Post #15184 by tikifille on Sun, Dec 1, 2002 7:45 PM

I've carved a few tikis, some with great success and others with unforseeable long term failure. Mexican Fan Palms (your generic palm tree) work great. My results with King Palms (and I consulted H.R.H. Leroy on this--very forthcoming with carving info.) were like Shrinky Dink tikis over time. They had dried for months, but many months insufficient. Not only did they wrinkle and contort their own designs, but they started losing surface pieces. It was really sad to watch my efforts compost before my eyes. I'd hit up a few others before you spend too much time and effort on these. Best of luck. Possibly longer drying time might make a big difference. Leroy told me that patience was the true virtue of a tiki carver.