I've thought about it and I've decided to keep the blank that I'm working on at present and to use a lot of CA glue to close it. Here's a couple of photos:
I've taken the blank with the chuck still attached off the lathe and set it upright on my work bench. I've outlined the crack with a white pencil so you can see it. It's right next to the exterior surface but fortunately it's a hairline crack so I'm going to flood it with CA glue and let that dry well before turning.
The location of the crack is troublesome as it could break again while I'm turning it. I've decided to hollow out the blank with a large Forstner bit instead. I can achieve the desired volume and leave the walls of the urn thicker than I had originally planned to do. I hope this extra wood thickness in the wall will help to support the mend and keep the crack from re-occurring.
I've figured out the inside dimension I'll need to hold a cup of ashes and I can use either my 1" drill bit or 1 1/2" bit to hollow out the blank. The only dimension that would change between these to different diameters is the depth and that would not be difficult to vary. I'll just need to drill a little deeper into the wood.
I've also glued in a 1/2" diameter dowel into the blank to support the Forstner bit as it's drilling into the wood. I'm going to let this whole thing dry 24 hours and then come back tomorrow and hollow it out. The worst that could happen is the blank completely breaking but I still have that other large piece of walnut from last week when I split the log into two pieces.
Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.
VW
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