options for drying fruitwood

[Scott Hackler]

Hello all,

I recently scored a few decent logs of what they thought was an ornamental flowering plum. The wood looks fantastic and turned really well. All bowls and vessels were around 8" diameter.

Round one: roughed out to 5/8 or so and placed in brown bags. Checked them 4 days later and massive cracks everywhere. Salvaged one of three by reducing it in 1/2. Started finishing it 2 weeks later and its still moving a bit, but no cracks.

Round two: roughed to 5/8" or so and soaked for 2 days in Dna, placed in brown bags. Checked after 3-4 days and there are smaller cracks developing.

This stinks. They (I) are gonna drop the rest of the tree (carpender ants and rot) and going to get a bunch of it. Some of the "trunk" is around 14-16". I really got to fingure this out because the wood is great.

So... what should I try next? thinner rough and longer soak? Soak and then anchorseal?

Thanks

[Tom Storey]

Fruitwood is a bear to prevent from cracking; I've not had much luck. I usually turn it, waite a bit for it to crack, then fill the cracks with something when I think it has stabilized. Good opportunity to practice inlay techniques.;)

[Wally Dickerman]

You're not using Anchorseal?...Fruit wood, as you've found out if very prone to cracking. DNA and paper bags alone is not enough. Get some anchorseal or comparable wood sealer and liberally coat the rough outs. Then brown bag it and put in a cool dry place.

Summer is the worst time possible to cut and try to store problem wood like fruit wood. If it was mine I'd very liberally coat the log ends with sealer and wait until Fall to rough cut bowls. I'd also store it in a cool place in plastic bags for a while. Don't seal the bags. Check on it regularly to make sure that you're not getting mold. Fruit wood is worth spending a little extra effort on.

Wally

[Jim Underwood]

Got any sharp edges on these roughouts?

I heard recently that this will cause cracking, because that sharp edge dries quicker and then shrinks, then splits, which causes even more drying which makes the crack worse.... and so on.

The supposed fix is to make sure your roughouts have nice rounded corners everywhere.

And yes, the ornamental plum is very nice wood. It's worth saving if you can...

[Ron Erickson]

Scott you want them to dry real slow 8 months or a year if you can. After turning dna for 3 days anchorseal the end grain so it drys even then double or triple paper bags. Then put them in a large cardboard box with a pail of water to raise the humidity in the box keep adding water. Also the bottom of the bowl should be a little thinner than the rim. Ron

[Burt Alcantara]

I have this problem with fresh cherry recently cut from a neighbors yard. The few pieces I've turned, both finished turned and rough turned have cracked beyond repair. The blanks are fine. Perhaps, I'll try another and smother it in anchorseal. I use the cardboard box method for drying as there is always a breeze in my shop from the venting system.

[Steve Frederick]

I've never seen Plum, but I do turn a lot of Apple.
I like to just keep the wood in log lengths, sealed on the ends.
Once I start a project, I finish it to final thickness (1/8"-3/16") and wet-sand.
I let the bowl dry in a paper bag 'til I can do a final sanding.
I get a fine crack on rare occasion, but always get an interesting warp, which I actually like.
I have also had success with coating a roughed bowl in Anchorseal (in and out), placing in a couple of bags to dry. Do check often for mold though.

[Gary Herrmann]

I harvested some plum and pear last winter after a storm. I was amazed at how fast the plum cracked. Cut it into blanks - making sure you remove the pith and anchorseal the heck out of it. It may well still crack.

It is really pretty stuff tho. It turns like pear but I think it's prettier. Wish I had more, mines gone except for a couple cracked branches.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned some plum and it seemed to crack pretty bad beyond use no matter what I did. I have a plum log I cut up into bowl blanks and roughed right away. I had talked with Mike Mahoney and he told me to anchorseal the whole roughed bowl blank which was 9" and I turned it to 3/4" thick. He said to make sure it is in a cool place with little air movement and no more than 2 to 3 ft. off the floor. So far no cracks in these two and they have been drying now for 5 months. Like Jim I had someone at the Richmond Symposium and I can't remember who but they said to round the bowl rim edge. I can't say that is the answer but so far have 8 cherry bowls, 6 maple, 2 plum and a couple of mulberry bowls drying with no cracks in any of them. I must say this is a first for me.

