Tear out ?

[Greg Parrish]

Is tear out always something you should be able to overcome or can it simply be the result of wood that has decomposed or dried too much?

couldn't get this to stop tearing, no matter how champ of a chisel or new of a carbide cutter I tried. When checking moisture it only read 3% when other dry items in my shop usually read between 8 to 12% relative humidity. Doesn't seem like I could get anything sharp enough to keep these end grains from crumbling apart. I'm suspecting the wood and am thinking lesson learned on buying wood from eBay.

[Tom Wilson66]

Sometimes an application of linseed oil will stiffen up the fibers and reduce tear out. Could try this to see if it helps. If that does not help, the wood may be too punky to use, which is what I would think from looking at the picture.

[Greg Parrish]

This is not the first piece I've found in the batch I bought from eBay to get me started until I built up other sources of wood. I'm thinking it might be too far gone unless it could be stabilized or epoxied or something.

[Jay Mullins]

The wood does look a little punky, but stablizing the wood would help. When I encounter really soft wood I saturate the wood with shallac or lacquer. Let it dry over night sand and repeat the process. Use sharp tools and turn at high speed. Most of the time this works for me. If I can't turn it.......... I burn it.

Jay

[Allan Ferguson]

A really rough looking piece. Try the above advice. Looks like you need to find a decent source for wood. Ask around for sources in your area, clubs extra. Good luck on your hunt.

[Ron Page]

I turn a lot of punky Aspen. Superglue is the best thing I've found to make it turnable, but it can cost a relative fortune by the time a piece is finished. It works great tho. I'm going to try other things. Miniwax Wood Hardener seems to work but it take a couple of days to cure enough to proceed. Superglue is almost immediate so that's it's main draw. I'll try shellac, linseed oil, and lacquer to see how they work.

ron

[Reed Gray]

When it looks that bad, it is most likely from being too rotten. If it is tear out, then you see fibers sticking up and out. With this wood, you see where chunks have come out. Compost.... Probably very light weight too...

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Is tear out always something you should be able to overcome or can it simply be the result of wood that has decomposed or dried too much?

couldn't get this to stop tearing, no matter how champ of a chisel or new of a carbide cutter I tried. When checking moisture it only read 3% when other dry items in my shop usually read between 8 to 12% relative humidity. Doesn't seem like I could get anything sharp enough to keep these end grains from crumbling apart. I'm suspecting the wood and am thinking lesson learned on buying wood from eBay.

With wood that soft and punky you cannot rely on an accurate reading from a moisture meter. The pin type can't read the conductivity across air and the pinless type set for that species will be fooled by the low density. The only way I know to get an accurate moisture content is with the oven drying method.

With some minor softness of the grain I do stabilize with lacquer cut with lacquer thinner or shellac mixed 50% with alcohol (sanding sealer), let dry, repeat, repeat. Turning with oil, water or wax rubbed into the surface also helps on occasion. Razor sharp tools, very light touch.

HOWEVER, something too far gone like yours would require more desperate measures. If the wood were worth it stabilizing with resin with vacuum would work. Superglue works very well except it would take a LOT, like 5-10 bottles maybe. Also there are safety hazards with putting large amount of superglue into thick soft wood. The wood would have to be special or spectacular for me to use the CA method.

I last used the CA glue method on this little thing. The wood was so punky/deteriorated pieces would flake off under my thumbnail but the figure and color was intriguing. Multiple soakings of superglue hardened it and allowed me to turn and finish without tearout. Looking with a magnifier some of the surface consists of voids filled with clear, hardened glue.

LiquidAmber_comp.jpg

A saying commonly attributed to the other John Jordan goes something like "Life is too short to turn crappy wood". I'd say learn from it, toss this any other similar, wood you got from the same source, send the seller some feedback and pictures, and don't buy from him again. I have had reputable exotic wood dealers send me replacement wood when something I bought long distance was not useful.

JKJ

[Peter Blair]

I agree with everyone. I do turn some soft spalted but try to avoid anything that is as soft and crumbly as this piece appears to be. The best product IMHO is Minwax wood hardener. I turn to as close to the final finish size as I can leaving enough wood for finishing to final and the coat liberally with the wood hardener. I'm pretty sure it will do the job. As a side note, when we bought this home there were several areas of soft rot in the deck framework. I applied this hardener and the areas are still hard and that was over 30 years ago.

[John C Cox]

Sometimes sanding with cloth backed paper is the recipe for success. Get it roughed out and then sand to your finished shape.

[Doug Rasmussen]

I agree with everyone. I do turn some soft spalted but try to avoid anything that is as soft and crumbly as this piece appears to be. The best product IMHO is Minwax wood hardener. I turn to as close to the final finish size as I can leaving enough wood for finishing to final and the coat liberally with the wood hardener. I'm pretty sure it will do the job. As a side note, when we bought this home there were several areas of soft rot in the deck framework. I applied this hardener and the areas are still hard and that was over 30 years ago.

Peter, about the Minwax wood hardener....I've seen the cans at Home Depot. It doesn't say anything on the can about topcoating with finish products or even whether it's clear after hardening. They do mention on the can about following with a Minwax putty to fill large depressions. My intended use is for burl I have with small, loose bark inclusions and tiny cracks.

[Al Wasser]

That looks like a piece of wood that does not deserve any more time or money. Just toss it!

[Bill Boehme]

Life is too short to waste time on wood like that. I wouldn't expend any more time or money into trying to fix something that is one step away from being compost.

[Tom Borener]

Another method for dealing with punky wood is to buy CHEAP white glue, dilute it about 50/50 with clean water and saturate the wood with it. Should be workable in a couple hours, or overnite if you have the time. The trouble with this is, if you work down below where you have saturated it, you have to repeat the process. It is best to get it near your final size before using the glue solution

[John K Jordan]

... The trouble with this is, if you work down below where you have saturated it, you have to repeat the process. ...

That's an excellent point.

I forgot to mention I have to do reapply with CA glue too. If the tearout is bad I will soak early, then have to continually add more as I cut down deeper. Fortunately, the CA dries/cures very quickly so there's not a big wait. Sometimes I might reapply 10 times or so. I also tend to apply to the whole piece to avoid leaving a line where the CA is and where it is not. I would NOT go to all this trouble unless the wood was special in some way!

A bottle of white glue would be a LOT cheaper than a bottle of CA!

JKJ