DNA woes...
DWFII
>Well, I have run into a problem with my first attempt at the alcohol drying process.
Let me set the stage...I rough turned some black locust that had been sitting in the log for about a year. Three blanks.
Then I rough turned one of then to a bowl with wall thicknesses of about one inch. The rim was pretty close to the pith and I cut the bolw to eliminate the pith. I thought I had cut off enough. There is nowhere on the bowl that the ends of the annular rings are less than several inches apart. Nevertheless, I had seen some tiny cracks on the side of the blank before I turned off the pith and roughed the bowl. At which point everything looked good.
So then, I soaked the bowl in DNA for roughly 72 hours, let it dry for one hour, and wrapped the bowl in a brown paper bag as per Dave's instructions. After one day of drying on the rack, the inside of the bowl was severely cracked and when I stripped off the paper bag, the outside was also cracked. I am so disappointed. I wish I had coated the end grain in Anchorseal and let the bowl sit another six months...DNA drying or no.
Now the question(s) is...what did I do wrong?
Is it the black locust? Was it doomed from the beginning either because if its nature or because of the tiny cracks radiating from the pith?
Would other types of wood respond better?
Did I do something wrong in the way I handled the bowl after I soaked it?
My shop is heated but not hot. Should I have stored it outside?
More paper? (I only used one layer) Would Anchorseal work as well as the paper bag?
I would appreciate opinions or advise. At this point, I am reluctant to entrust the two other bowls to the DNA drying process. Guess I'll have to look for some dry wood on Ebay. [sigh]
DW
In the high desert of central Oregon.
