Not so Peachy Results

[Baxter Smith]

With some recent threads about how to dry without cracking, I thought these might be appropriate / helpful???:).

Several weeks ago my brother in law was cutting down a large pine. His son (according to the story) was on the tractor but failed to take off and pull until after the tree had already landed smack on top of a peach.

I went and got about a 3' butt section to try and turn. Turned a small HF thin and gave it to his wife as a souvenir.:) Warped a bit but the wood was quite pretty. Rough turned the rest, bagged them and put them on the concrete floor in my barn.
164865
I checked them a couple of days ago and....
164866
I'm not quite sure what the moral of this story is - if any....

But for me... don't expect that what happenes when you cut a fruit tree in January, rough turn and bag it in 30 degree temps, is going to happen when you cut a fruit tree in September, rough turn and bag it in 70-80 degree temps.

[Roger Chandler]

OUCH! They really did crack! Must be like apple, you look at it wrong and it splits!

[David E Keller]

That's too bad about the cracking, but I'd probably have a go at saving several of them with an epoxy filler. I just can't seem to throw out pretty wood even if it's cracked.

[David DeCristoforo]

Oooo. That's why I hate turning green wood! Some people seem to get away with it (like Leo) but I avoid it whenever possible.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I see a couple of rustic hollow forms there... if you feel like a challenge!

[John Keeton]

Baxter, that sucks!! But, as you said - lesson learned.

Oooo. That's why I hate turning green wood! Some people seem to get away with it (like Leo) but I avoid it whenever possible.David, we are on the same team with this issue for sure!! I just roughed out my first wet HF and bagged it with DNA. If this experiment works, then I may be willing to try that again.

...I'd probably have a go at saving several of them with an epoxy filler. I just can't seem to throw out pretty wood even if it's cracked.David, I am on the other team on this one!! Way too much effort involved for me. While that wood is nice, it isn't THAT nice - particularly with a big filled 1/4" crack. Now, if it was a big ol' crotch, burl, etc. - then maybe.

[Frank Van Atta]

This is called learning the hard way (I've done the same) - fruit trees should be cut in the winter if you don't want the wood to crack like crazy.

[Rich Aldrich]

Any chance that DNA would have helped reduce or minimize the cracking?

I have been roughing out a lot of cherry lately and have had very little cracking when soaked in DNA. One cherry tree was cut in July and one was cut 10 days ago.

[Gary Conklin]

Time to make lemonade, I see some prime candidates for some cutting, carving, and texturing....hummmm

[Wally Dickerman]

If I had had your experience the lesson would be to use wax or wood sealer. That's exactly what it's for. Why chance losing some nice wood. I would never store unprotected wood. The paper bag helps but it's not enough.

Wally

[Bill Bulloch]

I see seven new design opportunities there. Be creative and have fun with em.

[Ken Whitney]

Baxter,

Most of those look like they cracked on the outside (relative to the way they were in the tree) not the inside. In my (limited!) research into this it is clear that the outside has to shrink much more than the inside, and that the strongest forces develop on the outside relative to the inside. The outside parts simply have to shrink more than the inside parts.

I'm thinking that the key to this wet wood stuff is to get the outside to dry more slowly than the inside. Anchorseal, paper and tape, plastic wrap, whatever, the outside drying has to slow down.

Ken

[Doug W Swanson]

Baxter,

Just a little CA and you'll be fine!:D

Actually that really sucks. All that time and effort wasted....

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a bummer. Sorry to see that but some may be saved with CA.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will pass on the repairs. I'm not up to the challenge Steve! Besides, David and John, theres too much green wood left to turn!:)
DNA might have worked. Haven't tried that route yet.
The next time I have fruit wood cut in the summer I will take Wally's advice and Anchorseal, as well as pack in shavings and bag. I did that with some of the Apple I cut and turned last winter but got careless with this by only bagging.

[Jim Underwood]

I have some Peach that came down in a storm one summer, and some that got cut down in the spring. I didn't have near the trouble you had with roughouts. Course I'm making smaller stuff out of it now that it's sat on the ground for a while...

I did have this kind of trouble with some really wet Sweet Gum HF I roughed out. Most of the time though, I don't have a lot of trouble with green wood. I just wrap it in about 8 layers of newspaper, and let it go for a few months.

[Michael James]

That's gotta hurt......:(

[Duff Bement]

I'm sorry, but that would be enough to pi$$ off the Pope. Im with you, very pretty fire wood.

[Bill Bolen]

That brought a tear to my eye! Been there and hate when it happens. How about some various color fill when repairing?

[Kim Ford]

In my experience fruit wood is tough to get dry. I have found the DNA process seems to help.

Just my 2 cents.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for the condolences. :)

That's gotta hurt......:(
Only for a little while. A few less finials to worry about.;)

I see seven new design opportunities there. Be creative and have fun with em.
You may be right. I won't put em in the woodstove the first or second time I light it. They may be a good opportunity to try some serious pyrography later though!

That brought a tear to my eye! Been there and hate when it happens. How about some various color fill when repairing?
Color fill is a possibility perhaps. There were so many colors in these pieces I don't know what would have looked like anything other than a patch.

So for the beginning turners like me, the point I was trying to make by posting was, the time of year crack prone wood is cut, and the temperatures at which it is stored after rough turning, can impact how well your work survives. (At least with bagging, though probably other methods to some extent as well.)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

With some recent threads about how to dry without cracking, I thought these might be appropriate / helpful???:).

Several weeks ago my brother in law was cutting down a large pine. His son (according to the story) was on the tractor but failed to take off and pull until after the tree had already landed smack on top of a peach.

I went and got about a 3' butt section to try and turn. Turned a small HF thin and gave it to his wife as a souvenir.:) Warped a bit but the wood was quite pretty. Rough turned the rest, bagged them and put them on the concrete floor in my barn.
164865
I checked them a couple of days ago and....
164866
I'm not quite sure what the moral of this story is - if any....

But for me... don't expect that what happenes when you cut a fruit tree in January, rough turn and bag it in 30 degree temps, is going to happen when you cut a fruit tree in September, rough turn and bag it in 70-80 degree temps.

Baxter you were asking for this to happen :rolleyes:, ............you know what I have been preaching “place in a brown paper bag and put it at a COOL spot, with no draft.

Putting it on the concrete floor in the barn that is warm and probably has air moving quite freely is not exactly a cool and draft free place :rolleyes: :(.

And now you have the result of not following the rules that make it work, it is too bad, but especially with a wood like plum or any of those ”Prunus species” you have to be extra careful, they are known to be very prone to splitting and checking, much worse than Apple or Cherry, it is right up there with Beech, even when following the rules and doing it right will not guarantee 100% success with that kind of wood, DAMHIKT ;).

Of course now we have more turners that think the brown bag drying does not work :eek:, well that is just not right :), it does prove to me, that yes you have to follow the rules to be successful in drying the wood :)

And yes it does work if you follow the rules to a T

Leo in Atikokan, Ontario

[Jim Burr]

Years in DNA and years drying I'd guess? We have unlimited fruit wood here and the best I've found was some apricot that my BIL left in a flower bed for 3 years. Was offered some fresh dropped Almond the other day. Since I have a gas fireplace...I turned it down:(:(

[Baxter Smith]

............you know what I have been preaching “place in a brown paper bag and put it at a COOL spot, with no draft.....



Of course now we have more turners that think the brown bag drying does not work :eek:, well that is just not right :), it does prove to me, that yes you have to follow the rules to be successful in drying the wood :)

And yes it does work if you follow the rules to a T

Leo in Atikokan, Ontario
Thanks Leo, you are right but "cool and Delaware" don't go together until at least December! :)
I should have double bagged them at the least or even better, put a cardboard box over the top of the bags which would have pretty much eliminated any airflow around the bags.

Years in DNA and years drying I'd guess? We have unlimited fruit wood here and the best I've found was some apricot that my BIL left in a flower bed for 3 years. Was offered some fresh dropped Almond the other day. Since I have a gas fireplace...I turned it down:(:(
Thanks Jim, but this just makes me want to try it again.:) May not do it right, but I think I can do it better... and I do have a woodstove!;)

[scott schmidt grasshopper]

being one of those who turn alot of green wood, I think I would have gone with the line of turn it to final thickness then wrap with plastic strecth wrap then bag it. when I bag in the summer ( yeah its still summer here till the rains come ) I bag in a brown paper then put that inside of a plastic shopping bag tied shut for the first week, open the bag a bit for the second week then see how its doing, I monitor the bowls each morning to see how damp they are and adjust accordingly. my instructor gave me this analogy, think of it as paper/cardboard. if you turn it thin enough. there is nothing to push against and it bends/ warps. if you have something for it to try to bend around, it can crack. I make sure to remove part of the tenon off the bottom so it is very close to 3/8 thick also cause of cracking issues there good luck. scott

[Leo Van Der Loo]

[QUOTE=Baxter Smith;1539919]Thanks Leo, you are right but "cool and Delaware" don't go together until at least December! :)
I should have double bagged them at the least or even better, put a cardboard box over the top of the bags which would have pretty much eliminated any airflow around the bags.

//snip//

//snip//

Baxter most everyone has cooler and warmer periods, the summers are pretty warm here in S Ontario, not like the desert states of course, and I have to find different places for my roughouts, though most or at least many people do have a cellar of some kind, I would think every farm would have a root cellar, and that would be a whole lot better place to place the bagged pieces than in a warm building.
I know it is all water under the bridge by now, but think about it next time, I hate to loose some special good looking wood that I have time into because I screwed up, and yes it happens to the best of us :mad:

Have fun and take care

Oh and a good looking bunch of bowls you made from the Maple, even if there are some darker spots, after all it is wood and spalting does make for some finishing issues, end grain and crushed grain will absorb more oil, Tung will darken the least of the oils that I have ever used, I also find that the differences mellow out some after the bowls have been used for a a while :) :D

[Baxter Smith]

being one of those who turn alot of green wood, I think I would have gone with the line of turn it to final thickness then wrap with plastic strecth wrap then bag it. when I bag in the summer ( yeah its still summer here till the rains come ) I bag in a brown paper then put that inside of a plastic shopping bag tied shut for the first week, open the bag a bit for the second week then see how its doing, I monitor the bowls each morning to see how damp they are and adjust accordingly. my instructor gave me this analogy, think of it as paper/cardboard. if you turn it thin enough. there is nothing to push against and it bends/ warps. if you have something for it to try to bend around, it can crack. I make sure to remove part of the tenon off the bottom so it is very close to 3/8 thick also cause of cracking issues there good luck. scott
Thanks Scott, good idea on the plastic wrap and bag for the first month or so when storage conditions are less than ideal. I will have to give that a try. I packed some cherry burl HF's last spring in shavings inside cardboard boxes when the temperatures were going up. Why I wasn't more careful with these was just carelessness!
I did turn the first HF thin and it came out ok despite loosing it off a glue block and having it bounce around a bit!:eek: Did I say twice?:eek::eek: I didn't do the others that way because I thought they would look good with some finials. Thats putting the cart before the horse!:D


[QUOTE=Baxter Smith;1539919]....I have to find different places for my roughouts, though most or at least many people do have a cellar of some kind, I would think every farm would have a root cellar, and that would be a whole lot better place to place the bagged pieces than in a warm building. .........

Oh and a good looking bunch of bowls you made from the Maple, even if there are some darker spots, after all it is wood and spalting does make for some finishing issues, end grain and crushed grain will absorb more oil, Tung will darken the least of the oils that I have ever used, I also find that the differences mellow out some after the bowls have been used for a a while :) :D
Thanks Leo, I was actually just thinking about trying to store difficult pieces in the stairwell of my outside basement entrance. It is on the North Side of the house and would at least be damper.
Hopefully the maple ones will get used and mellowed!:)

[Belton Garvin]

Something else to consider is not doing anything with them yet. Although quite a different peice of wood, I turned some willow last year that cracked very similar to your pieces a couple weeks after I rough turned. I could stick a pencil in the crack. I put it back in the bag and 1 month later it had closed back up so tight that you couldn't even tell where the crack had been. I'm not saying that is going to happen with yours...fruit wood is known for cracking. Just make sure it has completed drying before tackling any type of repair/design change.