Walnut Cracks

[Dave Fritz]

This is a piece of walnut that came from either the stump or the root of a walnut tree that was blown down in a tornado.


This is the stump and the rest of the tree it came from


I've not seen this pattern of cracking before. Has anyone seen it and what may have been the cause of something like this? Thank you for your responses.

 

[William Rogers]

I don’t know, but may have been a lightening strike somewhere on the tree. I had some walnut that had lines similar but more irregular shaped. I was doing a hollow form and it came apart on me.

 

[robo hippy]

I got one tree once that was in a land slide, and it had micro cracks all through the log. Won't do that one again. I would guess that if the tree gets uprooted, it may not be in bad shape. If it is broken off half way up the trunk, I wouldn't bother. Not sure about your piece here. Those do look like drying cracks to me.

robo hippy

 

[Dave Fritz]

You may be right Reed. The wood was really wet when I harvested it and I had so much I threw pieces in brown paper bags and set them on a shelf in the shed. It's gotten really hot in the summer and freezing in there in the winter. Not the best place but I've got a shed full of wood. Other pieces have been fine.

 

[Odie]

Robo's explanation is the most likely scenario here....but, there is another possibility. I have seen cracks similar to this form on an unseasoned bowl during the roughing process. If the turner's methods are causing some heat.....or his lighting creates additional heat, it might contribute to conditions that could result in checking like this...

Note: If anyone is still using incandescent lathe lighting, these lights create more heat than fluorescent or the more modern LED lighting.

=o=