Black Palm wood from India.......

[Odie]

Anyone here tried Black Palm wood?

If so, what's your thoughts on it?

I bought a couple small pieces because they were cheap. Roughed them out last night. The surface has an interesting look to it......but, it dulled tools almost instantly, and the tear-out is terrible. I'd say it was more like turning a hard piece of asparagus, than any wood I've ever turned! 😱

This will probably be the last time I turn any of this stuff......unless, someone else has found a way to make it worthwhile.......😀

From the wood-database:

Tends to be quite difficult to work with both machine and hand tools. The hard fibers contrast with the soft body of the wood, and can be brittle and splinter or pull out.

Technically neither a softwood nor a hardwood, palm falls into the category of monocots, which also includes bamboo, grass, banana, rice, wheat, corn, etc.

Palms in the Arecaceae family have been reported to cause skin irritation, and general constitutional effects.

Applying a hardener or sanding sealer prior to final sanding/machining may help give a more homogenous density and reduce tearout.

I have some Minwax wood hardener.....may apply some of that when these two pieces stabilize in MC.

ko

 

[john lucas]

I find it varies. I have only used it for boxes and wine stoppers. Sometimes the wood I get turns pretty nicely. Other times the fibers in the long grain orientation want to lift out no matter what you do. soaking these long grain areas with thin CA seemed to help. Turning across the grain direction as much as possible is the best thing to do but of course when turning the top of a bead or rounded surface you are going parallel to the fibers at some point and that's where they lift.

 

[robo hippy]

I tried a bowl out of some palm years ago. Nevermore! I have seen end grain pieces of palm that looked nice, and think it would cut better that way due to the long fibers, but no bowls.

robo hippy

 

[hockenbery]

I do not like Palm and it is not wood. It is sort of like a bundle of straws.
Denser palm is easier turn. Black Palm is usually dense.
The fibers are connected by soft spongy stuff so they do not cut cleanly and you can pull a whole long fiber free. CA is my preferred way to glue the fibers together.
Most successful Palm pieces are hollow forms with real wood used for the foot and wood used for the rim.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have a couple pieces of black palm that I got cheap. I turned a bit of one of them and got a shower of needles. I tossed it in the trash. I still have the other piece, but I may not ever use it. I think that CA might work better than the Minwax Wood Hardener which seems to dull tools rather quickly.

I have a small box made by Kip Christensen in which he used black palm to make an inlay on the top. Maybe small things like that are the best use for black palm.

 

[Donna Banfield]

I've turned Black Palm mostly in spindle orientation. Ornamental chop sticks, bottle stoppers, pens. I recently turned a sphere from a square of Black Palm. I took very, very, very light cuts, using a carbide cutter in the Vermec Sphere jig. I did not experience a lot of tear out on any section - and turning a sphere, one would experience every grain orientation imaginable. The trick, I'm guessing was the light cuts, sharp carbide cutter and always cutting down hill.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Just a thought. Would Black Palm turn well if it was stabilized?

 

[hockenbery]

Just a thought. Would Black Palm turn well if it was stabilized?

Yes, Sharp tools, light cuts
In many ways Palm is the same challenge as punky wood.
It consists of parallel fibers connected by softer spongy material.

Select palm with densely packed fibers because it will usually cut well.

Black Palm usually has densely packed fibers.

The results are often dramatic

 

[hockenbery]

John Mascoll a distant neighbor is excellent at turning Palm and does quite a few pieces every year as well as demos on turning it. This photo from august 2012 Journal

The Dewey Garret pieces accompany an article in the August 2014 issue.
Describes Palm as being like celery.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Just a thought. Would Black Palm turn well if it was stabilized?

I would have to agree, stabilizing the wood will most likely provide better results and reduce the tear out problem.

 

[Breck Whitworth]

Odie
Like many of the previous gentlemen, my impression of it having only tried it once and that was enough, is it is like trying to turn a tight bundle of grass. I have seen a few pieces dyed bright colors and they were beautiful with a very rough texture. Mine didn't reach that level (chuckle)

 

[Odie]

Odie
Like many of the previous gentlemen, my impression of it having only tried it once and that was enough, is it is like trying to turn a tight bundle of grass. I have seen a few pieces dyed bright colors and they were beautiful with a very rough texture. Mine didn't reach that level (chuckle)

Yeah.......I've gathered as much, Breck........

Luckily, I only bought two small pieces at an expense of less than $10. These two pieces are roughed and are being seasoned right now. They had 16% and 18% MC. They were both 4x2 squares that I intended to make potpourri containers, using some pewter lids I purchased from csusa. When they stabilize, I'll give it a shot......but, I'm not expecting much success with them.

 

[johnbaun]

I also turned some black palm from a log I was able to get but had different results. Yes it turned different, and dulled tools like mad but my biggest problem was dust. When I turned it I felt I was in dust storm from the Midwest Dust Bowl. Saying all that I did come out with a couple of really nice vessels. Not my favorite to turn but will do it again.

 

[Bill Boehme]

... but my biggest problem was dust. When I turned it I felt I was in dust storm from the Midwest Dust Bowl....

This reminded me about the dust I experienced on the piece of black palm that I turned. It's like a cloud of tiny sharp fibers that became embed in my clothes. This would be a situation where breathing protection is especially important and possibly would present a more significant hazard than "real" wood dust. 🙂