[mark yundt]

Hi Doris,
I'm sorry to hear about your problem. It seems that this is part of the risk with using this type of wood.
I know many posts have dealt with cracking,,moisture content,,the time needed for something to dry and all the rules of thumb etc. and none of that makes you feel any better when you see a carving start to crack.
In addition to the stress of the clamp being a possible source,,but in properly dried wood it shouldn't ,the screws may have an impact as well. Now I don't know where on your carving these cracks are starting to appear. They could be most anywhere. But even in perfectly dry wood,,not boring a pilot hole prior to driving in a screw,,can create stresses that can cause wood to crack. Usually it happens immediately,,but ,, with the constant pressure of a screw acting as a wedge in the wood,,will and can with the constant pressure,,cause cracks to appear later. The wood just starts to fail under the constant pressure. And if it's fairly "green" ,,or not completely dry,,this can happen. It's just a thought.
Now if the cracks are happening all over the carving,,especially after you have exposed inner wood to the outside air,,as it dries the cracks will start to appear as well.
I have had wood that feels dry to the touch,,but the moisture content is still higher than what I'm comfortable with.Especially when you get into the wood as opposed to just the surface. The surface WILL feel dry,,but it has effectively locked in the moisture deeper inside. And water doesn't move all that quickly through a block of wood. That's why you repeatedly see carvers faced with the dilemma of their carving beginning to crack when they are almost done,,or it's finished and now cracks are starting to appear.
That's why I can never take the chance of using found wood,,air dried wood,,or wood without knowing it was properly dried. This stuff moves ,,expands and contracts enough as it is without adding to the complications.

[Ron T]

Hi Doris,

Sorry to hear about the crack. I'm dealing with my own crack problem on a diamond willow.

Congratulations on you big 1000th post, but I see you are at 1004 and already on your way to 2000.

[doris]

mark, thank you for your words...yes, i feeled bad when i saw the first crack, and realised it is a crack and not a too deep stopcut... the cracks so far oocur under his left wing, and if not too many more occur, i will be able to carve them away, they seem still be completely in wastewood...
the screws, yes, i had done bore holes first, and then put the screw in. i cannot drive srew in wood without putting hole first, have not the strength for that. so, i always need make a hole which is big enough for the screw to go in....
i knew i was taking risks with this sort of wood, but it is something emotional envolved, so it is worth it. and, it does carve wonderfully. i was surprised... now, i have that carving put to rest, but dont worry, i have worked today the design of a new carving, in my trusty linden ;-), which i want try to bring together several things... it has to do with the grace of lines we discussed, and it has to do with the folds problems which were discussed on other threads, and... ah... i tell later more, just to let you know, despite i was down for a moment when i saw crack, i am now flying for new idea... thanks a lot for caring words. they means a lot to me...

[doris]

oh ron, these cracks are heart breakng, are they not ? sorry you experience that too. thanks for the congrats, i just found it so neat :-)