# Prepping Cross Grain Blanks



## Charlie_W (Jun 10, 2019)

I had a handful of cross grain blanks and decided to prep them and see what I had. These are Ambrosia and Spalted Maple, Walnut, and Cherry. As they were rough cut on a Bandsaw, some weren’t square or straight(parallel) and would be a challenge to hold for drilling on the lathe so I decided to turn them round first. 
I cut the corners off with the bandsaw and then turned them round (between centers) with a skew. Then gave them a coat of thin CA and followed up with a quick sand with 80G . They are now ready to be drilled and cut to length when they find a kit they like. A couple had cracks which may or may not show when turned to size.


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## 1080Wayne (Jun 11, 2019)

Look good to me . Be liberal with CA on the cracks before turning .


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## FourKingsThingsLLC (Jun 11, 2019)

Charlie_W said:


> I had a handful of cross grain blanks and decided to prep them and see what I had. These are Ambrosia and Spalted Maple, Walnut, and Cherry. As they were rough cut on a Bandsaw, some weren’t square or straight(parallel) and would be a challenge to hold for drilling on the lathe so I decided to turn them round first.
> I cut the corners off with the bandsaw and then turned them round (between centers) with a skew. Then gave them a coat of thin CA and followed up with a quick sand with 80G . They are now ready to be drilled and cut to length when they find a kit they like. A couple had cracks which may or may not show when turned to size.
> 
> View attachment 220636


Well done, as always, Charlie. hope to see you soon.
P.S. I had a similar issue with old teak recently. I did the same - CA over all cracks until satisfied they wouldn't shatter while turning. End product worked out nicely.


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## Woodchipper (Jun 11, 2019)

Interesting as I never thought of cross grain blanks.


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## Charlie_W (Jun 11, 2019)

Woodchipper said:


> Interesting as I never thought of cross grain blanks.



John,  Cross or diagonal grain orientation can give a whole new look to many woods. Note that the blank is more susceptible to chipping and tear out while turning. That is why I first beveled the corners and used a skew to turn these.
Also, use care when drilling as grain can separate if there are too many chips in the hole as you withdraw the bit.


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## leehljp (Jun 11, 2019)

Charlie, I know you know this, but I would to pass it on to others, Most woods expand and contract with humidity swings (wood moves) across grain more than longitudinal. Cross grain and diagonal grain - to the uninformed will be more susceptible to cracks 4 to 6 months down the road than others.

A few of you might remember Chris "Chriselle" of Shizioka back when I was in Japan also. He had some glass display cases and lots of sunshine through windows. He had a few obvious cracks in the pens he had for sale. Of course, Shizuoka is basically on the coast and has humidity swings. Making sure the blanks are down to 10% or less is important. It is good to google online the specific wood you use in cross cuts to find out its expansion/contraction rate with humidity swings. Hoadley's book on "Understanding Wood" deals with this issue in more detail.

Cross Cuts and diagonal cuts need to be as dry as possible before gluing the tube in and finishing; don't wet sand them and put moisture back in.


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## Charlie_W (Jun 11, 2019)

leehljp said:


> Charlie, I know you know this, but I would to pass it on to others, Most woods expand and contract with humidity swings (wood moves) across grain more than longitudinal. Cross grain and diagonal grain - to the uninformed will be more susceptible to cracks 4 to 6 months down the road than others.
> 
> A few of you might remember Chris "Chriselle" of Shizioka back when I was in Japan also. He had some glass display cases and lots of sunshine through windows. He had a few obvious cracks in the pens he had for sale. Of course, Shizuoka is basically on the coast and has humidity swings. Making sure the blanks are down to 10% or less is important. It is good to google online the specific wood you use in cross cuts to find out its expansion/contraction rate with humidity swings. Hoadley's book on "Understanding Wood" deals with this issue in more detail.
> 
> Cross Cuts and diagonal cuts need to be as dry as possible before gluing the tube in and finishing; don't wet sand them and put moisture back in.



Hank,   Thanks for adding that info. I suppose stabilizing or at least flooding the blank inside and out with thin CA would be a wise option.


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## Parkdale Pens (Aug 12, 2021)

Charlie_W said:


> I had a handful of cross grain blanks and decided to prep them and see what I had. These are Ambrosia and Spalted Maple, Walnut, and Cherry. As they were rough cut on a Bandsaw, some weren’t square or straight(parallel) and would be a challenge to hold for drilling on the lathe so I decided to turn them round first.
> I cut the corners off with the bandsaw and then turned them round (between centers) with a skew. Then gave them a coat of thin CA and followed up with a quick sand with 80G . They are now ready to be drilled and cut to length when they find a kit they like. A couple had cracks which may or may not show when turned to size.
> 
> View attachment 220636


Hello Charlie, Denis Boarder here. I am new to pen turning but doing a lot of practice with the COVID lock downs in Australia, Thanks for the tips on prepping. I have seen some articles on stabilizing the wood before turning and someone suggested using a stabilizing solution?
*





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** ... *​*POLYCRYL FORTIFIER *

*I*t's somewhat expensive so I was wondering if there is a cheaper option. (CA Glue on the inside seems a good option) but does complete immersion make it 'foolproof approach'?

I am using Australian timber burl blanks such a Tiger Myrtle.

Thanks Denis


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## Charlie_W (Aug 12, 2021)

Denis,
Many folks use Catus Juice which is a stabilizing product which is used with a vacuum chamber for better penetration than simply dunking the blanks in a solution. These are baked to cure after the vacuum process. This is especially good to do with punky, troublesome woods. 
google Catcus Juice. Curtis Seabeck sells this along with the stabilizing chambers.


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