My first

Last summer my neighbor dropped his palm. I told the crew if they'd cut it into 6' lengths I'd save them the trip to the landfill. I cut one of the pieces into 16" sections and I finally gathered the nerve to carve my first table for our fire pit area...

Nice job.
We all start out just like that.
The more you do, the better they get.
Carve deeper.

Sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy. Chop away!

Since I'm a newb...How do you skin them?? Tell me what works best for you, thanks!

Nice first tiki! As the other guys said, carve deeper ... at least get under the bark layers to the much more solid 'woody' area.

as for debarking, there are a few methods:

Jeff likes to filet them with his chainsaw ....

Buzzy taught us all how to use the Ryobi planer to clean them up ....

My preferred method is the good old fashioned drawknife .... not as noisy as the other methods but a lot more work...

....... and if all else fails! ..... let loose the cat! It will get cleaned up eventually!

Good luck with your carving!

Have a Great Day!

I have to say that I think having some of the bark still on provides a very interesting textural contrast. With some deeper carving it would really look great.

Tried a flap disc on the 'ole grinder...what a mess! I think I'm still coughing out puffs of string. Time to bust out the chainsaw and give it a try

[ Edited by: McTiki 2013-05-08 17:10 ]

[ Edited by: McTiki 2013-05-08 17:10 ]

[ Edited by: McTiki 2013-05-08 17:11 ]

Excellent replies! Draw knife and raged machette for my vote!

And of course, carve deeper!

Nice firsty !

McTiki

Welcome Kahiapo.
In answer to your question, How do you skin a Mexican Fan Palm?
You might want to watch one of Buzzy's videos "Preparing Your Log."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ZuqP7Ry2s
You'll find a lot of good information & comic relief as well. :wink: