Had a go at some of that sycamore, what a pleasure to carve! Beautiful grain and not too hard. This is my second attempt at kuksa and I am concerned about splitting as it dries, anyone got some advice to better my chances?
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@bsargus that’s really interesting, I’ll have to look into that technique.
Hey there Jon! Good looking kuska. I have been dying to make one, myself. You know the drill with moisture content and all, but the way the old-timers did it was to take the cup or bowl and fill it with dry sawdust and bury it in sawdust in a bag, for a month or so. There is something about how it leeches out the moisture slowly and allows it to cure better with less checking and hopefully now cracking.
@wvirginia1982 I heard a similar idea from someone else, so I’m going to give it a try. Got it wrapped up in a paper bag with a bunch of wood chips, we’ll see how it goes. Thanks for the tip.
I have had luck with putting the spoon in a paper bag with the wood chips from carving. It will slow the drying down considerably.
@jonceck my grandpa Miller always used a black garbage bag, when drying turned bowls, and like @wvirginia1982 said, he packed the bowl then nestled it in a bed of its own dust, which he swept up as he turned. I do a similar thing and it seems to help. Good luck!
Beautiful! I had no idea sycamore was that pretty inside…