Help with split. Please.

[Doug Herzberg]

I need some advice on a nasty split that popped open just as I was finishing this piece.

Credit first. This was inspired by Bill Donahue's experiments with NIP. I even messed around with LDD a little. Leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. The wood is still a little damp.

I've had a log of beetle kill Ponderosa pine laying around for about a year. Even though I had it off the ground, the bottom of the log got a little punky. I've been turning it off center to keep the blue stain on one side and turn off the bad wood on the other, but I didn't get it all this time. I have two nice cracks on one side and another just about opposite. Before and during the work, I soaked the punky part and filled the cracks with CA. It's about 5-1/4 x 8".
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Other than turning in the bottom curve when I remove the tenon, I was just about done with this. Can I save it? My limited experience with CA is that it leaves a bump I have to turn off. Sanding alone doesn't remove the bump. This is already down to 3/32 thick and I don't think I could pull that off.

My original plan was an oil finish, like Bill did, but if I do that now, I'm afraid most glues won't stick. I'm thinking maybe I can band it up with a stretchy tape like electrical tape and wait for it to dry out a little, then squeeze some medium CA in the crack from the inside and finish the inside with thin CA, smoothing the whole mess before it sets. Once that dries, I could sand the outside by hand and finish that. I thought maybe lacquer would keep the blue color, but would CA do that just as well?

How have you dealt with this, if it's ever happened to you?

Upon examining it more closely, I see that I gouged out some of the punky wood from the inside. Would epoxy or clear acrylic be a better filler for a large void?

[Kevin Lucas]

Some shavings and tightbond maybe? I saw someones video on gwinnet woodworkers try that. It looked easier than sanding ca.

[Greg Just]

you could use CA and after it drys, sand by hand with the grain. I would leave it in the chuck for now.

[Jim Burr]

I'd CA it with the sawdust...100 grit works miracles! Use standard prep on the area before applying CA as a fill.

[Steve Vaughan]

I couldn't get the pics to open (on my end, I'm sure), but is the crack straight enough, and narrow enough, where you could run it lengthwise down the table saw? Then, you could glue in a sliver of a contrasting piece of wood and make look like you did it "on purpose."

[Donny Lawson]

You may have to let it dry out a little more. After drying I think I would add some inlace crystals and some CA. Then sand and finish.

[Doug Herzberg]

Thanks, all. Wish me luck.

[Jim Burr]

Thanks, all. Wish me luck.

May the force of 100 grit be with you!

[Jamie Donaldson]

Doug, you began this project with a piece of "crappy" wood, and if you invest more time and effort you will still have a piece of "crappy" wood when you finish. I suggest that you consider this a practice exercise, and start over with a better quality blank that doesn't have such potential defects.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Doug,
My Grandfather always said, "He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day". Jamie just gave you some real good advice. Take the experience you gained making this piece and start again on a more solid chunk of wood. Refine your shape if you think it could improve and your next one will be even better. That crack looks like a serious flaw in the wood. To avoid having the outside of a piece dry out while I am hollowing the inside, I wrap it in industrial stretch wrap. I buy it in 6" wide rolls from a vendor like "U Line". It seals in moisture and supports the thin walls. I run a steady rest right over the stretch wrap. The stretch wrap also keeps a thin walled piece from potentially shattering in the event of a catastrophic catch.
faust

[David E Keller]

I'd leave them alone, Doug… Go ahead and finish it the way you intended. I'm afraid any type of glue filler is going to leach into the surrounding wood which will ruin an oil finish unless you seal the wood first… That will negate the effects of the oil soak if you're hoping for translucence.

You could always use something to stitch the cracks after the finish… leather, copper wire, etc.

[Doug Herzberg]

Doug, you began this project with a piece of "crappy" wood, and if you invest more time and effort you will still have a piece of "crappy" wood when you finish. I suggest that you consider this a practice exercise, and start over with a better quality blank that doesn't have such potential defects.

Jamie, this entire tree is my practice tree. I was advised to get some cheap wood and practice tool control, curves, etc., rather than spend my learning time on nice wood. I joke about my seven failures on my shelf of shame, but they're really my seven steps on the road to figuring this out. Some of them were really nice until that one last cut that taught me something.

I did want to pull it off, though. I was able to finish and will post when the lacquer dries. The other half of this tree is the larger diameter. I hope I can save enough solid stuff from that to make something worthwhile

[Curt Fuller]

Doug, I think I saw the post with this piece finished before I saw this WIP post. So this is a little late for this piece but may help on the rest of that tree you're going to turn. Because pine almost always cracks with the grain and because Ponderosa Pine seems to usually have such nice streaking that also follows the grain I would think you could fill the crack with an epoxy mix stained brown with either a brown dye or some instant coffee dissolved in the mix. I think doing that would make the cracks look just like one of the many streaks of color already in the wood. And when you finish it, it has much the same appearance of the resinous streaks in the wood.

[robert baccus]

Doug, if you do use CA on that piece try a little trick. grab your rattlecan of sanding sealer or laq. and lightly spray the area of the crack. it prevents the CA from staining the light colored wood. good luck-------------old forester

[Chip Sutherland]

I'm with David Keller. I'd do stitches either wire, twine, leather (latigo)....I have only done wooden stitches but I think a piece of paper and some practice with spacing holes will get you something pleasing...

Any glue up is going leach out and it won't finish well. Definitely use the sanding sealer/shellac if you use CA on the crack. You are so thin already that filling it with anything and trying to sand it down endangers the whole piece. I would recommend having some black Starbond CA with the pipette tip. I think they make it in brown, too.

Enjoy the learning experience. I learn something every time I turn...especially when I don't want to.

[Wally Dickerman]

As long as you're determined to go ahead with the "crappy" piece of wood it looks like a candidate for a 50/50 white glue.water soak. IMO, much better than a CA soak. Just immerse the punky side in the glue mix for at least 24 hours. Doesn't always work but sometimes does wonders to firm up a punky piece of wood.

It'll warp, so if it's too thin to bring it back to round then forget the glue soak.

[John Keeton]

Folks, looks like Doug finished up this piece (this thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?181589-100-Grit)), but the additional suggestions may help others.