bowl turning thread

[bushtuckaman]

Hello, I'm reasonably new to turning and was after a little advice if possible plz! I've got a bit of walnut on the lathe atm with an endgrained crack penetrating deeper than expected. Bowl is currently 14 inch across. What's the best tactic here, try to turn it out and potentially half the bowl diameter or leave the cracks in and make it a 'feature' of the bowl?

[Lazurus]

You can reinforce the crack with thin cyno glue, let it dry before you turn the lathe on though. Or maybe carve or shape it after turning the bowl. Just wear full face protection as walnut can be very punky and I have has one or two fly apart when you reach a weak spot and the strength goes in the whole structure. If you are at all unsure take it off the lathe, we all have this frugal gene which means we want to make the biggest bowl from the piece of wood, but, you can waste a bit, after all it does grow on trees!!!!!!!!

[se7enthdevil]

if it's a dry bit of wood then leave it aside till you have a bit more experience then make use of the crack if you can.

 

if it's wet wood then this may end up as firewood as the split will only get worse.

[bushtuckaman]

[bushtuckaman]

I'm making hard work of uploading pics here!!

 

Thanks for the advice gents! The cracks don't look like the type to cause it to come apart, more asthetic issue and potential to get bigger. The tree can down summer before last, at which point I halved the rings, pva'd the endgrain and stored in a barn to dry.

[se7enthdevil]

doesn't look too structural but don't spin it too fast. as it was not rough turned it could still crack further but walnut can be quite forgiving.

[slasherscot]

https://www.facebook.com/ICMSChairman/videos/941890182503026/

[nepia]

Steve, that Robinia log, which is 63" long...

 

In pic 1 the max diameter is 15", min is 12" but the max diameter goes straight through the pith.

Pic 2 is the other end of the log in exactly the same rotational orientation. I.e a slice through the 15" diameter would almost separate the two branch origins.

 

If I cut the crotch off and sliced that through its centre to give you a pair of crotch pieces you'd still have a log ~44" long. So perhaps that's the best option...?

 

Jon

[devon TWiG]

Cherry bowl ..............this was made from a section of wood that straddles the graft union on a cherry tree , it shows the clear difference between the root stock and the scion which was grafted to it some time ago , the stump was quite thick at about 1 foot above ground level with the remaining stem considerably slimmer , I had to hollow the bowl down in to end grain which is not easy , very hard and difficult to get a good finish from the chisel so more sanding than usual , it is just another example of what beauty can be found within a seemingly poor piece of wood of little / no value !!! ( the bowl is approx 8" dia and 6-7" tall )

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Cherry bowl ..............this was made from a section of wood that straddles the graft union on a cherry tree , it shows the clear difference between the root stock and the scion which was grafted to it some time ago , the stump was quite thick at about 1 foot above ground level with the remaining stem considerably slimmer , I had to hollow the bowl down in to end grain which is not easy , very hard and difficult to get a good finish from the chisel so more sanding than usual , it is just another example of what beauty can be found within a seemingly poor piece of wood of little / no value !!! ( the bowl is approx 8" dia and 6-7" tall )

 

thats a nice piece, in Bulgaria they have a variety of ash as street trees tha are grafted, the graft becomes very pronounced and im hoping one day a large live edged vase. this one will be right up your street!