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A branch fell off a walnut tree and I cut a section to turn into a bowl or something, because the grain is beautiful. I thought it might age better if I removed the bark, so I did that, but other than that, I just left it alone.

Within a week of doing this, some pretty serious checking happened:

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You can see the nice grain and spalting, but the cracks are certainly a problem for bowl making.

So two questions:

  1. Can anything be done to reduce or fill these cracks, so that the piece could still be turned? (I'm aware of epoxy pressure chambers, but that's a pretty big investment for someone who only wants to make a few bowls in my life.)

  2. How should I handle logs like this in the future to prevent or minimize the checking?

Joshua Frank
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    Welcome to WW.SE. Make sure you search previous Q&A for "checking" as at least one of your questions is answered. –  Aug 24 '20 at 18:06
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    1, I'd advise ditching the wood affected by the checking here, it's the safest bet. Filling the cracks — not now after drying is complete — is certainly possible but the amount of epoxy needed would be considerable and the cost could easily be more than you'd think worth it. And there's the safety aspect, bowl-turning accidents involving the wood flying apart at speed are not unheard of and can be quite serious. 2, this previous Answer is probably the most directly relevant https://woodworking.stackexchange.com/questions/2843/when-it-comes-to-checking-in-logs-what-should-i-expect/2845#2845 – Graphus Aug 26 '20 at 12:10
  • @Graphus: that other answer was very helpful, thanks. How would I go about filling the cracks with epoxy, if I did think it was worth it? Does it have to be done at high pressure, or could it be done by soaking at regular pressure? – Joshua Frank Dec 28 '20 at 23:09
  • Generally a low-viscosity epoxy is used and it's poured in from the top. Note that if there's a chance of any cracks going right through you want to tape the bottom before you do the first pour or some of the epoxy will just dribble out the underside! Once the first pour has set enough to continue (doesn't need to be fully hardened) you flip over, remove the tape, mix another batch and pour. – Graphus Dec 29 '20 at 10:22
  • @Graphus: so you don't actually have to do the thing I've seen on YouTube where they use a pressure cooker to drive the epoxy deep into the cracks? (At least, I think that's what the pressure is supposed to be accomplishing.) – Joshua Frank Dec 30 '20 at 17:52
  • Actually, I think those might not be high pressure but low/vacuum, but I don't really understand the purpose of that either. – Joshua Frank Dec 30 '20 at 17:55
  • High pressure forces liquids into the wood. Vacuum makes the wood suck them in (very simplified). Low-viscosity epoxies are very good at finding their way into and through cracks by themselves via gravity & capillary action but if you want to be absolutely sure of full penetration (which presumably one does for turning) high pressure or vacuum might be needed. Anyway put that aside for now, is this piece of wood worth even 40-60 bucks spent on it? That's the absolute minimum probably, without a guarantee of a successful outcome. It's your call, but I'd have split this for firewood long ago. – Graphus Dec 31 '20 at 08:38

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