Cracked justice!!!

[Roger Chandler]

I was asked to turn a gavel for the Town of Grottoes Virginia from the wood of the Stonewall Jackson Prayer Tree........I have been waiting over a year for some of the wood to season some. I thought I had the perfect piece of this tree for this project........

I selected a piece that was very close grained, no pith, and no cracks in it. It has been seasoning for about 15 months now, underneath my deck in the shade and under a tarp to keep it dry. I carefully oriented this piece of log so that I could quarter saw this white oak as well.........about as good a wood blank as could be found on this 350 year old white oak.

I got the head of this gavel near the shape I was going for, and stopped the lathe..........my heart sunk! :eek: This thing had developed 3 size-able cracks in it already!!!:eek::mad::mad: Now, I have to see if I can start over with another piece of this wood that makes a turner want to pull what little hair he has left out!!!:eek::mad::(

237480237481237482 I tried to put CA glue in the cracks as you can see, but this will not be sufficient for a gavel that serves as a ceremonial keepsake for this town! The Jackson Prayer tree was located within the confines of the Town of Grottoes Virginia.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That sucks Roger. Hopefully the next piece will work.

[Steve Busey]

Ouch. That's a heart-breaker. :(

[Roger Chandler]

Yep! Steve........I don't know anything more I could have done to select a blank for this gavel. I guess perhaps try to find somewhere or someone who has a kiln...........not sure if that would even help!

[Jeff Myroup]

Sorry Roger, that really sucks. Hopefully the next one will work out better.

[Rick Markham]

Wow, those are some serious cracks! I'm just taking a shot in the dark here, but those have to be from internal stresses, they both look like they run right with the grain too. What would happen if you soaked a piece big enough for your gavel in DNA? Maybe that would speed up the seasoning process. Chin up Roger! The next chunk will cooperate better (hopefully.)

[Billy Tallant]

Ouch, that really hurts Roger...

[Philip Duffy]

Try boiling it for an hour and see if that relieves the stress, and closes the cracks. Phil

[Michelle Rich]

gosh darn it!

[William Bachtel]

White Oak is very hard to dry, once it is over 2 inches thick. It just does not let the water out of it. I suggest you simply turn your new piece round, ruff it without the detail, and then seal it with OLD anchorseal, and put it inside for a full year, no direct heat, air is ok. Kiln operators have a heck of a time drying White Oak over 6/4.

[Roger Chandler]

White Oak is very hard to dry, once it is over 2 inches thick. It just does not let the water out of it. I suggest you simply turn your new piece round, ruff it without the detail, and then seal it with OLD anchorseal, and put it inside for a full year, no direct heat, air is ok. Kiln operators have a heck of a time drying White Oak over 6/4.

That is good information to have William.......thanks for sharing it with me!

[Roger Chandler]

Wow, those are some serious cracks! I'm just taking a shot in the dark here, but those have to be from internal stresses, they both look like they run right with the grain too. What would happen if you soaked a piece big enough for your gavel in DNA? Maybe that would speed up the seasoning process. Chin up Roger! The next chunk will cooperate better (hopefully.)

Actually, Rick........the grain runs perpendicular to the cracks..........what happened is all the meduallary rays that are in this wood........the biggest crack ran right along one of those rays. This stuff has superb figure in it, but man it is hard to work. One of our club members sent me an email last night after looking at the pic of the gavel that I sent him.........he said he has had several bowls just exploded on the lathe...........thankfully no holes in the wall or himself to this point!

This has to be the most difficult wood I have ever worked with! Oh the joys of trying to preserve history! :rolleyes:

[Fred Belknap]

Roger I needed a piece of hickory for a lid about 1.5"x 6" and hickory like oak has a tendency to crack. I dried it in the microwave in a plastic bag. I found the process online somewhere but can't find it now. I put the block in a gallon ziplock plastic container and put in the microwave on high till the bag swelled without bursting and timed it. Then I take it out and wipe the moisture off the inside of the bag and weigh the block. Wait a few minutes and put block in the bag and put back in the oven for the same amount of time, don't let the block cool down. It takes a lot longer than you might think and the steam in the bag will burn your fingers DAMHIKT. This worked for me and the lid worked on the bowl. I had it for a couple months and the lid still had a good fit. I don't know if this would work in your situation but thought it might help.:)

[Roger Chandler]

Roger I needed a piece of hickory for a lid about 1.5"x 6" and hickory like oak has a tendency to crack. I dried it in the microwave in a plastic bag. I found the process online somewhere but can't find it now. I put the block in a gallon ziplock plastic container and put in the microwave on high till the bag swelled without bursting and timed it. Then I take it out and wipe the moisture off the inside of the bag and weigh the block. Wait a few minutes and put block in the bag and put back in the oven for the same amount of time, don't let the block cool down. It takes a lot longer than you might think and the steam in the bag will burn your fingers DAMHIKT. This worked for me and the lid worked on the bowl. I had it for a couple months and the lid still had a good fit. I don't know if this would work in your situation but thought it might help.:)


Thanks Fred...........that might be worth a try..........appreciate it!

[William Bachtel]

Fred's way can work also, but don't hurry it.