Turning Palm Tree Timber??

[Timbre Surfer]

G'day

just a quick one to see if anyone has ever turned palm tree timber. My bro-in-law cut down a heap of golden canes and i grabbed a 75mm round log just to see what it looked like turned and if it could be done.

it turned VERY quickly (as you would expect being wet and green) but didn't tear out too much at all. The only issue came with the strength, i had shaped externally the outline of a goblet and then just the pressure of the tailstock broke the stem quite easily. I might have another go at it with a different method and i suppose if i had a chuck it could help too.
The stringy bits turned out clear and you could see light through them even when the piece was 7mm thick which made it quite pretty.

am i just being silly or would you have a crack?

[Timbre Surfer]

hahaha,
sorry guys, i just did a search and found this has been asked once a year for the last 4 years at least, made for some good reading.
whoops

[Manuka Jock]

hahaha,
sorry guys, i just did a search and found this has been asked once a year for the last 4 years at least, made for some good reading.
whoops
No worries there mate , try a different shape .
Keep us in the picture , with photos .

[texx]

just a word of caution , the sap from some palm tree's eats away the ally castings on chainsaws quicker than you would believe , very corrosive .

[glenn k]

I washed my saws after cutting down a Canary Island Palm but one piece was a bit heavy for the bobcat so I cut it in half next morning it had eaten a hole right through the Al casting on the side of my 084.

[tea lady]

hahaha,
sorry guys, i just did a search and found this has been asked once a year for the last 4 years at least, made for some good reading.
whoops:D 'sa'right. There;s just about nothing that hasn't already been talked about. But since there is only a very few poepl who are still here from then we don't mind talking about it again.:cool: It does sound pretty interesting. Post pics definately.


I washed my saws after cutting down a Canary Island Palm but one piece was a bit heavy for the bobcat so I cut it in half next morning it had eaten a hole right through the Al casting on the side of my 084.:oo: :think: I wonder if this can be used somehow. Etching fluid or sometrhing. :shrug:

[artme]

Coconut palms are grown in Fiji for use in the furniture business. I've seen some really great furniture made from it, including turned stuphph.

Cocos Palm can be turned successfully with very sharp tools and light cuts. Use the outer part of the trunk as it has the greatest fibre density.

Black Palm turns beautifully . Needs sharp tools.

Have lots of fun.:2tsup:

[munruben]

We have palm trees on our property and I turned a pen out of the palm frond and it was quite attractive but very light in weight.

[Texian]

There are many species of palms with great, repeat great variations in the properties of their "wood". I recently attempted to turn a 350 mm dia piece of the common decorative palm seen in the southern U.S., species unknown. It dulled my saw chain and repeatedly took the edge off every bowl gouge I own. The "shavings" were like a pile of wet shredded wheat cereal. The aroma was slightly unpleasant. Anything shorter than 3" (75 mm) long screws in the end grain would not hold it. Got a bowl roughed out to about half depth and gave up. Maybe will check on it again in a year or two. Or maybe not.

Other than that, it was wonderful stuff.

[glenn k]

I assume you mean Washingtonia robusta or the many other common and botanical names it goes under. The "wood" is mainly water I would imagine it would be impossible to finish with out some sort of resin. Could you glue some real wood to the base then turn it then cut it off latter?

[nalmo]

I turned some palm a while back - green, it was like a wet sponge, so gave up till it had dried for about a year. Turned ok then, but very fibrous, and take care with sanding as the less dense area sands away a lot faster and leaves a textured finish. Also I believe you need to take special care to avoid breathing any of the dust.

[Texian]

The palm I have is from a tall, straight-trunked tree maybe 15 feet tall with the leaves at the top. Every year or two they trim off a year or two worth of old leaves. Seriously doubt if one could glue an auxiliary faceplate to the stuff I have. It would indeed be like trying to glue to a fibrous wet sponge. Have two more blanks which I may revisit in two or three years if I run completely, absolutely out of something to do and am in the mood to have something really p*** me off.

[Timbre Surfer]

quick bowl i attempted this arv after platter i posted in critique. golden cane, cut today.

easily ripped, very soggy, some stringy bits didn't want to cut, turned the outside then turned it around and started the inside leaving a pillar in the centre to act as a jam chuck ?? until the pressure of the chisel, lathe torque and tail stock got too much and snapped it off. after last weeks effort which started going moldy inside, i have placed this rough bowl on the roof of the shed to dry... the end grain seemed to turn better than cross grain as shown, i.e. no stringy bits.

if it looks ok, i will fill the base with resin so that i can then glue to a base to complete turning.

Just interested in it as it is "cheap" (read: free)

by the way, the bottle cap is just there for size comparison.......

[artme]

Let it dry before you turn it.

Never tried Golden Cane. I always look at the fibre density on the end of the trunk before I decide to grab any palm to turn, The greater the fibre density the better to turn.

[Texian]

That looks great compared to mine. Hope we get to see the final result after it dries a bit.