Blew one up today

Dan Mosley

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1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
Had today off and decided to spend some time turning again. I mounted up decent size pc of pine log and started cutting it( pith included). I had to turn off a bit of the wood due to end cracking etc.....but it was going fairly well until i started hollowing it out. I saw some micro checks on the outside before i started but figured if i had sharp tools and took light cuts i could get it down to less than 1/4 thick....... Ok..... I was wrong...... I heard a loud pop when i was hollowing around the inside middle of the bowl. But, the bad thing was i was just a little less then the 1/4" i was shooting for and trying to go a bit thinner. I should have stopped at the original 1/4" that i was shooting for i guess- I knew the fissures were there (visible on the outside-very light - micro like). What caused the failure ?? i think either the micro cracks or cutting to aggressively or both !!!! Dang...... Anyway, I stopped the lathe and looked at the bowl and saw on each side it had blown out a chunk but didn't explode the whole bowl. So i put it on the bench and thought ahhhhhh well more firewood - live and learn and all that stuff you think about.......
Later on i thought what the heck, and put some CA glue on the other micro cracks.......let dry for a bit and finish sanded it anyway......then torched it and sanded it again....However i didnt sand the inside much at all due to the danger in catches with hands or with drill and the holes in the sides........i turned the lather speed way down and used 80grit and 100 to smooth out a bit and burned it to......
One of my kids friends really liked it so i decided to hurry the finish so he could take it home later.....put a few coats of Danish oil and late that evening i put a couple coats of spray laquer on it...........Salvaged it i guess and it is different with the holes left it with burned edges .........anyway the one kid loved it so what the heck........Pictures below are of the bowl unfinished and the inside had not been burned yet.....

Two Issue or Problems I have with this wood :

Last two pics were of a vase im doing for another friend that likes the eyes of the pith..............Problem is im not found of the finish at all.
The tear out in wet pine is horrible even with sharp tools, sanding takes foreever due to the tearout - I am rough turning a few more now and lettting them dry for much longer periods of time. But even power sanding the inside is no treat (due to shape and depth) when your trying to get passed some of the tearout.......any ideas let me know.......

I really like the look of the pith in the wood but would like to do something else in the future as far as the finish goes. The Pine im using is just light yellow looking wood - kinda boring ya know - but the pith in them makes them look really different. I thought of sealing and staining but im not sure that is the best idea either...........any thoughts for others ??? Thanks Dan
 

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Dan, I think you're discovering why a lot of turners don't turn pine. It's a pain.

Sorry to see the bowl blowout, but glad you were out of the line of fire. Were you feeling any vibration, or hearing anything out of the ordinary before it blew up? A lot of times the piece will give you hints right before it goes.
 
Well that is just the piths :D

Glad you did not catch any chunks with your face, that could sting :doh:

I agree nice save.

I tried turning some pine, and I had all the problems you are describing, so now I don't turn pine anymore, problem solved :rolleyes:

I guess a fine touch and really sharp tools are the answer. :dunno:

Cheers!
 
Didnt hear any noise just a loud pop and two chunks out the sides of it.

Well this small stack of logs is going to be the last i do of pine and the sap from it gets all over your tools.....no big deal to clean up but the tearout is bad.........and the inside sanding is equally a pain.......i wouldnt sand the interior of this bowly like i said ....to risky to get hurt or catches......Dan
 
I don't like it either,but what I do on other woods if it looks like there may be cracks in it,is completely finish the outside,then tape it up,some use that clear plastic wraping tape.Then do the inside.You did good on the save though :thumb:
 
Pine can be turned but you need to use sharp tools and put a load of sealer (you can use water) to raise the grain when sanding. This is pine, about 10" tall and 4!" dia. Used as a beer mug by my son in law

 
Dan, that #1 and #3 picture reminds me of the old Pac Man characters on the old Game machines we had around Bars & Arcades back in the early '80's.:D (or Part of a Haloween Pumpkin Face). Bet you couldn't get that good of a resemblance if you were "Trying" to. :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Pete, what kind of sealer do you use on Pine? I gave up on it long ago, but your piece looks pretty good.

Ken

I use a bog standard [HTML=http//www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Finishing___Sanding_Sealers___Cellulose_Sanding_Sealer___cellulose_sanding?Args=]cellulose sealer[/HTML] which I put on during the sanding process. I keep a bottle of it diluted 50/50 with thinners as this allows it to soak into the wood quickly. Depending on the wood I also use heavy grit (80) to get rid of the end grain problems sometimes wetting with water to bring the grain up first. Another trick is where you have an open grain wood like pine, sand with wax as this helps to fill the pores up and leave a smooth finish.
Hope this helps

http//www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Finishing___Sanding_Sealers___Cellulose_Sanding_Sealer___cellulose_sanding?Args=[/HTML]
Pete
 
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