Disaster waiting to happen

[Jim Hipp]

Noticed something strange going on while starting to clean the inside. Fortunately I noticed it before it went flying all over.

364187

[Brian Kent]

I confess that I did not always know that these cracks mean "try a different piece of wood."

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Personally, I'd put my cage down and give it a try.......
CA is your friend, as well as lower speed, cage down and full safety gear. Stay out of the line of fire.
Or you could toss it. Why risk it if it's not a great piece of wood. No offense, but the wood doesn't look all that great.

[John Keeton]

No question - firewood!

[Steve Peterson]

I would cut through the crack on the bandsaw and turn the larger half into a much smaller bowl.

Steve

[Bill Jobe]

I feel your pain, Jim.

[John Keeton]

I would cut through the crack on the bandsaw and turn the larger half into a much smaller bowl.

SteveIf you look closely there are other cracks, including one in the large half.

[Jay Mullins]

My theory, " if you can't turn it- burn it"

[Jim Hipp]

This wood was what I call yard maple. One of those fast growing silver maples that developers love to plant because they grow fast. They also have roots that run on top of the ground and in a 10 year old tree will be, from my experience, 15 to 25 feet from the trunk. Impossible to cut under and unsightly. It was alive when cut down and I got a number of large pieces. After running them through the band saw I sealed them. That was about 6 weeks ago. What really puzzles me is why it broke in almost a stair-step fashion. I still haven't quite got the hang of this turning thing so I turn whatever I can get. I will attempt to turn some of the other pieces and do so very carefully. C&C's appreciated.

[John Keeton]

Jim, silver maple is an excellent wood to turn and often has figure and burls more often than hard maple. However, a piece that size would take several years to dry. If you are wet turning wood, you cannot leave a piece on the lathe for any length of time without covering it with a plastic bag. That may be why it cracked.

[Jim Hipp]

Jim, silver maple is an excellent wood to turn and often has figure and burls more often than hard maple. However, a piece that size would take several years to dry. If you are wet turning wood, you cannot leave a piece on the lathe for any length of time without covering it with a plastic bag. That may be why it cracked.

That may well be why it cracked since I left it on the lathe for about an hour during lunch. Lesson learned.

[John K Jordan]

That may well be why it cracked since I left it on the lathe for about an hour during lunch. Lesson learned.

I've learned to spritz wood occasionally with water while turning to keep it from drying out.

JKJ

[Leo Van Der Loo]

This wood was what I call yard maple. One of those fast growing silver maples that developers love to plant because they grow fast. They also have roots that run on top of the ground and in a 10 year old tree will be, from my experience, 15 to 25 feet from the trunk. Impossible to cut under and unsightly. It was alive when cut down and I got a number of large pieces. After running them through the band saw I sealed them. That was about 6 weeks ago. What really puzzles me is why it broke in almost a stair-step fashion. I still haven't quite got the hang of this turning thing so I turn whatever I can get. I will attempt to turn some of the other pieces and do so very carefully. C&C's appreciated.

Fresh Silver Maple is, and I agree with John Keeton, a nice turning wood, the crack in the wood is almost certain caused by the fall of the tree, I would not expect such a severe split from drying for a short time, and certainly not in the jagged manner this one did.

Though the already present split would open up with drying, it is why we should inspect a piece very thoroughly before starting to turn it, and be aware of any hints that something is wrong with it while turning.

[Aaron Craven]

Absolutely needs to come off the lathe... but it might be worth cutting a smaller salvageable piece out... it would kinda depend on what it looks like. From the picture, it doesn't look particularly exciting, so I'm guessing I'd burn this one.