[Burt Alcantara]

Hey Bernie,
That's really good news about the cherry. The blanks that I have are showing fantastic figure. I've already lost 3 pieces and I'd hate to give up any more. I'll give you method a try and hope for the best.

[Mike Minto]

I have a pretty good amount of wood on hand, but 'unfortunately' most of it is fruitwood. I say unfortunately because the plumb I have cracks very badly, with the exception of one vase I turned pretty thin - only developed one, manageable crack. All the other plumb I've turned has cracked very badly, worse than any other wood I've seen. My cherry is about 50/50 on cracking, some does, some not. I usually make some home made wood putty with the same wood dust, and after it's finished moving, patch it up and continue.

[Scott Hackler]

Ok, after a 3-4 day soak in Dna, when applying the Anchorseal, shouldnt I only coat the outside of the bowl? My thoughts are that if I coat the entire roughed out bowl, there isnt any way for it to dry at all.

I am gonna try: rough out, 3-4 day soak in Dna, double bag and I'll store them in the basement "hidey hole".

I have to find a way, this wood is just too darn beautiful to not salvage.

[Reed Gray]

Two choices, rough turn, dry and return, or turn to final thickness, allow to dry, then sand and finish. Fruit woods are difficult, and plum more so than most others. I don't bother with the DNA, but do use soap which makes it easier to sand out, nothing else. Taking the bowls into the basement helps because it is generally cooler and more humid there. Down on the floor is better as well as it is a bit cooler. I have found that bagging doesn't do that much, but if you take a couple layers of newspaper and wrap them around the outside of the bowl, then secure it to the rim with some of the plastic stretch film that you wrap around boxed on a pallet (after rounding the edges on the rim) then cut out the paper on the inside, this does wonders for the most difficult woods. The pressure on the rim, and the outside being covered is what makes it work. The inside dries first and 'pulls' the outside inwards, kind of putting the bowl in a compression mode. I have even totally covered the outside with the plastic and it drys nicely. I have never used anchorseal as I turn to final thickness.

robo hippy

[Mike Meredith]

Plum is so pretty it breaks your heart to watch it crack. I got a plum tree that must have been planted by Lewis and Clark. I learned that: you have to work it up immediately and in the winter if possible; the pith must be cleared from all pieces; rounding corners may help a little; coat with a couple of layer of Anchorseal; store as cool as you can. Even if you do all that, plan on half your wood becoming box and pen blanks. The ones that make it are worth the effort.

[Scott Hackler]

I have been experimenting and have a piece that I re-turned (cracking like crazy and pretty dry) that is eat up with bug holes towards the rim. I really wanted to save this one so I resoaked it with Dna and wrapped newspaper around it tightly with masking tape around the rim. We will see in a week what happens.

I went over to this friends house and helped fell the rest of this tree. I took home, 2 chunks about 10" in dia and about 4 feet long. I immediately sealed the ends with anchor seal and will be hoping to find a good process to save this wood and "turn" it into a few bowls and HF's.

[Frank Parker]

I don't turn alot of fruit wood, but I turn alot green Madrone, and it warps and splits worse than any other wood I've turned. What I do is rough it out like any other bowl, than I boil it for about 3 hours making sure its covered by water at all times, than I let cool down in the water. After that I put newspaper on one side and put on my wire shelves, in 4 to 6 weeks it's ready to turn, no cracks and almost no warping. I now do this with all my really figured wood. One note Oak tends to warp from the boiling. I use a large canning pot and a camp stove to do the boiling.
Give it a try I think you'll be surprised by the results.

Frank

[Dick Sowa]

I agree with all above...fruitwood (virtually any kind) is a bugger to keep from cracking. Most fruitwood trees are heavily pruned, so residual stresses are always there. Once you open the turning up, it relieves the stresses and voila...cracks and warping.

Another thing I have found, is that the best time to harvest wood is in the coldest part of winter, when the sap isn't flowing, and there will be less moisture in the wood. That's still no guarantee, but it helps somewhat.