• It's time to cast your vote in the April 2025 Turning Challenge. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Steve Bonny for "A Book Holds What Time Lets Go" being selected as Turning of the Week for 28 April, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Blew it up HF

Joined
Feb 18, 2023
Messages
1,324
Likes
3,789
Location
Orange, CA
Bought this cracked piece of desert ironwood. IMG_1008.jpegSure stinks when you turn. Wanted to turn a HF with a 1 inch opening. Had it almost done, was just finishing the bottom when BOOM! I had used some thin CA earlier in the pith cracks but it blew due to a bark inclusion that probably should have been CA’d. IMG_1002.jpegWall was less than 1/4 inch and pretty smooth and consistent. So I learned a lot but lost a pretty piece. IMG_1006.jpegIMG_1005.jpeg
 
That sucks! The piece I got had one big crack right thru the middle so I slit it with the band saw into two small bowl size. Could you slice it and add a bottom to it!
 
Fwiw I have a piece with a lot of cracks like this and plan to put in a vacuum chamber to fill the voids with resin. Much more work and expense, but much less likely to blow out
 
I would expect that piece to experience an unscheduled rapid disassembly, given its initial appearance. If I were tempted to turn it anyway I would wrap it thoroughly with plastic twine (stretchwrap) or duct tape before hollowing, and stay well out of the line of fire.
 
Back
Top