Lilac Limbs Cracking

[Jeff Deutschle]

I thinned a lilac bush the other day and the heartwood has a lot of purple swirl to it. I am thinking of making some mushrooms, goblets, hollow easter eggs, and maybe vases. I did make one mushroom and it cracked within hours, which didn't surprise me. I am thinking of sealing the ends of the limbs, which are 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches in diameter and putting them in an outside shed for a year or two to dry. Will this work, or will it crack regardless of what I do? Anybody have other ideas?

There was one piece of old, dry wood that still had the purple in it, which is encouraging. But I imagine that bright light would make it fade. Perhaps there is a clear UV blocking finish available. Is there such a finish that really works? Would this help keep the color?

 

[john lucas]

Never worked with Lilac but have worked with other bushes. I've had fair luck sealing the ends and putting it up to dry in a sunless, windless area. Of course if it does crack just cut through the crack and use it for spindle work.
I haven't found any UV protective finish that solves the problem of wood changing color when subjected to daylight for any length of time. I tried a bunch including some finishes we used to use to protect outdoor photo graphs. Someone suggested applying sunblock the other day. I'll try it but don't think it will work. You still get sunburned even with SPF 50 if you stay out in the sun very long. That tells me that it has a limited amount of protection to UV. some woods are simply going to change color and the only way around it is to keep them out of direct sun. Kept in the house some will last a long time. I had a beautiful Yellow Poplar board that had some great purples. Made a quilt rack out of it. The purple slowly turned to a brown after several years and this was even covered by the quilt.

 

[hockenbery]

Like john no experience with lilac.

I have dried a lot limbs and shrubs up to about 3" in diameter of
Holly, rhododendron, mountain laurel, dogwood, sumac, citrus mostly.
They always split a little on the ends when the they dry so I lose 4" or less from each end.

I and many other folks turn small goblets from green wood limbs.
The goblet if turned thin with cups rounded at the bottom can move as they dry without cracking.
Also when mounting be sure the pith it off center so it won't be in the stem.
With the whole limbs you can leave the bark around the lip and the base too.
If the cup and base are curved and 1/8 inch or less thick and the stem less than 1/4" thick I think any species will dry without cracking.

A mushroom will generally have too much mass at the top to dry successfully.
You can of course undercut and hollow out the underneath side but that is a lot of work for a mushroom.

Have fun,
Al

 

[R Henrickson]

Just go ahead and make mushrooms and let them crack -- many real mushrooms in nature split on their own.

 

[George Guadiane]

99.999999% certain that even after sealing the ends that the wood will crack.
Additionally, that beautiful color will wash out. But the scent holds pretty well.

 

[n7bsn]

Good Luck
I've worked a lot of lilac and have had a lot of problems, anytime I include the pith.
I once read on a UK "bogers" forum they were having similar issues
I've tried various coating and slow drying processes, none have worked well
The current batch includes "logs" to 4 inches, unfortunately the center 2 inches is gone. This batch I am going to boil, since I have to boil this winters Madrone Burl also
I'll try to post again if I have any success
The folllowing work cracked on the lathe, so I filled it with (factory) dyed wood filler

 

[Bill Blasic]

One of the constants in life is that Lilac will crack 😉 Saying that I have some that I have been drying for about 5 years now and will try turning in another two or three. And sadly the color goes away.
Bill

 

[Jeff Deutschle]

Thanks, all!

I can see this will be a learning experience...

 

[Mike Brazeau]

Lilac will crack no matter what so use it for something linear, ie spindle projects. It has beautiful fine growth rings and make a really nice pen. The purple tint changes to a nice brown for some contrast. Turns really nice too.

 

[Kevin Miller]

Would stabilizing work maybe? I know it has to be dried first to use catcus juice or something like that, but isn't there something call pentacryl that is supposed to actually displace any water with the resin?

You guys all have way more experience than me on this so I'm sure you all know best. It's just something I read about that I thought might apply here.

 

[Jim Rinde]

Jeff: Why not try microwave drying of the wood. Today I got some 3-4" diameter pieces of a jacarans branch and was sucessful in drying it and turning a small vessel...all with in about 3hours. Since I have never work with lilac I don't know if it will dry without cracking in the microwave oven. With the jacaranda a ~8 ' long piece weighed about 1000 grams when wet and I dryed it to a weight loss of -30% before turning. If you try this be sure to turn the piece often in the microwave oven, 2-3 minutes to start and then shorted time as it drys. The reason for the frequent turning and re-positioning of the wood is that the microwave field in not uniform in the oven, even with a turn table. For reference I publish an article in the Am. Woodturner Fall 2005, Vol 20 # 3 p.45 where i microwave dried an avocado bowl.

