checks, splits, cracks and warps

[ljmathias]

I know, sounds like a song from the old, "this sure don't look like Kansas, Toto" movie...   Thought it might be fun to see what pictures you all have of wood that moves around during drying.  I've seen some doozies, and I'll have to take the camera out to get pics of some of the pine and sweet gum "artistic" pieces I've been "given" by Mother Nature- she certainly has a way with wood!   ???

Anyway, here's a hickory plank I sawed out a year or so ago- had it unstickered, air drying standing up.  I don't think stickering would have stopped this.  Now if I can just figure out something neat to do with it. ???

This shows the end with just a little checking- not too bad, and I could have worked around this except for what happened in the next picture...








And just for scale, I put my size 9 and 1/2 tennis shoe in the split...



Ok, anyone else want to share some of their "best" splits and checks?  Love to see more, just to learn how badly wood can misbehave.  Thanks all, and have a great Christmas holiday!

Lj

[tyb525]

I don't like to take pictures of the mistake pieces : :D

I've seen boards warp so that the ends were 2 feet higher than the middle, I've seen boards twist so that the ends were 90 degrees to each other. Note the worst boards weren't in a stack ;)

[Den Socling]

 





Did you ever see some serious honeycomb? This is a piece of Red Beech from New Zealand. And this piece is not unusual.

[SwampDonkey]

I've got some cherry with surface checks. A condition I've learned is a result of rough lumber having ridges that dry faster and carry into the piece and pretty much ruin it for fine work.  : This was only in 6 x 6 cants for the most part. A good lot of it will only be good for tool handles like chisels and gouges. Not much for leg work and I had 8 of these cants for years air drying. Some of the issue was a result of boxed heart. Some checks opened up an inch wide near the pith and not all pith was centred with shims when sawed. It's amazing how much nice firewood I got out of that mess. :D

[Ianab]

I sawed up a relatively small Bluegum Eucalyptus a few years back.

This is how most of it dried....



I was able to salvage quite a bit of it though, and build a few things. What stayed straight and in one piece was great wood, very hard and strong, but a lot of time cutting around checks and a lot of planer shavings getting things flat again.



Ian

[ljmathias]

Wow, beautiful grain and finish on that little cabinet- got to build one myself although I'll need most of it open so the grandkids can get into everything stored there- better to let them see what they're getting rather than hide it behind doors and make it more interesting.   

I'm going to use some of the cedar I've already got cut and ready to plane- got some blemishes and in-grown bark but heck, it's not going to be structural anyway.

Lj

[SwampDonkey]

Here's one of those surface checks that appeared over night on this piece. From the thumb, out to the end.