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Along with a load of roughcut 4x8s I got a few 4″-6″ dia Mexican walnut branches. After airdrying in the high desert for three years, even the 4x8s read 8% humidity. I cut the branches into “oysters” (1/8″ endgrain slices) and glued the slices to 1/8″ luan ply backing strips with Titebond II. After further drying for three months I made a series of veneered jewelry boxes incorporating the oysters, finishing some with several coats of Watco and some with Qualosole shellac. Three months later they had all developed radial cracks and splits. The (shopcut 1/8″) veneers- cocobolo, bocote, and granadillo- were fine, just the endgrain cracked. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I did wrong? Thanks.
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To get around this problem --- slice the branches at an angle -- meaning rather than 90 degrees to the grain slice them off at a 60 degree angle. There's a term for this in cooking when you're slicing a carrot or celery stalk in cooking, but I'm not up on my cooking lingo.
Jeff
http://www.homesteadfinishingprod.com
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