Bowl explosion

[Randy Hogan]

Good stuff guys! Yes, It was a lesson well learned. Like someone said, it prob was a combination of factors. I'll definitely be more particular regarding cracks and the speed. Much of my initial learning was from the robo hippy you tubes so I thought I was ok with my chucking, but I'm pretty sure I white knuckle tightened it . My caution level has gone way up regarding all factors and subtleties of the whole process. This forum is just great to get the input from all you guys. Thanks again.
I wish I could run out and wack a chunk off a tree when I want to turn a bowl but obviously that's not hardly ever possible. I'm experiencing the cracking in the dead trees just as you described it, robo. Cherry is horrible. The ash isn't as bad but it's certainly an issue.
Pat Scott- northern Illinois

[John K Jordan]

Good stuff guys! Yes, It was a lesson well learned. Like someone said, it prob was a combination of factors. I'll definitely be more particular regarding cracks and the speed. Much of my initial learning was from the robo hippy you tubes so I thought I was ok with my chucking, but I'm pretty sure I white knuckle tightened it . My caution level has gone way up regarding all factors and subtleties of the whole process. This forum is just great to get the input from all you guys. Thanks again.
I wish I could run out and wack a chunk off a tree when I want to turn a bowl but obviously that's not hardly ever possible. I'm experiencing the cracking in the dead trees just as you described it, robo. Cherry is horrible. The ash isn't as bad but it's certainly an issue.
Pat Scott- northern Illinois

With the pictures and further description I can understand why it likely came apart.

Although I mentioned earlier that I would not turn a piece with cracks like that, if the desire ever strikes again there is a way to do it without the high risk of losing parts of your face.

A friend has turned a number of much larger pieces from burls and such with so many voids the bowls would certainly have been in pieces otherwise. What he did was mount and turn and finish the outside completely, assuming there was enough integrity of the wood inside to hold it together up to that point. Then he wrapped the entire outside with numerous overlapping layers of the strapping tape that used to be common for taping boxes for shipping. This is the tape with embedded fiberglass filaments that give it tremendous strength. Then he would turn the inside. The tape kept the piece from flying apart. From your description of how it failed from the cracks down I suspect this method would have kept yours together to the end.

I'm not recommending anyone do this, just relaying a method that has worked. In his case, the the integrity problem was more because of voids in the wood, not cracks. In your case it would be safer but you would still end up with a bowl with cracks. I know some people embrace cracks and fill and enhance them but for me wood like that is firewood, or a much smaller blank after some quality time with the bandsaw.

I personally turn mostly dry wood and carefully cut away any cracks before start.

For green wood bowl turning, the best advice I've read is to start with sound wood, store in the shade or underwater, and turn it very soon after cutting, best within a few weeks. If that's not possible, cut the log as long as possible and when ready to turn cut some off the end of the log to get rid of endgrain drying defects, cut a blank, then turn immediately. (This last advice comes from the other John Jordan, the famous one. He said if possible he gets the entire log delivered and stores it off the ground in the shade, then when he wants a blank he cuts off about 6" from the end and throws that away, then cuts his blank and turns it that day.)

JKJ