My Bowl Cracked!

[James Farrow]

Uh, O.K. LOL!

James

[Ron Smith ... Richmond, VA]

I've used the LDD (Liquid Dish Detergent) on a lot of bowls and have significantly reduced the amount of cracking that's occurred. I just mix the soap and water in a 40%/60% mixture, immerse the bowl for a couple days, take out and turn. It saturates the wood and is a pleasure to turn it. Do a search for it and you'll find quite a few discussions on the subject ... and some good advice. It's not a miracle cure, but along with the glue soaking method, it works pretty good. It's fun to experiment.

Thanks,
Ron

[Dennis Peacock]

I boil my rough turned bowls....for 1 hour in a roaring boil. Take them out, wrap them in newspaper, set aside to cool and dry for 1 week then finish turning. I've reduced the checking and cracking by almost 80% this way. There are a lot of ways to help reduce the chances of this but, this is just what I've found to work better for me.

[Chris Padilla]

Dennis,

Is that broth left over from boiling turning blanks any good for anything? I know y'all are the frugal sort in Arkie land....

[Michael Stafford]

With that broth and a good 20p nail you are well on your way to a good pot of soup...

[Dennis Peacock]

Dennis,

Is that broth left over from boiling turning blanks any good for anything? I know y'all are the frugal sort in Arkie land....

Howdy Chris,

Yea....we feed it to the younguns so they can get their daily dose of fiber!

Just make sure you don't get one of "maws pots" to do your bowl blanks in or she'll make you wish you hadn't.!!!