Hi,... working with green turned oak. The bowls are raw oak finish sanded. A few acceptable cracks every so often. some 1/125"+/-(which I would like to minimize), a few wider @ 1/32"+/-(which I would like to show off). I would appreciate any help with procedures/techniques using CA glue for filling/stabilizing such cracks....thank you for any assistance........michael
First if the bowl is not dry, get the surface damp with a plant mister, and put it in a paper bag with the top closed. Small cracks may close up with slow drying.
When I get an even wall thickness less than 1/2" on a bowl with curves and no sharp edges. They almost never develop cracks if I slow the drying.
First thing I do off the lathe is wash the bowl in water to re- wet the endgrain. Then I put it in a paper bag to slow the drying. This acts like a humidity chamber.
Change the bags if they get damp.
Bowls under 1/4" - I open the top of the bag the second day, on the third day they go on a shelf, 4th day they can be finished.
Below is link for a demo on green wood turning:
http://aaw.hockenbery.net/greenwood-HO.pdf
I use three laurel oak bowls as examples near the end to show the effects of design on drying success.
A natural edge bowl and 1" thick bowl for re-turning that has decent curve have no cracks. The 1" thick bowl with poor curves has a couple large cracks.
As far as CA. it is difficult to get it in the crack and not in the bowl. Getting it on the bowl will make a discoloration in the finish.
I would would use thin shellac or thin lacquer as a sanding sealer. Then put the thinner line of thin CA in the crack you want to stop ( this also prevents the crack from ever closing). The sealer should keep the CA from wicking into the wood.
As for filling the cracks. I usually just detail them a bit with a woodturner. Removing any fibers that are in the crack.
I generally avoid using CA on bowls. I dislike what it does the finish more than I dislike the crack.
Have fun,
Al
