Filling Cracks in Timber

[Rustic]

As I've said before I am fairly new to turning but I recently had a turning split through shrinkage after about two weeks. I thought that the wood was dry enough not to be a problem. I put it back on the lathe and turned part of the cracked peice off and made a new separate base. Where the crack extended into the upper work it was quite deep. Now I come to what I set out to say.

To fill the deep crack I put PVC glue on to it and rubbed it down into the crack with a length of dental floss, I then rubbed in some wood dust and pushed that down with the floss, eventually the crack filled up solid and wouldn't push down any more. I cleaned it up, repolished it and to date (3 weeks) it hasn't moved.

Just thought I'd pass it on for any newies like myself.

Regards all
Sid

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

What sort of timber was it & what was the turned article?

It's possible to do a similar job with Super Glue.
Most woodturning supply places stock a couple of different brands & some come in different grades thin, medium, & thick & now there is a super thin too.
The super thin is good for stabilising hairline cracks.
There is also an accelerator that you spray on to get it to set quicker so you can work on it sooner.

[Rustic]

Originally posted by Rustic
As I've said before I am fairly new to turning but I recently had a turning split through shrinkage after about two weeks. I thought that the wood was dry enough not to be a problem. I put it back on the lathe and turned part of the cracked peice off and made a new separate base. Where the crack extended into the upper work it was quite deep. Now I come to what I set out to say.

To fill the deep crack I put PVC glue on to it and rubbed it down into the crack with a length of dental floss, I then rubbed in some wood dust and pushed that down with the floss, eventually the crack filled up solid and wouldn't push down any more. I cleaned it up, repolished it and to date (3 weeks) it hasn't moved.

Just thought I'd pass it on for any newies like myself.

Regards all
Sid

[Rustic]

G'day Cliff,

I'm still working out how to send replies so you may have recieved a couple, I'm new at woodturning but even newer at the internet.

I'm not sure what timber species it is. I cut down the tree in the garden a long time ago and luckily kept the logs. I have used the thin instant glue but this split was a bit wide so I tried this method and it coloured up very nicely and looks like a timber blemish. This was a lot cheaper too it would have taken a lot of super glue to do the job. I am going to try to send a picture of the piece which I'd say is a grecian urn for a dried flower arrangement.

Thanks for your reply, Regards Sid.

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

Where's the crack you filled?

[Rustic]

Cliff I'll try again, my daughter took the photo and didn't show the cracked side, I'll put the blame on her anyway. I'll try to put the photo in myself, so any thing could happen.

sid