High Fiber Hairball

I have seen some great carvings here on TC by some Unreal carvers. Pretty much causing me to go blind from gazing at the screen to long. I have never posted and I might be considered a conscientious objector,so I guess I am breaking my vow of silence and walking out of the DMZ. I have run into a problem that has been touched on before about the hairy fiber palms, but I have not seen a post to the degree of what I have encountered. Unfortunately it seems this palm was hopped up on Metamucil. So when I saw the bristle patches of fiber I thought I will just burn them off. But when I carved below the surface it was just straw, no meat and unable to hold the integrity of the design. I know to some degree this is the nature and characteristics of palm, but was wondering if any of the carving Guru's on TC ever have run into this problem. If so do you have any suggestions on how I might fix the problem area? I think it is to late for Hair Club for Men, but I am open for any other suggestions

Mahalo,
Keylo

Well I'm no expert but it looks like that palm is just really old and rotted out. I carved one like that once and I had the same problem, it turned out really rough and full of splinters...pretty much sucked. See what you can do about getting some fresh logs...way easier to carve and much less of a headache. In Daytona you should have no problem finding some...happy carving!

I agree with Nixxon and have encountered the same condition on some palm that was given to me. It was like carving shredded wheat or pumpkin but I really liked the way it turned out. Just do what you can with it and move on.

Florida has a wide variety of palms that people try to carve - since you are listed as being in Daytona I will assume you have acquired a piece of Sabal/Cabbage Palm?? In your image it appears that you are carving in the Bark. The bark is outside 1" or 2" of the log, it is very fiberous and will flake off as you try and do detail. The simple solution is to remove the bark and carve in the wood. Yes, its a pain in the ass! The "wood" is ussually more dense and much lighter in color. If there is no difference in the wood and the bark I suggest finding another log.

I have experience with similar issues - How did I fix it? I didn't - toss the log and start on another one! The illusion of carving in palm is that it is soft and easy to work. NOT!! I enjoy carving in hardwoods because I don't have to deal with all the problems that palm presents - splinters, rot, inconsistant hardness, limited ability to detail and did I mention SPLINTERS! Carving palm is fun and you can get some great rewards - but it is not my first choice for learning how to carve.

Good luck

^ yeah, I was going to say the same thing. ^

if that ain't bark, that sucker is as rotton as rotton can be!

I guess the verdict is out, stay away from old palms abusing Metamucil. Funny
how the rest of the log is hard but that one area is bad. The only problem is I don't
have another log that size to replace that one with. I think the fault of the rot is
the way it cured. Any suggestions on curing the logs and time? I have heard some peeps
carving wet and others say you can't.

I agree with Aloha Station, on palm being a pain in the rear bumper, not to mention trying
to beat the termites to it and receiving Chinese torture getting those nice little splinters
under your fingernail.

Thanks for the info Nixxon, Cy, Aloha Station, PJC.

[ Edited by: Keylo 2011-10-19 12:54 ]

Welcome to Tiki Central carving threads!

Now shave that bitch's bark to the wood.

Then your ready to carve.

Mahalo

McTiki

You know what they say about guys with hairy palms :D

Now THAT there is pretty funny Mike!!!

Maybe you can strip it down to a piece large enough to do some pendants. :)

Thanks for the welcome McTiki. Most of the bark wound up
in my left nostril while I was skinning it, so I know I was
down to the wood. Just a rotten cus.

Mad Dog, thanks for the mad welcome in your k-9 way.

Vampiress, I like your idea, but I decided to fire the boy up.
I'll let you know if walks out alive from the critical burn unit

If it is rotten just work around it. If you keep it dry it should be fine. Tikis look cool with a litttle funkiness to them. Drying logs is easy - just keep them dry and off the ground.

Thanks A.S., Can you give me some general drying times on curing palm logs?
By the way your stuff is crazy unreal. the expressions and body language of
your tikis have a language all there own and speak for themselves.

Mahalo,
Keylo