Best way to dry out a Tiki?

Need some help. What is the best/fastest way to dry out a tiki? The wood is very thick palm wood. Any info would be greatly appreciated. :)

On 2004-02-27 05:07, Atomicchick wrote:
fastest way to dry out a tiki?

Lots of coffee, black.

ha.

seriously, I really don't know about fast... I'd think drying is something you'd want to do slowly to prevent cracking. I remember seeing a documentary about an old ship from Norway (?I think?) that was raised from the sea. They dried it over something like 5 or 10 years, while misting it with water to control the drying process.

that's all I can add.

-Z

Just enjoy it, look at it. Don't try to dry it out too fast or it may crack or turn to Mush depending what type of Palm wood it is.
It would be better to SLOW down the drying time .
Hope this helps

Hey Atomicchick, What is the hurry? Are you on a time schedule where you gotta move it or something? Just wondered. I would have thought that So. Cal would be a climate that would allow it to dry at a good pace. Is it a finished carving or a newly cut log?

my first palm carving took about six months to dry out and it stunk like crazy from the water in it , so i kept it out side ,now that its dry,no more smell and it weighs 75%less

[ Edited by: chisel slinger on 2004-02-27 09:00 ]

Just wondering because I thought it was close to being dry so we would lift it (the thing is huge and heavy!). Anyways, we just had a record eight inches of rain in one week, two inches yesterday, so I'm afraid we'll never get this baby up. :(

Just keep it out of the rain! The dry air in Southern CA. will do the rest. I have a bunch of thick Palms drying in a garage, they were chopped down about 4-5 months ago, I chopped into the thinnest, still wet as a sponge, takes a long time I guess. At least they aren't splitting much at all and have lost a TON of wieght, I'm hoping to turn one into a Moai before the Hukilau.

Do you think it makes a difference in drying time if the log is laying down or in an upright position? The only reason I wondered is b/c I have a small palm log drying in my outdoor closet and the bottom of the log (the base while it was still alive) is much heavier than the top even though it is of a smaller diameter. I thought maybe all the water was at the base. Dunno.

Laying down is your best bet, and turn the log every few days. Makes for even drying (water will shift in a log like anything else). Also, make sure your log is up on splints to keep it off the ground and discourage insects and fungus.

On 2004-02-27 05:07, Atomicchick wrote:
Need some help. What is the best/fastest way to dry out a tiki?

Take away the mixers the top shelf sipping rum?