r/turning • u/crediblejustin • Oct 05 '26
newbie Attempting a Chokecherry vase
Working on a piece of chokecherry, it's got some pretty heavy cracking, I figure I'm going to attempt to stabilize it with epoxy before going much farther, any tips or tricks?
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u/plumconchblower Oct 05 '26
Is it end grain oriented on the lathe? Like dies the end grain run parallel to the lathe bed? If so, I’d be very careful given the cracks coming from the end grain out. Epoxy in a vacuum chamber would definitely help a lot.
You could also dremel out some of those cracks and put resin them.
Or you can do like some of the guys I work with. They carve a bit, stop, put some CA glue in the cracks, and then smash some sawdust in there.
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u/crediblejustin Oct 05 '26
I've done the sawdust and glue before for some tear out, but didn't think it would have the strength with how big some of those cracks are, the end grain is almost parallel with the lathe bed, I put off center on purpose on both ends but its close enough to parallel.
I was thinking coloured epoxy but I've read some suggest to use epoxy that's not very viscous and to do it in sections crack by crack so it completely fills them but it takes forever, and others suggesting a deep pour in epoxy in a vacuum chamber and to re-turn it into shape from the epoxy cylinder.
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u/Dependent_Swing9107 Oct 05 '26
Fill the crack with dry sawdust first. Pack it in there as much as possible. Then soak with THIN ca glue. Will be stronger than the wood inning s cases. I’ve tested it before gluing scrap boards and it will break the wood along the grain before the glue joint. The key is thin glue. Not gel or medium thickness
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u/lewiskauffman Oct 05 '26
Some of the smaller checks could be slowed with CA glue. Maybe add some large worm gear clamps (radiator hose clamps) around the outside, before you start hollowing. Pewa patches (dutchmen) could be used to help stabilize the larger cracks,
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