have much problem with cracking.
so today i turned the outside of another green piece into a H.F. shape and started hollowing out the interior. when i'm about to the midpoint i stopped to change tools or something and noticed several cracks starting on the outside!! the upper half was turned to about 1/4" so i was going for the final thickness and intending to bypass the alcohol soak and paper bag routine. in other words i can't turn this piece fast enough to keep it from cracking???i do admit to being a novice in woodturning and not hogging out the inside as quickly as i could as i've had some pretty fantastic catches trying that. but this all happend in one session of maybe 90 minutes.
i haven't had this problem with any other woods. i bought both of these pieces online from the same seller but it's not clear to me what that would have to do with anything.
i'm thinking i may have to seal the outside while i hollow out the inside so the entire piece can dry as one.
does anyone else have any experience like this? is it peculiar to cherry??
you can't see the crack in this pic but it is top dead center and in the part of the H.F. that is still solid.
so today i turned the outside of another green piece into a H.F. shape and started hollowing out the interior. when i'm about to the midpoint i stopped to change tools or something and noticed several cracks starting on the outside!! the upper half was turned to about 1/4" so i was going for the final thickness and intending to bypass the alcohol soak and paper bag routine. in other words i can't turn this piece fast enough to keep it from cracking???i do admit to being a novice in woodturning and not hogging out the inside as quickly as i could as i've had some pretty fantastic catches trying that. but this all happend in one session of maybe 90 minutes.
i haven't had this problem with any other woods. i bought both of these pieces online from the same seller but it's not clear to me what that would have to do with anything.
i'm thinking i may have to seal the outside while i hollow out the inside so the entire piece can dry as one.
does anyone else have any experience like this? is it peculiar to cherry??
you can't see the crack in this pic but it is top dead center and in the part of the H.F. that is still solid.