How to handle a end grain vase?

If it is a fruit wood such as apple, crabapple, etc, it will have a serious tendency to crack. More so than any other woods. I turned a lilac root a few years back with the same characteristics as your piece. I turned mine green, doing the outside first (turning, sanding and finishing), then wrapped duct tape around it and turned the inside. It was tricky. Once the inside was finished, I took off the tape and let the piece dry. It opened up and ended up looking like fingers poking up. It looked really nice. (Sold for a bundle too!)

If it is crabapple, the stuff smells a little like green apples when you turn it. Very pleasant.

I have some apple wood right now that is sealed on the ends and seems to be settling down nicely with minimal cracking. My pieces are about

. I turned mine green, doing the outside first (turning, sanding

I've cheated apple in stages in the microwave with reasonable success. Hollow to about twice final, microwave 4 minutes on half, then belt clamp to preserve best center. Repeat two-three times and you'll find you've got a fiber set that won't distort much. Hose clamps work fine over a cloth if you've got them the right size.

I have no idea what that means. Could you please elborate?

Thanks,

Steve

Force circularity by clamping the distorted sections back toward the center. The distortion caused by changing grain direction can be somewhat controlled with the clamps, allowing the lignin to re-glue the fiber into a new configuration. I haven't had much success forcing from the inside with cones or other internal forms, but drawing circular with clamps from the outside has done pretty well. You can use an internal form to get the clamps in place and the piece fairly circular, but pull the form back out to avoid splitting as the wood contracts.

Hi Suanne

Second try here, as I got knocked off the line with a thunderstorm coming through.

Suanne I have turned all kinds of apple wood, as a matter of fact there are at least 30 dry flowering crabapple bowls sitting right here behind me, no checks or splits in any, these are the smallest bowls out of one log, 4 to 7 inches D, I did finish 2 larger ones and have a dozen or so also from this same log, drying and waiting in my drying cabin for when I have time and the inclination to finish turn them.

Wood in log form is going to split. so the best way to prevent this is giving the wood room to move while it dries and have it dry in such a way that the tensions from drying stay low enough for the wood to handle without splitting.

Now keep in mind that tree root wood is not like aboveground wood, it does not have the same grain and strength, the way I would go at it is, turn the wood to the form you like and either finish turn thin and anchor seal, brown bag and let dry, or thick for returning when dry, just keep in mind that the thicker wood takes longer to dry and also has a greater chance of checking/splitting, which might make finish turning harder to do.

Anyway if you are able to keep the moisture levels between in and outer layers small enough your wood should not split or if any stay small, slowing down the drying by sealing in severe cases where splitting is more likely, and then placing the wood in a thicker brown paper bag is in my experience the best way to go, just check especially the first couple of days/weeks for any checking/splitting or fungus upstart, check/splits are glued with CA immediately, if fungus starts, wipe off and use a new bag, place at a higher level.

Whatever you do, don't let it just sit, as that is a sure way to degrade your wood.

This is just based on my experience, which I know will differ from some others'.

Since you've already turned the wood, if I understand you correctly, I would not try to dry it at this point, especially considering that you believe it may be from a fruit tree (the wood from those suckers likes to crack) This is a bit of a departure from the standard advice, but it works well for me.

What I'd do is remove some of the center with a drill bit- while a Forsner might seem like the obvious choice, I've actually had better luck with spade bits in green wood. Since you're not going for a finished, flat bottom hole, there is not a lot of advantage in using the Forsner, and they tend to get packed full of wet chips very quickly when drilling the end grain. The spade bit has a lot of room to kick those chips out, and not much for them to catch on.

Then, I hollow with whatever hollowing tool is working best for me that day. I've found that there's no magic bullet with that task, it's just a matter of patience and care.

What I've found works well is to hollow the inside to a rough approximation of what you want the outside shape to be, and then finish turn the outside. Not only does this give the wood a little chance to dry and get some of it's almost inevitable warping out of the way, but it is just plain easier to cut the outside, and therefore easier to end up with a consistant wall thickness.

Then I sand (and sand, and sand, and sand, and sand.) The heat from the paper as it clogs drives a little moisture out, as does centrifical force. When you've got it how you want it, finish it quickly, and try to ensure that there are no gaps. Especially on the end grain, the finish will get sucked up quickly, so you'll want to have time to do 2-3 coats of whatever you like to use. A soak in oil never hurt anything either, especially if you can't put the top coat on right away.

Anyhow, good luck!