May 21 2009
Drying wet roughed out bowls
Visited Vedder Mountain Hardwoods.
This Arbutus bowl was turned from a crotch, wet and allowed to do its Mother Nature thing.
Drying bowls – Today, I got a call about how do you prevent cracking on roughed out bowls. Â The following are what I do to reduce some of the cracking.
1. Â I rough turn the wet bowl blank to its approximate shape and leave the thickness to approximately 10% of its diameter. Â I make the wall thickness the same throughout – this reduces stress on the wood.
2. Â I round the top edges of the rim of the bowl – the sharper the edge the easier it is to crack.
3. Â Seal the end grain of the piece.
4. Â I bring the piece in from the outside rough turn it and return it to the outside so there is no sudden change in temperature.
5, Â Water from the inside of the bowl wants to run out the end grain so I place the bowl upside down for the first while. Â I use louvered doors as shelves so air can circulate inside and out.
6.  I have tried boiling, microwaving, freezer, alcohol, wd 40 and always go back to air drying.  Shortly I am going to try the soap soaking method that Ron Kent uses.  I will let you know how it works out.
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