Help with Black Palmwood

[binthere]

What's the best way to turn black palmwood without it coming apart. My tools were sharp but the pen exploded right toward the end.

 

[Fangar]

It could be that even though your tools were sharp that two things happened. It is likely that your tool caught, which happens from time to time. If the blank tore off or craked out near the end, it might have been due to improper glue coverage near the ends of your blanks. Outside of that, the palm should turn out alright.

Cheers,

Fangar

 

[binthere]

I should have explained myself better. By the "end" I meant shortly before I would have started sanding.

 

[ctEaglesc]

I've never done black palm(but will since I recieved a chunk from David Marks) but I think Fangar touched on something that may have something to do with your situation.
I have turned red palm cross and bias cut and it is extremely porous.
What I have started doing is adding an extra step in my tube gluing.Whether it is over kill or not does not concern me.I want to do everything possible to make sure I don't get the surprises that have me on all fours looking for a piece to a pen I really don't want to mickey mouse back together.
Regardless what glue you use I believe it will work.
I drizzle Ca glue in the hole I have drilled and rotate the blank to get coverage.
After it hardens I redrill it.
Since I use thick Ca for my tubes I get a better surface to glue to.
The other thing I have started doing is "plugging" the end of my tubes with wax and putting a bead of glue around the blank on the inside of the hole just before I insert the tube which also has glue on it.
I have always had good luck with CA but I abrade my tubes rather than give them a cursory "scuff".
One otehr thing you might try is drizzling thin ca on the blank while turning to harden it.
I would imagine the palm is fiberous and possibly a little more difficult to turn than woods since I believe it is a grass.

 

[binthere]

It's definitely more fibrous than anything I ever recall turning. The black streaks in the wood are hard whereas the lighter areas are real soft. I'll try the ca trick next time around. Man I hate it when you think you're about there and something like that happens.

 

[ctEaglesc]

Originally posted by binthere
<br />It's definitely more fibrous than anything I ever recall turning. The black streaks in the wood are hard whereas the lighter areas are real soft. I'll try the ca trick next time around. Man I hate it when you think you're about there and something like that happens.

Best time to add a little CA to harden the wood is 3 seconds before it blows out.
Also if you keep the floor clean it's easier to find the pieces so you can throw them away or glue them back.

 

[PenWorks]

I love cutting palm, they make great looking pens and are worth the PITA. I had a blank blow out while I was trimming the ends with a barrel trimmer, caught a snag and ended up in three pieces.

 

[GregD]

I just turned a Longwood set out of Black Palm. I haven't got a picture posted yet because I broke my camera. Anyhow, I dropped my blanks in with some corn cobs I was stablizing. They turned great.

 

[53Jim]

I have also had problems with black palm blowing up on me. What I did was to sharpen my tools, and take very, very, very light cuts. VERY, VERY, VERY LITE CUTS. I can't remember if I used C/A while turning or not[:I], but I may do that in the future.

I did get one pen to turn out, but if you ask me (and you probably won't), red palm makes a much nicer pen. I feel the black palm is a little too dark, but that's just me.

Hope this helps