This rock maple was harder than stone and twice as brittle. Cracked open in 3 places before I had it half turned. I roughed it then bagged it till it stopped loosing wt. When I unbagged, it was badly split in 3 places and allmost went to the firewood pile. I CA it and whittled it down on the lathe to what you see now. The cracks are unnoticable. Glad I saved the Stone Maple. 8 coats of poly. Herb