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Help needed : wood too dry ?

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Ayoung1969:
Hi all,
I’m relatively new to wood turning and have an issue with a piece of wood I’m hoping someone can advise me on.
I bought a bowl blank to turn but it seems extremely dry and the shavings are coming out like dust and leaving huge tear-outs (see pictures).  I’ve tried sharpening my gouges and turning up the speed on the lathe but I can’t stop the tear-outs happening, and they’re huge, not like a normal one you’d expect to see if your tools are a little dull.

I’ve tried CA glue to stabilise it as well as resin and rotten wood hardener but nothing works and all subsequent layers are dry, dusty and full of holes.

Any advice gratefully received.

Regards,
Adam

John Plater:
Hello Adam,
It is very difficult to offer advice from a static photograph without seeing the problem happen for real. You seem to have covered the likely "mechanical" solutions with sharp tools and alternative lathe speeds. What is missing is seeing you at the machine and the way the tool is presented and the type of cut being attempted. You also have covered the likelihood of it being a faulty piece of wood by trying to stabilise it before turning. Again, this possibility is difficult to judge from a static photograph. I assume that the blank is a piece of elm. In my experience elm is not necessarily the easiest of woods but can usually be relied upon to leave an acceptable finish from the tool, unless that is, it is not completely sound timber. It looks like the spring growth is crumbling away rather than cutting cleanly which suggests that your timber has started to decay. A couple of years ago I did some pieces from similar material but felt that I needed to persist with it as it had some gorgeous markings which made the effort worthwhile. My approach was to rough turn a shape, then apply several coats of cellulose sealer thinned by 50% and finish turn using a shear scraper kept very sharp. The sealer is very penetrative, stabilising the timber behind the cut I was making thus giving support to the grain fibres being cut. Shear scraping is very time consuming but quite gentle on the timber in my opinion.
ATB John

seventhdevil:
very old elm like you have there can do this i've found but it is often tool presentation rather than any other fault.

if the wood is being scraped off then you see what happens. only when you slice away the timber can you get a satisfactory finish...

Ayoung1969:
Thank-you for the replies John Plater and seventhdevil.
I’ll go away and work on my technique as I mainly rely on pulling cuts with a gouge rather than pushing & using the bevel because I can’t control the depth with that cut.
I’ll also have a look at cellulose sealer.

Regards,
Adam

Bill21:
I was tasked with turning some turning some 400 year old oak cut from some beams during a house renovation. The timber was as you would expect very dry. I had luckily heard of a technique for dealing with difficult woods some months earlier. It involves making up a mixture of 50/50 washing up liquid and water and soaking the timber in the solution for several weeks. It’s then removed and turned after drip drying. This worked extremely well and the small amount of soap retained in the wood acts as a lubricant. Finishing was no problem but in fairness I did use an oil finish which may be more suitable for this technique than some others. Give it a try, it really works. Just ensure the solution fully penetrates the timber. Just buy the cheapest washing up liquid you can get, the wood won’t mind!

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