#@*^$&% cracks!

[Sheri]

Had a customer call me last night. She had bought a coon and a fox from me at a demo a few weeks ago. Said her carvings are splitting in half. Probably a big exaggeration but I haven't seen the damage as of yet. I usually don't have a big problem with large cracks so I suspect she may have had them in the full sun. Another cs carver had told me that if you put a cracked carving in antifreeze that it would close the crack up. Said he watches it and squeezes a little glue in the cracks when it starts to close up. Swears it works. Has anyone ever tried this or is it complete bs?

Sheri

[aulddiy]

No ,but I'd like to know if it works.

[xsailer]

I've not heard of that either but if you think about it, woods swells when wet and I suppose if it does and the crack isn't too wide open and if you had glue in there and you could make it dry with the glue in place it might work. I can't imagine glue sticking to wood with anti-freeze in it though. Don't really know. I would also think the piece should be finished on the outside and just wet the area locally at the crack. Not sure which glue I'd use, yellow glue waterproof or not. I would guess non-waterproof so it soak into the wood pores.

Would be interested to see if works also.

[Sawdustchaz]

Sheri, I had a handcarver tell me once to soak all of my logs in a 55 gallon drum of antifreeze before carving them and they would never crack.... haven't done that. But I have learned to put kerf cuts down the back of my carvings which has helped tremendously on the cracking, by keeping the cracks on the back. I didn't use kerf cuts when I first started even though I knew about them, months of repairs later I have learned my lesson. So, my suggestion would be to use kerf cuts and explain them to your customer as they have been explained here. Now, to repair the cracks: I always keep my real small scraps from my carvings in a bin to use for repairs. When a carving has cracked more than 1/4" wide, I insert a "wedge" and glue then let the glue dry. After the glue is dry, I snap off the rest of the wedge, reshape, stain, paint, etc.... If it's a hairline crack, I just tell them what kind of paint (or stain) I used and where they can buy it. Then the customer can touch it up themselves. I've not had any problems with these methods so far, hope this helps. Good luck at your show! You'll do fine!

[Sheri]

Thanks for the advice Chaz. I will have to try the wedges on bigger cracks.
I usually do put kerf cuts in the back. For some dumb reason I didn't with these........ brain fart I guess. Could kick myself now.
This carver (can't remember his name) had told me to put the carving in a couple of inches of antifreeze and watch it. When the crack starts to close he would squeeze gorilla glue into it and then do whatever touchup on the paint. Gorilla glue will bond to wood with moisture in it whereas alot of other wood glues do not. May try it on an old carving I don't like to see if it works. Will let you guys know how it turns out.

Sheri

[twoclones]

Originally Posted by Sawdustchaz

Sheri, I had a handcarver tell me once to soak all of my logs in a 55 gallon drum of antifreeze before carving them and they would never crack....

A primary ingredient in anti-freeze is ethylene glycol. PEG {polyethylene glycol} is a close relative to ethylene glycol and is often used as a wood stabilizer. But the cost of soaking either logs or carvings in anti-freeze and meeting environmental requirements at the same time would add significantly to your expenses and possibly create the $300 per foot bear

[Sheri]

I could handle $300 per foot but I'm thinking I wouldn't sell much. lol
I wouldn't be real keen about carving on something that had been soaked in antifreeze. But as far as setting a smaller carving it in an inch or so of antifreeze to close up a large crack....well i am kind of curious as to whether it would work.

Thanks,
Sheri

[Claude]

Sheri:
Here's some info about the PEG
http://owic.oregonstate.edu/pubs/peg.pdf

Claude

[Mudbone]

Interesting post! Claude, I read your link (well part of it) and it said Polyethylene Glycol although is closley related to common antifreeze, but, it is different as it has its own unique properties not possesed by antifreeze and cannot be succesfully substituted. Some hobbyist's have learned the hard way.
Well I looked up some prices and PEG is very expensive. I sure wish antifreeze would work, I was getting all happy when I first started reading this.
If anyone tries the antifreeze, Please post your results!
Thanks, Tom.

[Sheri]

Claude thank you for the link. Very interesting article. Have only glanced through it so far but it looks like it has alot of info.
Tom, I'm definitely gonna have to try the antifreeze in the near future just to see what it does.