Turned seasoned log splitting across length

[A.Turner]

Hello,

First time poster, fairly new to turning and this has probably been asked before.

I was given some logs from relatives in Cumbria that they say had been drying for 18 months and comes from their wood burner supply. I happily chopped them up and rounded a couple...and they split, very badly. I've seen lots about end seal to stop splits at the end, and yes some of my cut up logs do have radial splits on the cut ends but they do not reach the surface and do not seen to be too deep. But the splits on the ones I turned are enormous and run across large parts of the length. I cannot imagine it is anything other than shrinkage, and I wonder how well they were dried. This morning I bought a moisture meter and jamming the pins in as far as I can on the sides shows 12-16%, which as far as I can tell is pretty OK. The wood is kept in the garage which is unheated but not especially exposed to the elements either.

I have some smaller diameter wood that has a similar percentage with no splits, and not all of the larger diameter wood has radial splits either. To confuse matters/me further, some of the wood has radial splits on the ends that I didn't cut, i.e. this is the end where it was cut 18 months ago, but not all. I think they should have been cut and end sealed the day I had them, but I am still clueless about the length wise splits, and really quite annoyed.

I can't link to any photos at the moment but as soon as I can I will do so.

Help!

 

[A.Turner]

Checked all the logs, nearly all of them are 16%, a few are 14%. Checked a few bits I turned weeks before, 16%. This is on the existing ends, I wonder what I would find if I cut them in half...

I have a collection if pieces I did from July onwards in the house, mostly 16% though I had to push quite a lot harder on the pins to get a reading at all, the heating has also been on the last few days.

 

[finneyb]

Do you know what the wood is?

Brian

 

[A.Turner]

Mixture. Some of it is rhododendron ponticum, I have turned 3 pieces and only one hasn't split. Several piece are, I think, silver birch, of varying diameters and they all have radial splits only. In fact, now that I think about it, it is only the rhododendron that has length ways splits. I have a turned piece of silver birch and that's been sitting in the garage for 3-4 weeks I guess and it has a very thin split forming.

I have a website where I am attempting to record what I am doing and is where I will be hosting the pictures that I will be linking to. I will have some photos uploaded in the next few minutes.

 

[CHJ]

The splitting is because the surface that has the widest opening of the split has lost moisture too quickly, quicker than the internal moisture could migrate to equalise the loss. If it's splitting from the core then it's most likely that the moisture has evaporated from the end grain. This starts within minutes of cutting, sometimes seconds.

Logs of any reasonable size are going to need years to dry out not months, a flat board with sawn faces will take at least a year per 25mm thickness to dry out to a reasonable level.
A log with greater thickness is going to take a lot longer.
If you have turned a log and removed the bark then you will have increased the rate of moisture loss from the cut surfaces and encouraged it to split.

If the logs are large enough to get reasonable pieces out then split them down the middle through the pith, leave any bark on, seal the ends, not the split face, the split face will curl back on itself as the half dries and reduce the risk of splits under the bark.

There are some more notes on the subject in the Help Sticky at the top of the forum.

 

[JimB]

I assume the problem is that they have been drying for 18 months in log form. That's plenty of time for shrinking stresses to build up inside.

 

[A.Turner]

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This is an adhoc hobby, I have neither the space or organisation to store logs for use in several years time!

If I quarter or split the logs they would be of limited use I think, and again requires years of forethought. I only have a small lathe so I guess what I call a log you might call a branch?

The wood was free so I've not lost anything on it. For the small amount of work I do buying ready dried wood has got to be a lot easier.

 

[A.Turner]

I have read lots of articles on drying wood, and I have no interest in doing that for the afore mentioned reasons. My mistake has been to assume that the wood I was given, and that has, apparently, been drying for 18 months, was going to be ok to use. This is what comes from assuming in a field you know little about.

 

[JimB]

Fair enough. You might grab hawthorn if it's offered. I've turned tool handles from thin branches without problems.

 

[Silverbirch]

I would guess most turners will eventually accumulate a collection of timber from various sources, some paid for, some free. Amassing a collection of the raw materials of the craft, and experimenting with their storage and use is part of the enjoyment for me. If you have to pay retail prices for every piece of timber you turn, the costs can mount up.
I know you said you don`t have room for storage of timber, but if you can possibly do so, it is always worth putting some aside for future use. As you have discovered, some species will turn out to be useless, while others will be fine.
In the meantime you will need to rely on shop bought blanks, but before you know it, you will have built up a useful stash of seasoned timber which you can draw upon for future projects.

Ian

 

[KimG]

You don't have to wait years, you can rough turn wood green and let it dry in an attic for a couple of months, (depending on the wood, Ash and Sycamore respond well to this) Rough turning a bowl would mean making the thing bowl shaped but about an inch to an inch and a quarter thick, keep away from the pith, that will nearly always initiate a split, put the roughly shaped bowl in the attic or a cool dry place for a month or three, then finish it off.

Wood moves all the time anyway, at least until it's pretty aged, different stresses within the timber cause slow warping, varying amounts of humidity do the same (I am talking finished bowls here) but it takes a good while to show.

So don't despair, take another shot and try a different approach. Roughing out.

 

[Bodrighy]

If a piece splits then you have several smaller pieces not one broken piece LOL. Wood has to be very small before it is of no use. I have a bin full of off cuts that get used fro all sorts from jam chucks to finial, bobbins to collars for vases etc etc etc. If you want to go down the route that Chas follows they are also great for segmented pieces. Also as mentioned by Kim, turning the wood green and leaving it thick enough to return later greatly increases the chances of releasing the tension in drying and saving the wood.

Pete