Black Palm

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
I went to Honolulu earlier this week to have Cataract surgery. Wow ! I can see again..... now if I can learn to measure I'll have it made. :rolleyes:

Anyway a buddy had this and gave it to me Black palm wood. Comes from the Black Palm tree (duh) but this stuff it almost as hard as Santos. Tough stuff. Trying to figure what to do with it, I can tell you this, the dust from the cut comes off like fine fiber and my guess this stuff will iritate your skin like nettle. It also looks like if you turn it you need to be extra careful for tearout.

Thought I would share since it is just such a random piece of wood.
Black Palm (1).jpg
Black Palm (2).jpg
 

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
Wow! Interesting piece of wood. Even the end grain looks good. Please post the finished product when you decide what to make w/ it.
 

SabertoothBunny

SabertoothBunny
Corporate Member
I have used black palm for pens, no irritation from the wood. It peels off like fibers and it VERY prone to splitting and breaking. With the irritation I think it comes down to individual allergy sensitivites like eveyrthing else. Best option for black palm before turning is to stabilize it if possible to prevent the breaking. Palm is insanely fibrous and happily splits along those fibers when dry. When as a living tree it is great because it provide amazing flexibility hence why palms survive hurricane after hurricane.

Personally I don't overly enjoy to work with it, not the easiest wood to turn. I have a handful of pe blanks and one bowl blank I have been avoiding. Just got a stabilizing system with some cactus juice so I may experiment with some of those blanks to see it is makes a difference.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
LOL So, Maybe my friend is really trying to troll me :p , yeah so suspicions confirmed, just looking at it - it looks like it it would be a troublesome to work with.
 

Raymond

Raymond
Staff member
Corporate Member
I have turned black palm - no fun (unless stabilized). If you can't stabilize it, it is easy to use nothing but sand paper to get a smooth surface (a whole lot of sandpaper will be needed for that option).
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
Looks ain't deceiving. Makes for a nice pen if you are patient.
I drill and glue in the tube. Then mount, turn round and drench it in thin CA. Let it soak in, sand round then drenh again. Now it should be stable enough to finish turn. (Maybe) good luck and post pics.
 
Last edited:

RandyJ

New User
Randy
I have turned a few pens and toothpick holders from black palm. Surprisingly, Palms are not wood but a type of grass. That is why it appears to have individual fibers when looking at the end grain.
Not too difficult to work with, as mentioned. Sharper tools help reduce the tearout as does stabilizing. Good luck.
 

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top