Post #719607 by TheBigT on Sun, Jun 8, 2014 11:22 AM

Hi All! Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted any carvings! I guess real life must have intervened or something. Although I started a few things since then, I haven't actually finished a thing. Allow me to introduce my first palm tiki (mostly finished)! This is a design by the great Milan Guanko.

I heard chain saws rip roaring one afternoon a few weeks ago and found my neighbor cutting down a palm tree in his back yard to make way for a new deck. The crew saved me a three foot piece of it. Have no idea what kind of palm this is. It's super stringy though and freakin heavy! I was barely able to lift it into the back of my truck.

I was planning to cut on it a little more, but it's now starting to get moldy and rotten. And as it dries, the fiber is coming apart like straw. I don't know if it's particular to this palm variety, or the gulf coast humidity or what. Plus, it got swamped at the base when my garage filled with water during one of our Houston summer soakers last week (4" of rain in one day, 9" over two days). I've been having to put mineral spirits on it to kill the fuzzy mold that's growing.

If it dries successfully and doesn't rot to pieces, I'll stain it and call it done.

This is the skin and end grain. Anyone have any ideas what kind of palm this is?