Post #115051 by Chairman Kaga on Thu, Sep 16, 2004 5:50 PM

Hi this is my first post as I am new to this forum and new to the world of carving Tikis.

Last week with the possibility of Hurricane Ivan heading towards our part of Florida my folks had a large Sabal Palm in their front yard cut down. I kept 8 pieces of the trunk each about 2-4' long. I plan on carving them up in a month or two but have some questions first due to my inexperience with this wood.

1. Do you recommend carving this type of wood completely dry or does it harden up to an unpleasant consistency?

2. Should I seal the ends of each piece? (Currently I can only store them outside out of direct sun and rain but here in Florida the humidity is a pain)

3. Would you recommend removing the bark or leaving it on while it dries (I actually like that look of some of the pieces I have seen on here where in the artist leaves the back side of the tiki raw/rough with the original tree look)??

4. My folks left the bottom 8' section of the tree standing and we sprayed pruning sealant on the cut and at some future date they are looking to get someone to carve it. Anybody know of any folks in the Central Florida area who may be interested?

Thanks in advance.....Once I get started I will be sure to post some pics....