Post #429543 by BUFFBAD on Mon, Jan 19, 2009 3:27 PM

Coconut palm blanks can be a real challenge to work with. I do like working with fresh palm because is so much easier to cut and the outer wood is usually dry. I had a problem with being too hasty to finish a Tiki for a neighbor ( See Buffbad-tiki redo). My current two Tiki projects have the same problem of a wet core wood when the ends look dry. Now I routinely drill a hole, (with a 1/2 inch - 16 inch long hole cutting bit) in both ends of the project palm blanks to facilitate drying. I have tried to stuff cloth into the hole to wick out the dampness, used a propane torch, hot poker heated on grill, hooked up an aquarium air pump to blow air into the hole and just waited for many months for the wood to dry gradually. I even poured a cup or two of Thompsons Waterproof Sealer into a fresh cut palm blank, ahhh DO NOT DO THIS >> it turned the wood to oily mushy wood. Bye Bye blank palm wood. So palm wood is a problem to work with but most times it is worth it. My usuall routine is to carve the Tike, drill the holes and then wait for the project to dry and then stain and finish with polyurathane.

[ Edited by: BUFFBAD 2009-01-30 10:53 ]