Turning Coconut
:cool2: Aloha, I've turned 1-2 dozen coconut bowls. When cross cutting the tree, pay close attention to the spacing between the hard, dark fibers that are separated by the "cork". The closer the dark fibers are, the more solid the piece as there will be less cork fill. I have found some that are less then 1/64" apart and others over 1/8" apart. I also notice that the color of the hard fiber matters. If it is a dark red, you get more contrast and hence a nicer bowl. If it is more yellow-ish, it won't stand out and usually has more of the "cork". I have tried various products to solidify the corky pieces, but it usually is a wasted effort. Your best efffort is to carefully select the wood. I had once harvested wood from 8 trees and threw all but 1 away as they were too "corky"
Now, about spindle work, I would avoid using the inner core, maybe 3"-6" dia. as that area usually contains more of the cork than farther out. Cut your blanks from the outer area after using the selection criteria that I mentioned previously. I saturate my pieces with 50% thinned lacquer sanding sealer to toughen up the "cork" before starting and during sanding.
Aloha :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:
Doug (Hawaii Turner)