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stabilizing cabbage palm?
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DAVE BADKIN:
Thanks to everybody who replied to my post on identifying the wood,The Palm gets my vote after all the evidence and the wonderful comments and advice I have received. And here is the new quandary, I once cut down a dead common cabbage palm that the big freeze had killed the other year at my mums. I thought I might get some nice but different timber to turn but when I cut a six inch length in half length ways it just fell apart like a stack of straws and that is not an exaggeration. so I put the rest to dry and see if it would become turn-able as I had seen palm used before but I have had no luck two years on. The straw-like make up is all the way to the the bark. Is there anything I can do to make it turn-able? I have never failed before to turn at least something even if it was just a little item, But the cabbage palm has me stumped. I have 2 small pieces left in possibly the vain hope I find the answer, any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Andy Coates:
The only suggestions I can offer are:
wood stabiliser/hardener such as you might use for a rotton window frame. It may prove expensive and the "wood" would then be very cruel to your tool edges.
immerse in 50/50 PVA glue water mix , leave to soak for a day, remove and allow to cure for a couple of weeks
ditto for cellulose sealer (though thinned with cellulose thinners rather than water
soak in PEG (poly ethlene glycol) dry and turn - expensive and PEG often results in odd turning properties
or cast the blanks in clear resin blocks
Good luck!
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