The day an 8 foot slab of walnut split on me in 15 minutes

Had this beautiful 8/4 walnut board I'd been saving for a customer's dining table. I jointed it flat, ran it through the planer, and started cutting dovetails for a drawer front. Then I heard this sound like a gunshot. A crack ran right down the middle of the board, totally ruined it. Turns out I didn't let it acclimate long enough in my shop (it was only there 2 days after delivery). Has anyone else had a nice board suddenly fail on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathanrobinson7h ago

Oh man, that gunshot sound is the worst. I had a 12/4 piece of cherry do the same thing once, split right down the middle while I was taking a coffee break. It was a 6 foot board I'd been saving for a headboard, and it just gave up after a week in my shop. Guess the wood gods wanted me to learn patience the hard way.

finleythomas6h ago

@nathanrobinson that's rough, 12/4 cherry splitting after a week makes my walnut board sound lucky. It's like wood just decides when it's done with you, no matter how much you babied it.