help!

How long does it take for palm to dry enough to carve? Is there any secrets, because I'm so anxious to start my first carving I keep cutting into a wet log.

depends on what kind it is. Usually, just dive in and start carving

It's a mexican fan palm It's about 3' tall and 1' 1/2 in diameter. Everytime I start to carve the the wood starts to frey (for lack of a better term) is there a way I can prevent this or this expected?
So whats the best way to carve I'm using a chisle but I think i'm gonna go with some kind of power tool. Any suggestions?

Chucko Welcome to TC, I am sure you will find the answers you need here. I have never carved any palm so I am little help there. I too am new to carving and one thing that took me some time to notice is how dull tools can make the wood look bad. When I did my first tiki I just carved for all I was worth it took me the next two to see how a dull tool CAN cut the wood, but also RIPS the wood. Some of my tools where only dull on one side so only that side tore at the wood. I blamed the wood or my lack of knowledge with carving until I finally caught on what was going on. I am now starting to see that the chisels dull at a much faster rate then I would of guessed and I now am learning to sharpen my own tools. So your wood might be wet, or you tool might be dull and be ripping the wood more then cutting the wood. Just and idea to check.

OnoTiki

[ Edited by: OnoTiki on 2005-02-15 00:13 ]

Palms definately frey a lot. they are stringy and splintery. I've heard you can carve the mexi-fan palm right away, so go to it. Oh yes, Welcome to Tiki Central or TC as we call her around here. At the bottom right of the "creating Tiki" page you will see a row of numbers. Clicking on those will take you all the way back to the first "Creating Tiki" page written and all in between. Going thru those will give you enough info to carve your first tiki, I Promise.
Have fun

Thanks alot guys.

Chucko, welcome to TC. Check out the "Carving Post" (The locked post at the top of this forum). It's a pretty long read though, and will take you a while.

For some more condensed carving tips, try BK's "Tiki Carving Methodolgy" post:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6426&forum=7&59

Also make sure that your chisels are nice and sharp for fan palm (or any wood) carving. Check this post for some good tips on this:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=8722&forum=7&21

Fan palm stays wet for a long time. Even if it looks fully cured on the outside, it can still be pretty damp towards the middle.

It is very fibery and tends to shred, especially if your tools are a little dull. It may look pretty ugly when you're in the middle of carving, but should sand up nice after the exposed parts have dried up some. After you've done all of your chisel work, sand with 60 grit, then 100, then maybe 150 grit if you want for the finishing touch (may be overkill, though). Don't worry if a little mold forms, and it may smell a little funky too. Use some stain if you like. Varnish or polyurethane will seal it and take care of the smell when you're finished.

Good luck! Post lots of pics and ask questions as you go.

A-A

Chucko! Having a little experience under my belt with palmwoods, I usually start cutting the outer wood even if it is seemingly wet. as long as you have sharp tools, you will be fine. when I hit a wet peice, I cut some to expose the inner wood, and then let it dry out over the night and it seems it gets drier as the carving progresses. More importantly, the faster you cut into a wet peice, the more freying occurs thus making finishing a chore ie; sanding, burning all the hairy stuff off etc. Hope this helps. Welcome to the board. Mahalo

Grind it! With a dremel, grinder or some other rotary tool. When it "freys" you kinda want to burn them together - they'll hold better that way.

Carve mexican fan palm right away, if you want. It does take a while to cure so be prepared for some surface mold with bleach or mold cleaner or lysol or whatever.

Be sure to seal the bottom with many layers of polyuerathane or any other coating substance

Lay the log on it's side and off the ground (with small blocks) if you want to wait and have it cure for a while.

most of all...have fun. Post pics of the progress.

Thanks alot for all your guys help. I've been alittle busy I'll give these a try and post some pics.