Need help starting out.

[Doghouse]

Ok, I turned my first bowl. It did not turn out bad, but not great either. THe sides have spider cracks around the pith. I know about removing the pith, but that is all the character in the dogwood. It is also warping out of round.

Here is what I did. I rough turned the bowl with the lip 1/10 the diam.
Soaked it over night in 50/50 costco dish soap and water.
Final turned it to 1/8 thickness the next day.
Sanded and finished with shellawax.

Ok, what did I do wrong. I am trying to avoid the 6 mth wait for roughed blanks to dry.
Or is this the nature of the beast?

 

[GeeSeaWhy]

If you expected it not to crack or warp, that's what you did wrong. Soaking a rough-turned bowl in LDD will help prevent cracking while the wood dries. It will not prevent warping or magically dry the wood overnight. The best way I've found to accelerate drying is the microwave. You can dry out a rough-turned bowl in a day or two that way. It helps to have an accurate scale so you can track the moisture loss. Leaving the pith in greatly increases the likelihood of cracks developing. Drilling a small hole directly through the pith will relieve the stresses, maybe enough to prevent major cracks.

HTH

Graeme

 

[Jeff Jilg]

If in fact you rough turned a wet piece of wood to final thickness then it will have to be very thin to avoid cracks, and you will be lucky even then. For me, the pith is a cracking machine. Once a crack starts from the pith it will usually continue somewhere into the piece. As a result it's generally not a good idea to leave it in.

The LDD (soap) soaking method is used by a lot of folks, but I haven't done it. Maybe they could comment. Some find it to be a religious experience. I've avoided it to avoid the mess.

 

[dkulze]

Welcome, doghouse.

Yup, green wood is gonna warp on you in the least and will likely crack if the pith is left in. Additionally, dogwood is prone to mad cracks. If you're going to leave the pith in, you need to turn it very consistantly and relatively thin then baby it throught the drying process (lots of soaking coats of polymerized oil like tung, BLO, or eurythane). Use CA glue to strengthen as cracks develope.

If you are going to turn gree wood, I'd recommend a couple of plans. Understand ahead of time that, if the pith is left in, the piece has better than even odds of developing cracks. The 1/10th thickness method works fine if you plan to let the blank dry then final turn it round. In addition to the microwave, you can actually boil the blank to reduce cracking and speed drying somewhat (I know, I know. It seems counterproductive to soak the piece in water but, if boiled for a significant period, it both drives water out of the wood and helps break down the connective tissue that forces cracks).

What I usually do is turn the piece green with the expectation of warpage. It becomes a feature in many of my pieces. This eliminates the long drying, the cracked blanks, and adds a fun element.

Look around at various other threads to learn more about boiling and green turning.

Welcome to the Vortex (if you don't understand that, you will soon)

Dietrich

 

[Doghouse]

Ok, I was worried that it was something that I did wrong. If that is the way that they will move, then great. It does make for a interesting piece. I will try to turn a few more this weekend to get more practice.

I have been trying to turn everything below 1/8th of an inch it is hard to make sure you do not cut through the piece. I am sure I will have more questions as I get going.

I wonder about the vortex comment.... Are you thinking that we are always spinning around in the same place trying new ideas, or the slippery slope we are all sliding down?

 

[dkulze]

Actually, the vortex is the huge, sucking force that attacks our lives and wallets shortly after we learn the joys of woodturning. It is generally accompanied by large stacks of wood that may or may not ever get turned but were just too good to pass up on the side of that road, lots of cool tools and equipment that we really need to finish that one particular bowl design we saw on the web, a logrithimicly progressing longsuffering look from our spouses, and copious amounts of sawdust drifting around the house.

Welcome.
Dietrich