Mick S Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I picked up a plank of black palm this afternoon to make a box for my stepson. I have zero experience with it and have read and heard that it's a tough wood to work with, but that the end results are worth it. Other than sharpening my tools, any words of wisdom on machining, joinery and finishing that anyone can contribute? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Interested to see what the others say about this. I had a pool cue with it, and it was amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I have never even seen it, can you post a picture? Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted July 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 8 hours ago, JosephThomas said: I have never even seen it, can you post a picture? Good luck! Black palm is a grass, like bamboo. No annular rings. The black fibers are very hard - the lighter ones much softer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted July 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 11 hours ago, JosephThomas said: I have never even seen it, can you post a picture? Good luck! Black palm is a grass, like bamboo. No annular rings. The black fibers are very hard - the lighter ones much softer. 4" wide piece x 28" took 23 minutes to resaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 1 hour ago, micks said: 4" wide piece x 28" took 23 minutes to resaw. By hand and with a dull saw, i hope. Interesting lumber. Is it expensive? Looks incredibly splintery, like wenge, to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 That stuff looks very cool. Like bamboo, it'd look great in a contemporary piece. Looking forward to seeing your box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 What did it cost? Looks very cool, I will have to look up its working properties later ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midtnwoodworker Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I think that would look great as an accent to a lighter species. I have never heard of it before. I'm gonna see if my lumber dealer is able to get any of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted July 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 58 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said: By hand and with a dull saw, i hope. Interesting lumber. Is it expensive? Looks incredibly splintery, like wenge, to me. 20" Inca bandsaw with a new 1/2" Woodslicer. I've found that the saw makes a barking sound kind of like a seal if I feed too fast. 1 1/4 inches a minute was as fast as I could go. Nice cut quality, but hard, hard stuff. And it is splintery, like wenge. 41 minutes ago, JosephThomas said: What did it cost? Looks very cool, I will have to look up its working properties later ... It was around $20/bf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkrusen Posted July 7, 2016 Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 I've never seen it in board form before. I've tried turning it twice and it sucked bad. Never again. That will definitely make a cool box though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phinds Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 As Pwk5017 guessed, it is very splintery I do agree with the comment that the results area worth the effort. Also, just FYI, "black palm" is a broad term, encompassing at least 8 species of grass that have fairly similar characteristics. You can see 3 of them on my site and if you look at the end grain you'll see that they are obviously different at the level of a 10X loupe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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