Black Palm HF

[Scott Hackler]

Here is a tough little piece of wood. Boy was it hard and difficult to attempt to hollow. I will admit that I stopped trying to hollow it out to "normal thickness" and said to heck with it. I would say that it is hollowed to 3/4", except close to the hole and that is at 1/8". The finial is walnut that I ebonized with a marker. Both have 4 coats of rattle can finish. It is almost 4" wide and 6" tall. I tried a different type of shape on the finial.

C & C welcome as usual. Thanks

[Ken Glass]

Scott,
What a great looking piece. I know how hard Black Palm is to work with. It chips a lot and is very brittle. Well done on finishing it. The Finial is
really very nice and is a departure from the norm. Great work.

[David E Keller]

Stunning! I absolutely love the look of palm. I like the shape of the finial as well. Perhaps the only thing I might suggest would be to use a tighter grained timber on the finial or fill the pores... The main form has got a glass smooth finish, and I wish the finial finish was the same.

Overall, it's a gorgeous piece. Where did you find the palm blank? I'd love to try my hand at one of those some time.

[Scott Hackler]

I bought the 4x4x2" Palm blank while visiting a Woodcraft in KC. It was only $5 and after working with it I know why they had so much and why it was priced so much cheaper than the other woods! It really has a great look to it but the final outside shapping was courtesy of 80 grit on the power sander. I had a few end grain "chipouts" and the sander helped to erase those!

I really need to buy up some Blackwood for finials and such. The only dark wood I have laying around are some large, thick slabs of walnut that I slice up to usable finial blanks. But I could redo the finial when I get a different wood as I didnt glue it in, its pressure fitted.

[John Keeton]

Very nice work, Scott, but you and David have scared me off of doing palm!! I would have thought it would be soft!

I like the finial style on this one - very different.

[Ken Glass]

Scott,
I sometimes use Holly for finials as it is very dense and and the grain is very tight so you can shape without fear of chipping and breaking it. It is not cheap, but it isn't as expensive as Blackwood.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Scott - that is a very interesting piece! Really like the hollow form - shape, color and finish! The finial is a tad overpowering due to size but I do like its unique form!

Looking forward to seeing what's next!

[Keith Burns]

Scott, I agree with Steve on the finial. I like the design. I bought three of those blanks and have turned one. It may be difficult to turn but the end result can be stunning.

[John Hart]

The finial is unique. Uniqueness is a difficult thing to achieve and you've done an exceptional job with it Scott. And that palm...I've thoroughly impressed with the finish you achieved as well. Great form too.

Overall....A+:)

[David Woodruff]

Very nicely done. Palm can be difficult since you are basically turning a bunch of grass blades stuck together. I really like the asymentry of the non-conventional finial. Nice work.
Now about Steve; how far does he live from you?

[Michelle Rich]

the palm is stunning on the body and on my monitor the finial cold be a flame..very interesting..nice turning

[James Combs]

I think it looks great and well balanced. Some mentioned the finial as being oversize but I disagree sense it is not a 'traditional' finial. The portions of height to width appear to be about right although they are rotated 90*. i.e. the 2 is in the horizontal plane (width of vessel) and the 3 is in the vertical plane (the finial height). Although rotated it still makes for good looking symmetry.

Just my $.02.

[Jim King]

Black Palm is one of the nastiest woods I have worked with. I have attached photos of Black Palm logs and a log slice with the spongy core removed. The thickest blanks I have ever produced were 3 inches. Only the bottom 6 to 8 feet of a tree will produce blanks or lumber.

Once above that the black outer shell is very thin and never matures to a lumber thickness before the tree dies. They grow very fast and I would estimate that a 20 year old one is about the maximum life span.

The other photo is the general use of Black Palm here in the Amazon. People will cut the tree and beat it with a club until it opens and then keep beating it until it flattens out and it holds together in strips due to the stringiness of the shell and is laid down as floors in rural housing as seen in the photo. They throw away the bottom thick part of the tree.

I have no idea how many species of palm there are here but there are a lot and a variety of colors from the black, grey, red etc. All dificult to work.

[David E Keller]

Hey... thanks Jim. That's really interesting and the photos are great. I had no idea that palm that was so nasty to process or that the yield was so low.

[willie sobat]

Beautiful piece! My experience with black palm comes mostly from finding it at night with my hand. Ouch!!! It sometimes takes months to float a piece out.

[Scott Hackler]

Thanks for the comments and suggesions. I definitely wanted something different in the finial for this piece. Not only shape but size as well. Looks like I will need to round up some African Blackwood or Holly for future finials. The walnut isn't bad but I find it to be a little touchy when thinning down to 1/8" or narrower.

As far as the Black Palm, i will likely do another but might forgo the hollowing effort as its an act of futility with the tools I have.

[David E Keller]

...Looks like I will need to round up some African Blackwood or Holly for future finials...

You might also try pear... You're not too far from me, and I assume there are a lot of Bradford pear trees around. It's a nice fine grained wood that's fun to turn and holds detail pretty well. A little India ink and it's hard to tell the difference from Ebony.

[Carl Miller]

I like that finial. It's different - delicate and gracile but stong looking. I think you hit it just right.

[michael p williams]

It reminds me of an oil lamp with the finial as a flame. Nice job..