Some Sabal Palm Questions....

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....

Welcome to TC Chairman Kaga, enjoy your time here as we are glad to have you. You can carve the Sable right away and it is better to do so. After a time it begins to rot and will become uncarvable. You can cut the bark off as you carve it where needed and most of the time it doesn't need to come off at all. Sable palm is very easy to carve so just Jump right on in and don't forget to take pictures as you go and share them here.
Looking forward to the first one.

Welcome, Chairman Kaga! Nice to see someone new with only (1) posting so far. I've noticed that with all of the damage from your hurricanes, a few Floridian TC'ers are already posting about how they are carving palms that were blown over. So, with all of this devastation, a little good comes as well. But I have to tell you - I'll take the occasional "seismic event" over hurricanes any day!

I only have experience with mexican fan palm, which does not rot (much). But if Sabal Palm is subject to rot as Benz says, I would definitely skip sealing the ends.

On 2004-09-16 17:50, Chairman Kaga wrote:
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?

I say save it, Kaga. Carve your 8 pieces, post pics, and ask lot of questions on TC as you go. By the time you're done with those, you'll be the artist of choice for your parents. You WILL be amazed at howw far you progress in that time, no matter how confident (or not) you are at this stage. Having the interest to carve tikis is just the beginning. This will evolve into "tiki addiction" as you go. Please keep us posted. Many of us here at TC are new carvers also. Good Luck!

A-A

Thanks for the encouragement......
Hmm seems I should get working soon then if the pieces are likely to rot...I assume sealing them once finished is imprtant though....

Yeah Hurry up a
nd get started so we can get you in shape to do your parents log. We can do it You can do it.
Adn don't forget to take picturess and more pictures and then take some more.