Post #763925 by Bam Bam on Tue, May 17, 2016 10:23 PM

We have a gnarled Black Locust tree on the corner of the lot that had to be drastically trimmed last winter. Some of the smaller branches are just about dry enough to work, so I thought I'd try my hand at carving my first Tiki! I had a fist-sized chunk of wood set aside specifically for pipemaking, and it seemed logical to combine the two efforts.

I'd not gotten a chance to work with Black Locust before now. I was surprised to find that the thin layer of sapwood was quite fibrous, and reminded me of palm logs I've seen used for carving.

Once you get past the sapwood, the heartwood is a surprisingly intense shade of yellow - and very hard. The change in color helps to offset those parts left from the sapwood even more. Fun fact: the dark heartwood fluoresces a bright neon yellow under UV light.

Once the exterior was finished, I took a blowtorch to the surface and sanded it back to add more color and contrast. Strike me dead if this wood doesn't smell like popcorn when you toast it. Weird wood...

The last steps will involve boring out the bowl and filling any of the deep cracks that run all the way through with JB Weld. More to come!

[ Edited by: Bam Bam 2016-05-30 03:39 ]

[ Edited by: Bam Bam 2016-08-21 08:40 ]