First bowl need advice on fixing crack

[Jim Patterson]

Hi,

After getting the inside out I was so pleased with myself, that I removed the chuck from the lathe to go inside and show everyone my handy work. Then I carried it back to the shop by the rim and caused this crack. It took me about 8 hours, several big catches and a chipped skew to get this far and I would like to finish it. I have Gorilla Glue, epoxy and CA, which would be the best to seal the crack so the bowl can be finished? Wood is very wet sycamore picked up from along the road, powerline clearing.

Just found this site a week or so ago and this forum gave me the desire to a least try something other than pens.

Thanks

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Jim, first let me commend you for having the patience to devote 8 hrs to turning your bowl. I think it looks great and turned with a skew it's outstanding, even though you chipped the skew.
Now for the crack. This did not happen because you carried it back to the shop by the rim. Sycamore is known to love to crack when wet. I think you will see this as it drys over the next few days and weeks.
There is a lot to learn about drying wood, in the blank form and in the rough out stage of bowl turning. As you turn more, you will learn more.
At the stage your bowl is in, I would gust let it dry for now and when dry present your question again, to try and fix it while wet, will not satisfy you or the bowl.

[Curt Fuller]

All of what Bill just said. If you look and the end of a dry log, you usually see the cracks that radiate out from the center pith. That's what you have there. If the the rest of the log were still there those cracks would go towards that center. Turning green wood takes a combination of science, magic, luck, and skill in varying amounts to get to the end product without a few cracks. What you primarily need to do is rough turn the bowl to about 10-20% thicker than what you want to end up with when finished, the thinner the better. Be pretty meticulous about getting the entire bowl the same thickness and leave the tenon on the bowl. Then you can go through several different processes to get it dry, wrapping in several layers of newspaper or paper grocery bags, soaking it first in denatured alcohol for a day or two and then wrapping it in paper, or even putting it in a paper bag with some of the shavings. Then put it away somewhere that is dry and somewhat cool. Check on it ever week or so to see how it's coming. After a while the paper will quit feeling damp. The idea is to slow down and even out the drying process so the wood can shrink slowly and uniformly preventing the uneven drying that creats the stress that cracks the wood. Then after anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months you can remount the now somewhat dry bowl back on the lathe and re-round it (it will have warped some) and finish turning the inside and out without having it crack.

[Richard Madison]

Hey Jim,
Welcome to the forum, and glad to see your post. Good info from Bill and Curt. Wet oak is similar, and will crack while you are standing there looking at it. Keep asking questions. Lots of answers here.

Edit: The usual alternative to rough turning "as thin as possible" is to rough turn to a wall thickness which is 10% of the intended finished bowl diameter. So if the bowl is to be 12" in diameter, one rough turns it to a 1.2" wall thickness, followed by the drying protocall of your choice.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim - Welcome to the Creek! Everyone's already given all the good advice, so I'll just add - be safe and have fun with your turnings. Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

[Mike A. Smith]

Nothing to add to the good advice above, just welcome to the creek, Jim!

[Jim Patterson]

Thanks for the advice. I'll put it in a bag with some of the chips and see what happens. I thought the pith was removed since i cut this half of the log about 2" shy of center, obviously more to it. In interest of full disclosure not all of it was done with a skew. The outside was done with a 3/4 bowl gouge, 3/8 shallow gouge and a 5/8 curved skew. The inside I had to resort to a 1" round scraper, everything else just seemed to catch and bounce off, can't seem to use a deep bowl gouge to save my life. The lathe bouncing all over the place probably doesn't help.:)

[David Wilhelm]

Welcome Jim, I'm not a DNA user. The guy that started me turning used it and complained about it's evaporation rate. Most of the wood i've turned has been long cut and laying in the woods. A few have been fresh green so i've had my share of warped, split and cracked items. but it's only firewood. These other methodes work dont' expect every piece of wood you saw to make a bowl. Not every rough turned blank will make a bowl and not every bowl will still be a bowl next week. That being said. If we were in my shop I've have you drop your bowl in my soap mixture. it's 50:50 dawn and water for over night to a day then let it drip on a rack for a day or 3 then turn it to finish. I think i'd cut the crack out if it were mine and make the bowl and little smaller. If it were spaulted I'd fill it and hide it and noone would ever know. I have left the pith in some of my bowls that i've soaked in spaulted maple and they have cracked but it's be very limited and easy to sand and fill with CA. These soaked blanks were filled soaked shavings and wrapped with news paper and placed in boxes. Not sure what type lathe you have but if you can weight it down you can slow down the dancing. good luck.

[Gordon Seto]

All good information.
I would suggest you look up a local chapter:
AAW Local Chapter Listing - The American Association of Woodturners (http://www.woodturner.org/community/chapters/members.pl?submit=Chapter+List)
and get a mentor who will give you some hands-on. It will shorten your learning curve and safer.
Bill Grumbine's 1st DVD, "Turned Bowl Made Easy" is a good source for a bowl turning course to start.

Gordon

[Ben Gastfriend]

I don't think I can add anything to the above, but welcome and I hope this turning works out! I think that almost all of us have had this problem.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome Jim to SMC. You got a lot of good advice and the only thing I will add is get you a 5/8" and 3/8" bowl gouge. Doug Thompson has some good ones for a resonable price and so does PSI. I guess I have never seen a 3/4" bowl gouge and would guess it is a roughing gouge. If so that is why the catches on the inside. Anyway get a book, Bill's DVD and find a wood turning club. Be safe and have fun turning. Happy New Year.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to SMC!

Medium or thick CA is what I use in that kind of situation. You may need to re-apply as you refine your shape, too. Get it on the piece, shoot it with accelerator and start turning again in a few minutes.

[Rob Leslie]

Welcome to SMC!

Medium or thick CA is what I use in that kind of situation. You may need to re-apply as you refine your shape, too. Get it on the piece, shoot it with accelerator and start turning again in a few minutes.

I agree with Jim. CA is your friend. I am working with some recently cut oak and 2 of the 3 pieces have cracked so far. I apply thin first to make sure it finds the bottom of the crack and then add medium and/or thick depending on how late I caught the crack and how wide it is. I then immediately rub some wood shavings/dust over the glued/cracked area and then place the piece back into a pile of shavings for additional drying time. I check every couple of days and glue as appropriate. The cracking has stopped on one piece so I'm hopeful the pieces will be recoverable.

Good Luck!

Rob

[robert hainstock]

Those skinny cracks need thje CA treatment. the rest of the advice is great . you've come to theright place, WELCOME..:)
Bob