Question, poplar sticks and splitting

[blusteel7]

I have a group of poplar sticks hanging to dry. The bark was peeled after cutting and I notice a few of the sticks have splits 2 to 5 inches long at random running down the length. The splits appear to be about 1/16" deep and I wonder if I should discard them or if the splits will stop growing and not cause a structural problem. I thought about filling with epoxy after they dry but not many sticks are involved so not a huge loss to waste them.

[Buffalo Bif]

I have had no splits on a variety of species when i dry with the bark intact and the ends dipped in paint.

[R-OLDS]

Some people just fill the cracks with some sort of inlay, I have seen it done with very good results, I just posted a cane with inlay put in a bad spot in the shaft. If the cracks are VERY LARGE then it may not be a good move...

[Waitpinga Whittler]

I think everyone else has just about covered the topic, but for what its worth, I've rarely had a split in poplar. I do leave the bark on until I'm ready to carve it but this is not alway until the stick is completely dry. I also run whittling classes in which I use green 10" poplar lengths to teach carving faces (see attached). Collectively, we've done hundreds of these without a single crack. I think the secret is leaving the bark on until ready to carve and maybe giving it a few days/weeks to dry out.

[blusteel7]

Thanks for the replies and info. I hadn't done any carving until June so all my sticks were cut in the last couple of months. I think about 4 sticks were discarded because of cracks and the rest seemed to dry out without any splits. The ones that split had no cracks on the ends but they had splits down the length. I went ahead and finished the good sticks although I knew they hadn't aged because I simply wanted to get spirit and painting practice. I attempted about 18 faces over the last month but none as nice as the ones posted in the above post. I am attaching a couple of photos. Most are poplar with a few lighter ones from willow.

[robin's feather]

i've noticed the same problem with splitting with hazelwood shafts. since peeling is easier with green bark i asked someone with woodworking experience about the problem. the explanaiton of course is that the wood is drying faster on the outside than the inside. the solution is to wrap the shafts with plastic wrap and let the canes dry slower, thus minimizing the splits.

[sashadoc]

I love to use Poplar so when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted six branches that he trimmed off his tree I was thrilled. I expected crooked, knotty branches but they were straight. About 2.5 inches at the big end, tapering down to 2 inches. I peel them green and leave them about a foot longer than the desired finished size. I allow only a week of drying before I start carving. I have never had one split in the middle, but, they do "check" about 2-3 inches (mostly on the big end). I carve the stick, working in the middle at first and by the time I get to the proposed ends I lop off the excess on both ends. They don't check any further. Maybe I'm lucky?
I like Poplar because it carves easily, dries light weight, and is sturdy. The problem, for most, is the lack of grain but I do fairly heavy relief carving and the grain is all but eliminated anyway.
Keep carving and remember this: If everyone carved we'd put shrinks out of business.
Tim