A bunch of wooden things and questions on a cracked kuksa

[Just_a_Dutchman]

Various bits and pieces I made over 2010 when I started up with this hobby.

A dolphin I made for a colleague in december for a sort of secret santa thing. There are still some red markings on it, but since it was soaked into the wood I couldn't get rid of it. Didn't want to paint it either.

Here's my new year's kuksa. It's my first real attempt and took about 13 hours. The wood I used is chestnut.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there's a crack in it. I sealed it on the other side with some regular glue hoping it would at least slow down further cracking.

What can/should I do to close up the crack and prevent cracks like these in the future? I left it to dry in an open plastic bag, but I did drink coffee from it a few times just 3 days after finishing it.

Oh, and I know that the sides are pretty thick. I already thinned the side I drink from a bit to make it work better.

Any advice would be welcome!

Gerard

 

[robin wood]

To avoid splits carve much thinner. It's not easy to tell exactly from a photo but I would guess you could easily loose 1/2-3/4 of the wood in most of your items and they would be much improved for it. You have done most of the hard work.

 

[paul atkin]

A nice first attempt Gerard. The next time you carve one cleave your timber a good half inch either side of the centre; leaving an inch plank with the pith in as waste. A log will always crack radially from the centre and your work will also crack if your too close to the centre pith. By avoiding it by a good half inch and drying slowly ( i normally dry in a pile of wet shavings) it will probably warp but shouldnt crack. Hope this helps Paul

 

[Just_a_Dutchman]

Thanks for the fast response. The thickness of the rim is somewhere between a quarter of an inch and about half an inch, so there's plenty of room for thinning. Going to try again with a fresh chunk.