Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
palm?
bob strand
>A snowbird friend is down in Gila Bend, AZ(I think) and said he came across an old log that he thought was palm and asked me if it was any good for turning. Told him I didn't know but did know just the place to find out if it was good for turning. Could any of you help me out on this?
Thanks,
Bob
Re: palm?
YoYoSpin
>Black and Red Palm are the two varieties I'm familiar with, and believe both to be pretty rare. Here's a yoyo made from Black Palm...I like this wood a lot�.turns easy and polishes up nicely.
best regards,
Ed D.
Re: palm?
William R. Duffield on the Cohansey
>Gila Bend is in Arizona, and there is a palm species, Washingtonia filifera, also known as Peticoat Palm, that grows there. There are also some other monocots, Yucca species, including the Joshua Tree, which are in the lily family, that grow there. A log of one of these might be confused with a palm tree log.
Rumor has it that all of these are about as easy tor turn as a broom that has been left out in a muddy field and then left to dry in the sun :^)
Re: palm?
Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
>According to my limited study of the subject, Black Palm is the only commercially viable Palm Wood. It is native to SE Asia, and had been used for the last century especially for walking canes in Europe.
I have used it in segmented bowls and for Bottle stoppers, and it is "Interesting" to Turn.
I don't know about Red Palm - but if YoYo Spin says it is turnable, it is.
Mark
Red Palm...
YoYoSpin
>Thanks...here's an old photo of black (top) and red (bottom) Palm pens...these two woods turn about the same, buy the red stuff is much harder to find.
best regards,
Ed D.
Re: Red Palm...
RevDoug
>Yo-Yo,
Is the palm that you are using stabilized? My experience (though only with coconut) is that it is a bit stringy. I was able to get a fairly nice pen out of it, but must admit that I spent way too much time working on the sanding stage. I ended up resorting to CA just to stabilize enough to finish sanding. I do love the look though!
Re: palm?
Robert Simmons, Atlanta
>These are some small bowls that I turned from Black Palm. It's splintery (the dark bits) as well as soft in the lighter areas. Challenging is a good description. The palm that I picked up in Florida a couple of years ago was like turning rope.
Robert
Re: Red Palm...
YoYoSpin
>Yes, the two blanks for these pens were stabilized.
best regards,
Ed D.
Re: palm?
bob strand
>Thanks all for the observations on palm. Seems desert palm isn't in demand so my friend in AZ will have to come back to northeast Montana and be satisfied with ash, cottonwood and Russian Olive.