Question:
How can I prevent my timber from splitting open? We manufacture furniture in South Africa – Cape Town – then transport it to the country as soon as it is delivered. A month after that, our turned legs craps open. We use a glue called Balcotan 100 which is the best glue here in Cape Town. What can we do to prevent it from happening?
Submitted by Clinton
Answer:
Having spent time in Africa (I lived in Swaziland for three years), you have a humidity problem. The humidity at the Cape is high. If your products go up toward Jo-Burg or Pretoria, the humidity is lower, and the wood reacts. It’s hard to overcome wood movement. If it wants to move, it’s going to move. You’d have to deal with this by controlling the environment where you’re manufacturing the furniture. Can you lower the humidity in that environment to match the humidity where the product is ending up?
– George
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TWO COMMENTS: I just watched the video with Tom and his knives. George mentioned in that video that he would like to forge his own damascus blade. There is a great video on CarterCutlery.com on forging damascus knives. Note the handle making techniques as well. Secondly, I was watching the video on turning the large butternut bowl. One critical aspect is how to mount such a piece of wood on the head stock. What was used and how was it done?