Edit: Apologies for the crap photography Will attempt to take a better one some time soon

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"Hugh Mann eh? Now theres a name I can trust!"
Me Loves Futurama

it's rather interesting

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<salshep> but then I have a thing for wood

I like the constrast between the heartwood and the sap wood. The cracking is unfortunate. The only thing to address it is time. Slow drying. There are commercial products that slow the drying down. I've also read that plain ole latex paint works. That, and six months in a paper bag.

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"War needs but one foe, not two, and those who have not swords can still die upon them" -- JRR Tolkien

such beautiful wood; it looks like chocolate swirling

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"No time for the old in and out; I've just come to read your meter"

Cheers folks

Problem was I turned too thick. This piece didn't so much get planned this way as become this way when other plans turned out wrong, so I never turned it to compensate for drying. The wood was so wet that this was likely regardless of what I did, so I decided i'd appreciate it for what it was, a learning experience and a technical excersise

Next time I will turn from drier wood, or dry it more carefully, in either case, lessons learned.

Thanks for the replies, the real shame of it is that I think the wood is beautiful, and I was happy with the piece, I went to bed and woke up the next morning to find a great bleeding crack down the side. I was not amused But hey, as I said, it was firewood if i did nothing, and if needs be, its still firewood now.

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"Hugh Mann eh? Now theres a name I can trust!"
Me Loves Futurama

Yeah... wet wood is fun. I started turning a blank today that had been sitting by the radiator for two months now and the dust that was flying off it was damp. And then the chuck decided to die and the blank went flying across the shop and almost hit my boss. >.<

Hehe, aim better next time, you might aquire a payrise by default

Wet wood is indeed fun, it seems to turn so much easier. Only issues are the finish and the cracks, both of which I guess i could improve upon by using the sneaky plans ~wdh61 detailed

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"Hugh Mann eh? Now theres a name I can trust!"
Me Loves Futurama

A payraise, yes.. *rubs hands* but really, I would want to take out the other boss for that one. because then the one that I almost hit would get promoted and the easier job would be open for the taking... Speaking of sneaky plans

I think I might try turning a bowl as thin as I can, soak it and try warping it the way guitar makers bend the sides of acoustic guitars.

Im remaking this piece soon, I have a markedly similar piece of wood (perhaps even from the same tree) and I am going to turn it ++ thin and then dry it somewhere cleverer than the front room
I Hope it will turn out better than this one did, updates to be posted.

Good luck with your bowl, I look forward to seeing the work of a fellow wood turner

Its a shame with wet wood because it is a joy to turn, and I'd hate to find I cant make anything permanant out of it. Hopefully you'll have more luck

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"Hugh Mann eh? Now theres a name I can trust!"
Me Loves Futurama