Trouble with Green Cherry Bowls

[wayen]

Hello everyone, i enjoy reading the advice given here ive learned alot and have moved up to harder turnings...such as cherry...i have not been succesful at completing a bowl yet because it seems to crack before i can even start the drying process...any advice would be appreciated...

[rsser]

Hi wayen, welcome to the forum.

So you've turned a bowl green with a thick wall and it cracks soon after?

Is the wall an even thickness all round, of about 10% of bowl diameter?

Have you sealed the end grain after roughing the bowls? Or something similar to reduce the rate of drying like putting it into a heavy paper bag, a plastic bag or burying in the shavings.

Edit: Or if you've turned it down to final thickness, careful drying in the microwave has been done successfully by some turners.

[artme]

Gday Waven and welcome to all the fun of thefaire!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Ern has just about said it all.

[Ed Reiss]

Hi Wayan...welcome !!

I'm getting the impression that you haven't gotten to roughing out yet and that the cherry log is checking...which cherry is likely to do pretty quickly.

The best way to avoid that situation is to chainsaw the log in half (through the pith) and then seal the ends with Anchorseal...then when you do get to roughing out, just follow Ern's advice.

Good luck :D

[hughie]

Wayen, greetings and welcome aboard. :2tsup: I think Eds right cherry can be a pain,have ago at some more forgiving and stable.

I rough mine out and then paint the outside with BLO store em in a cardboard box or paper sack, keeping an eye on them once a week or so for the fist few weeks. Generally they are ready to finish turn around 4-6months depending on the timber and your climate.

[joe greiner]

G'day, Wayen.

If you don't have access to Anchorseal, use paraffin wax or old latex paint (re-coat a few times) to seal the blanks.

Cheers,
Joe

[robo hippy]

If you dry it too fast, it will crack. If you dry it too slow, it will mold and spault, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The fruit woods tend to want to crack more than a lot of others.

Drying methods can vary according to woods and thickness. It is almost impossible to dry a log without it splitting, so you can rough turn it thick, dry and return. This involves sealing ( some seal the whole bowl, some just the end grain) then dry. This usually starts out on the floor since it is cooler, and some times in a plastic or paper bag, or buried in dry shavings. Drying time can be 6 months to a year, or more (air drying lumber, 1 year per inch of thickness, then another 6 months for good measure).

You can also turn to final thickness, let it dry and warp, then sand and finish. This is my preferred method. The more it warps the more I like it. I turn to 5 to 10 mm thick (see, you guys are rubbing off on me, I am learning metrics). I soak in a mix of half cheap brown hand dishwashing soap, and half water for 24 hours minimum (this does nothing for drying, but makes the woods a lot easier to sand out), rinse them off, then wrap the rims with some of the stretch plastic film that you use to wrap around boxes on a pallet. Over lap the inside by about 2 to 3 cm, and have the rest on the outside of the bowl. Do a couple of wraps, and stretch it out. This compresses the rim a bit, and has tamed even the most difficult woods for me (Pacific Madrone specifically, one of those woods that starts to split when you fire up the chainsaw). I start them drying on the floor, and them after a few days, move them up onto some wire racks. Usually dry in about 10 days.

In both cases, be sure to round over your rims. A sharp edge will want to crack more than a rounded one. I also turn out all cracks that I can find. The CA glues can help prevent cracks from getting bigger, but are too much work for me.

robo hippy