help drying pecan

[Cory Martin]

I have been roughing bowls out of a bunch of pecan that I was able to get, and all seemed to be going well untill about a week into the drying process they started to crack very badly. The cracks start on the end grain and run almost all the way to the center, some are almost an 1/16'' wide. I wrapped one in newspaper and some others went into paper bags all of them cracked severly. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to care for these bowls while drying.

Thanks

[Glenn Hodges]

I turn a lot of pecan bowls, I rough them out, coat them with Anchorseal, and then put them away for about a year to dry. I put 3 X's under each bowl, draw a circle around each one and promise to be a good boy. When I turn NE pecan, I just turn them to the thickness I want, sand, and spray with lacquer. This works pretty good for me. I hope some of this helps. Disregard any of this info that seems worthless.

[Mike Vickery]

It they are cracking and you have consistent wall thickness you need to slow down the drying more.

It is hard for me to give you any specific because my climate is so much different from yours. But for paper wrap air drying the ways I usually slow down the drying more is to either spray it with Deft before wrapping in paper, or wrap it in more paper. Here in the desert I usually use about 10 or 12 sheets of newspaper to wrap rough outs.
I have found Anchor seal will slow down the drying more then paper and often use if for more crack prone blanks especially in the summer.

My favorite drying quote was a demonstrator they were showing on the woodworking channel.
"If it is cracking it is drying to fast if it is molding it is drying to slow."

[Cory Martin]

thanks guys, when you anchorseal the blaks do you go ahead and seal the whole bowl?

[William Bachtel]

Yes I seal the whole bowl, they will still dry, but more evenly. I lose very few bowls, pecan, or hickory is a slow drying wood, and it will defect more than most other woods.

[Matt Haus]

I have DNA soaked them for 24 hours, then put them in paper bags with newspaper wrapped around them. I then put them in my closet in the living room where the temperature is constant (ranges from 78 to 70 degrees daily) and there is very little air flow. After two weeks, they have warped and there are some cracks but they are small enough to be turned out. BTW, I ranged the thickness from 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch and I am really glad that I did because the warping can be turned out. I checked them tonight and they all appear to be dry. I don't have a meter but the wood appears to be pretty dry.

I have also DNA soaked them and put them with shavings and those all had no cracks.

Lastly, if it looks like there is an area of heartwood or an area close to the pith or an area where it looks like it might crack, then I go ahead and CA glue that area before DNA soaking.
Hope this helps.