Thread: My wood work is starting to crack

Take it back to Jamaica.

Seriously, you've probably moved it from one of the most humid parts of the world to one of the driest. I guess at this time of the year, it's pretty cold in Toronto and so the humidity would be very low. What's happening is that all the moisture is being sucked out of the timber by the surrounding air and that's causing it to shrink. I guess you'd have central heating which would not be helping because this would make the air very dry.

Not too sure what you can do. Do you have a room in the house that is damper than the rest, like the bathroom maybe? Perhaps you could try putting it in there. If you can slow the process it might not do so much damage but I think ultimately it's going to happen whether you like it or not.

Is it finished or raw? Maybe you could put some tung oil or something on it.

try coating the edges of the wood with end seal, then place the wood in a plastic bag. Do not seal the bag closed.

Sam

I'd be getting it into a humid environment asap. Depending on the finish I'd also consider introducing some moisture to the piece, either in the form of water or steam.This could also be asking for trouble if it's not the "appropriate" method /to "finish "if you know what I mean.

The next time you are in Jamaica I'll bet the seller isn't. :mad:

Depending on what it is you could submerge it in water which is a standard but slow way of drying wood. Will mess up the finish though.

I take it this is a finished piece.

Can only suggest you try and seal it all over with poly or similar.

I've got a large Chinese chest bought in SE Asia and the joints have opened up all over the d*mn place in the drier environment here. Hmm, good excuse to build a conservatory.

Put it in a plastic bag for 22 hours a day until your summer. I wouldn't recommend what I say next for finished wood products but it's been the best way to dry out valuable wood for me. If I have obtained a piece of wet wood that is rare or valuable I usually place it in the freezer unwrapped. I've had most of the wood in the freezer for over 5 years, some as long as 14. I had to take all the wood out of the freezer when I moved. Surprizingly, all of it was bone dry, it all had freezer burn. The freezer burn didn't harm it in any way. I have a 48" x 12" x 4" slab of coco bolo I brought back from mexico years ago that has absolutely no cracking and is completely dry. It was in the freezer for the shortest of all the wood, about 5 years. It's by far the best way I've found for preserving wood, slow yes but still the best. I've dried half logs 14" in diameter in the freezer without any cracking at all.

Originally Posted by MathewA

Put it in a plastic bag for 22 hours a day until your summer. I wouldn't recommend what I say next for finished wood products but it's been the best way to dry out valuable wood for me. If I have obtained a piece of wet wood that is rare or valuable I usually place it in the freezer unwrapped. I've had most of the wood in the freezer for over 5 years, some as long as 14. I had to take all the wood out of the freezer when I moved. Surprizingly, all of it was bone dry, it all had freezer burn. The freezer burn didn't harm it in any way. I have a 48" x 12" x 4" slab of coco bolo I brought back from mexico years ago that has absolutely no cracking and is completely dry. It was in the freezer for the shortest of all the wood, about 5 years. It's by far the best way I've found for preserving wood, slow yes but still the best. I've dried half logs 14" in diameter in the freezer without any cracking at all.

Seems like a great use for a freezer but where do you keep your food?

In my belly... My big fat belly

Originally Posted by echnidna

Seems like a great use for a freezer but where do you keep your food?

I live in California. When English and Eur. furniture is imprted and brought to California it all cracks. When I brought furniture from my family farm in Indiana (which is in the eastern US. ), it all dryed and the joints all came loose. Any change in climate will cause this. I owned an antique mall years ago and we always had people wanting to return furniture that cracked. Sorry you are having trouble. You can keep the piece in a steem room. I have a comercial steemer and I often use it to swell dents. It works great. If you can dry a piece slowly over time most wood will not crack, once it has cracked there is no going back. You can expand the crack and then reglue which can take a long time.
I just got back from several months in Coffs Harbour where my inlaws live. If I could figure how to move my shop and farm I would stay in Australia.
Best of luck
Richard

A wild card..........what if......


I just wonder what would happen ( difficult as we don't know what the piece of woodwork is ) if one was to put it in a container with high humidity, to swell the cracks closed, then run thin superglue into/over the cracks.Then cover the whole object completely( I stress whole and completely ) with a good wax polish to seal it. This will slow down the drying process a lot and maybe it won't crack again.

I have found that when I turn something from green wood, in one session and seal it all over, completely with Shellawax or Hut wax, it never cracks. It is important to make sure that even inside the chuck recess etc is properly sealed. Maybe I've just been lucky, but just maybe it works like super Endcheck. It is also important to turn and seal it in one session, as short as possible, otherwise it cracks while waiting on the lathe.

Would be an interesting exercize to try on a finished, cracked object.

Just a thought.

A few years ago a friend gave me a partial bottle of chair doctor glue for a similar problem.I used it on a piece of lacewood and it seemed to work fine.It will expand the wood to hide the cracks if they are miniscule but I would not trust any cracks for strength.Chair doctor glue is available at Lee Valley tools.They have a shop on Steeles Ave.in TO.It isn't cheap but It seems to hide small flaws well.Good luck.

You don't say what the item is.

Years ago my wife was given a carved figure made in Asia from a dark, mahogony type wood. The piece was about 150 mm high and 60 mm thick, solid and, roughly, round. It started to split from the top down.

I asked an antique freak friend and was told to soak it in 75% turps and 25% linseed for a few days. I did and the crack closed up. We still have the piece and it is as good as new.

keep it col, put it in a moist enviroment, even spray it..iol it..
gte it under yr house....pray