The long standing question of, ‘what do I do with the cracks in my woodturning’?
There can be so many different answers to this question, and some very strong opinions. Always at the top of the list is safety. The last thing you want is your piece to fly apart in the middle of turning. If there is any chance of your piece flying apart, you can stabalize the piece pretty quickly with CA glue, or 5 minute epoxy. Remember that the more you carve the piece down, you may be carving away what is stabilizing the piece, and may need to restabalize the piece.
Now let’s get into aesthetics. Some like the looks of an aged piece, and would opt to leave the cracks. Some go as far as adding stitching, or a zipper, to add some flare to the cracks. Let’s get into the options for filling cracks. The most common and easy way is CA glue by itself. Fill the crack with CA glue, let it dry, or use activator to speed up the curing time. Another method is using sawdust in addition to CA glue to fill the cracks. There are 3 easy ways to do this:
Fill the cracks with sawdust, use thin CA glue, and soak the sawdust in the crack enough that the sawdust becomes solid and adheres to the piece.
Fill the cracks with medium to medium/thick CA glue, then sprinkle sawdust over the top of the CA glue. You will the need to gently pat down on the sawdust to mix the sawdust and CA glue in the crack.
Using 180-400 grit sandpaper, sand side to side over the crack, creating sawdust that will fill the crack. With the crack filled with sawdust, slowly add thin viscosity CA glue to bond the glue, sawdust, and the turning together.
(Activator is recommended for these methods).
What if I have a big crack? An eighth inch wide or more. This may simply be fixed by pulling up your pants. Nobody wants to see that crack anyway. Now let’s get into ways you can fill the crack in your woodturning piece.
Sawdust and thin CA glue will work for larger cracks too. If the crack goes all the way through the piece, just cover the inside or outside of the crack with tape to keep the sawdust in. You may need to do this in layers if the depth of the crack is more than an eighth of an inch.
5 minute epoxy. The biggest thing to do with this method, is plan ahead. Know if you are going to be attempting to fill many cracks at once. Know if you want to mix in color to the epoxy. Know if you need to tape some cracks that go all the way through so the epoxy doesn’t just run out the other side. There are other factors, but these are the most common. If you are filling multiple cracks, you will be turning your piece, and the epoxy will start running. Then you get to play keep spinning the piece and putting the epoxy back in place until it starts to harden. If you are mixing in color, mix the epoxy and hardener first, then mix in the color. This is timed, plan ahead.
Making a form around your piece and pouring epoxy. This is the most challenging method, but can be the most rewarding if you are looking for a colorful piece, filling big cracks or voids, or both. The form and properly mixing the epoxy are the keys. It’s not fun if you mix up a good amount of epoxy and you made a non liquid tight form around your piece and you watch the epoxy (money) run onto the floor. I have done this more than enough times, and it will happen again. Mixing is important for the epoxy curing. Precise measurements are needed for the epoxy and hardener. Know the mix ratio of the epoxy you are using. Some epoxy is a 1:1 mix ratio, and some are 2:1. The best way to learn this is to watch a tutorial, or get a lesson from someone with experience. Always remember to get the proper epoxy for depth of pour.
This will conclude talking about our cracks lol. I will try to do a weekly, or at least monthly blog post for woodworking tips. Follow us on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563888849565
In the meantime, go play with your wood 👍
Steve
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