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[Dave52]

G'day all

I'm new at this, been woodturning for about 3 months and having a ball experimenting with anything I can find. Today for example I was turning a large lump of dry and cracked plum. The more I turned the more cracked it looked although I think it will make a nice bowl in the end. I thought it might work if I planed down some slivers of pine and whacked em in with wood glue and a lump hammer. I'll finnish turning the bowl {or whatever it turns out to be}next week and if my kids can work out how to put a picture in the forum I'll let you see the result.

Regards
Dave52

[bdar]

G'day Dave,

Welcome to the forum. Plum, a pretty mean piece of timber first up by the sounds. Another angle to you cracks is a clear epoxy with a powder dye mixed through it. I found some of my father's coloured cement dye mixed it up and worked it into the cracks. I was pretty pleased with myself, somebody else wasn't, I used most of the powder on the bowl. :) There is an article in Aprils edition of Wood Turning. Neil would be able to answer this on, I know U-Beaut has a range of liquid dyes, are they able to be mixed with an epoxy, haven't experimented with that yet. Have fun with what you do Dave, it comes from your heart.

To all things good.
Darren

[PAH1]

Hi Dave

You can hold the cracks together with superglue, just make sure that it is completely set before you start to sand. Another method is to get it green before cracking and turn it, then let it dry slowly. That avoids most of the cracking issues, although I have found flowering plum really painful to get to dry without splitting.

Darren, I doubt that the Ubeaut dyes are compatable with epoxy because they are water based and epoxy is solvent based.

[dai sensei]

... liquid dyes mixed with an epoxy ...
DarrenDefinately not! The liquid dyes are water based.

Powered pigments work Ok apparently, but I haven't been able to get any locally. Your use of cement colouring is worth me chasing up, I hadn't thought of that.

[PAH1]

Definately not! The liquid dyes are water based.



No not all, you can get dyes dissolved in spirits and you could use them, it is just the Ubeaut water soluble ones we are talking about here. You can get water soluble powders, which would not dissolve in the epoxy. Saying that it may not be necessary to get a powder to dissolve, as I doubt that the oxide pigments dissolved to any extent in the epoxy. The overall effect would be somewhat different, having a coloured epoxy relative to a clear epoxy with pigment in it, rather like comparing red cordial with red clay in water, both are red but the effect is different.

[Dave52]

Thanks for the help and advice all.

So far the pine and wood glue is working. Last night I turned the inside of the bowl, found a few more small cracks that I filled with wood glue and sanding dust. Tonight it might be ready for a final touch up with the chisels for wall thickness etc. then sanding.
Rgds
Dave52

[Dave52]

I've finished the bowl.
Looks great, the filled up cracks look OK. But I cant get a foto of the bloomin thing on the computer.

Dave52