 

[Jeff Deutschle]

Again, thanks all!

I guess I could/should try everything that has been suggested.

One piece I have is a little different. A few years ago a 3 inch diameter bole was cut off about 18 inches from the ground. I cut this off and the sap wood is pretty much rotted away, leaving a good 2 inches of very rich looking heartwood. I have the ends of this piece sealed and in the dehumidified cellar/wookshop while the rest of the pieces are sealed and in an outdoor shed - perhaps being natrurally freeze dried!

So I think I will start in a traditional manner by using the dead piece, turning something into a rough shape, and let it dry slowly in a bag with it's own shavings. It will probably be a hollow snap-together easter egg.

Anyone ever make one? They are pretty neat. For a good laugh on your woodturning friends, make a solid one, too, with just a line around the middle that will make them THINK it comes apart! It's priceless to see their face when you causually mention that, "Oh, that one doesn't come apart." after they have been straining for a while. 😀

 

[Sergio Villa]

Lilac is a wood that cracks like olive wood. In fact lilac and olive belong to the same family. Now I have turned a "big" piece of a lilac that was probably two hundred years old since it was planted in a classic position near a house built in the seventeen century. That piece came from the trunk that was crawling near the ground. I posted one picture of the vase I made in the gallery. It is very similar to the olive wood.
i had smaller branches with the violet in them but the twisted and cracked so i discarded them. I believe I should have waited and done something that their size would allow. The wood is very hard and perfect for finial and other small things.
Here are three turnings I made from lilac wood.
In the first two lilac is the body of the acorn and was taken from the periphery of the wood.
The vase from the central part. Note the similarity with olive wood, something one does not see in smaller branches.

 

[Jeff Deutschle]

Very nice, Sergio:

Glad you posted those pictures. I hadn't thought about acorn boxes. It is just the sort of novelty item I am looking to turn. I tell myself the reason I need to have things that will sell is so my house won't be full of turned items. but really it is a way to feel appreciated, at $2 an hour. 😀

So I gave a piece of that dead lilac a try yesterday and found it to be spalted. So instead of an egg, I made a hand bell. It already had some cracks that I CA'd best I could so it is a Liberty hand bell. 🙄

I am thinking of making tulips. There will be a relief hole drilled in the center, relief notches going to the outer edge, and a thin, domed shape - just what the doctor ordered, and hopefully I can get a few done for my "Easter Collection" at a local beauty shop.

 

[Dean Center]

As others have said, lilac is determined to crack. On rare occasions, I've gotten some that was large to start with and cracked in a way that left a pretty good portion of the cross section in 1 piece. I vaguely recall trying to microwave without success.

A CA finish on reel seats preserves the color of flame box elder. I'm optimistic with lilac and have made a couple of pens that retained the color long enough to give them to a pair of "purple girls". Not sure how they look now. It's a real nice wood to turn.

Dean Center

 

[Jeff Deutschle]

Like john no experience with lilac.

I have dried a lot limbs and shrubs up to about 3" in diameter of
Holly, rhododendron, mountain laurel, dogwood, sumac, citrus mostly.
They always split a little on the ends when the they dry so I lose 4" or less from each end.

I and many other folks turn small goblets from green wood limbs.
The goblet if turned thin with cups rounded at the bottom can move as they dry without cracking.
Also when mounting be sure the pith it off center so it won't be in the stem.
With the whole limbs you can leave the bark around the lip and the base too.

If the cup and base are curved and 1/8 inch or less thick and the stem less than 1/4" thick I think any species will dry without cracking.

A mushroom will generally have too much mass at the top to dry successfully.
You can of course undercut and hollow out the underneath side but that is a lot of work for a mushroom.

Have fun,
Al

Yep, turning thin and curved worked very well. I'll try to post pictures of a tulip.

 

[Jeff Deutschle]

Turned green: lilac 2-1/8" x 1-5/8" x 3/16" sealed with polycrylic and shellac (won't use shellac next time!) finished with varnish. Notice there are only fine, natural cracks around the pith.