Maybe apple wood is just not worth it

[Fred Oliver]

I scored a few pieces of 8-10" diameter apple logs from a friend's wood pile. It had been sitting in the sun for a year and was so badly checked and cracked that a lot had to be cut away and discarded.

One bowl had some beautiful figure, but it got so wonky and distorted it looked like a Piccasso. A couple of end-grain vase-like pieces were more stable, but had cracks that had to be repaired with sawdust and glue. (And the repairs stick out like a sore thumb.)

The same friend cut down an apple tree recently. I found out about it about a week later and went right over to get some. I turned the outside of some bowls and returned a few hours later to find checking on the outside surface.

(Should I have put them in a paper bag until I could hollow out the inside?)

Where I glued those cracks with CA and the glue darkened the surrounding light-colored wood, I have sanded and sanded and sanded. I can't get the glue stains from around the cracks.

Previously on some cherry I tried a washcoat of shellac before putting CA on the cracks. Of course the shellac just gummed up the sandpaper.

So how do you get the glue off? (The bowls are already distorted enough that I can't use a gouge or scraper.)

Thanks for your thoughts,

Fred

[Geoff Hanha]

If you have wood that is cracked splits whatever then show them of and use an apoxy with colour or use car filler p38 isopon products you can add colour to these, acrylic paint indian ink, lazer toner, if some thing is going to stand out then making look as you have ment it to not that you are trying to repair it. geoff

[Don McIvor]

I loose a pretty high percentage of the apple wood that I turn. Not so much that it keeps me from doing it, but certainly more than most other species. I've found that I have to take pretty much every precaution I can think of, including coating the bowl blank with anchorseal (or equivalent) and putting it in a bag. Anything you can do to slow down moisture loss will help.

I agree with Geoff, though. Unless a piece is cracked right through I use it as an opportunity for hours of tedious inlay. You can get some spectacular results by highlighting the cracks rather than trying to hide them.

Don

[Steve Schlumpf]

Fred - apple can be some beautiful wood but you have a lot of work to do to try and keep it from self-destructing. Apple (fruit woods in general) have a tendency to check (crack) as soon as they start to dry out. The only way to possibly prevent this from happening is to keep the wood wet while turning it - and then slowing down the drying process once the bowl has been rough turned.

Bernie Weishapl uses a spray bottle to keep the wood wet while turning. Simple yet effective.

I haven't turned apple yet - not real available up in these parts - but I do use the DNA method for drying wood. There is lots of info on this site about the DNA method but if you have questions - please ask.

Big thing is to slowly dry the wood. Basically that can be accomplished by wrapping the roughed out bowl using brown paper on the outside of the bowl and leaving the inside open to allow the moisture to escape. Another way is to place the bowl in double brown paper bags and buried in lots of moist shavings - seal it and put it aside for 6 to 8 months. It may still check but you will have slowed the process down about as much as you can.

Once again - fruit woods are difficult to keep from checking but are beautiful woods and can be worth the effort.

As far as the CA glue issue - the glue wicked into the wood along the crack and no amount of sanding is going to remove the glue 'stain'. I have had luck with using a little poly in the area of the crack to seal the wood a little before applying the CA glue. Works pretty good - at least for me.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions Fred.

[David Newson]

Fred - I have had good results from part turning green apple wood down to approx 1" thickness for HF and packing the damp shavings back inside then wrapping the whole thing in about five layer of paper after a few days remove the paper and put the former outside paper back as the first layer and put all the other layers back so the wetter ones are on the outside, repeat that process a few times and its ready to turn to completion in less than one month.

[Dennis Meek]

I grew up on a 20 acre apple orchard in eastern Washington and apple wood really works best as fireplace wood. I've never wanted to turn any of it but I've seen turned apple wood that was absolutely beautiful.