In the beginning of December '13 I made this cup, and after I managed to dry it for a week or so I thought: "I guess it will not crack, I can take it into use now", and after sealing it with the milk treatment that is what I did. For a month and a half it seemed to hold up well. Untill I filled it up with coffee this morning, and disaster struck! A large crack opened up, and I cringed at seeing my work become useless within three seconds.
I guess something like this was needed to teach me a few lessons.
- Kuksas need to be slowly dried before being taken into use. No exceptions.
- Thinner walls are better. (This is something I have been working on, for aesthetic reasons, drinking comfort and now also cracking risk.)
- Remove a lot of the inner growth rings to relieve the wood of more stress. (In this cup I removed the pith, but that was about it. A decision I made to make a cup with a large volume from the wood I had available.)
While it is no fun to see your own work fail, it is a great way to see what works and what does not. On to progression and better Kuksas now!
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