Replies

1. 
   dlaporte | Sep 30, 2006 01:10am | #1

   A repair can be made by filling the crack with a two-part epoxy mixed with a stain to closely match the piece's color.  

2. 
   JohnWW | Oct 01, 2006 02:06am | #2

   Large blocks of wood will always crack because the wood shrinks unevenly as it dries out and the stress is relieved by the cracking.  Once the wood dries out completely, which will happen during the driest time of the year where you live, the cracks will stop getting larger, and will actually close up some during damper weather, only to open up again the next time the weather gets drier. 

   The chances are that the worst of the cracking has already occurred and that the sculpture will not actually break.  Keeping the sculpture away from heat sources like direct sun or heating vents will prevent the wood from becoming extremely dry and forming larger cracks than might have occurred otherwise.

   The only way to prevent the cracking is to soak the wood for several weeks in a chemical solution commonly known as PEG, but the PEG won't close up the cracks that have already formed.  PEG is used by woodturners and sculptors to prevent the problems you are having with your piece. 

   Filling the cracks won't make the piece any stronger or prevent the cracks from spreading, and the filling will often come loose as the wood expands and contracts with the weather.

   Putting a finish on the wood will sometimes moderate the wood movement slightly but no finish will prevent the cracks from forming and spreading until the stress from shrinking is relieved.

   My advice is to keep the piece away from conditions that would dry it out excessively and just accept the cracks as part of what large wood sculptures do.

   John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine