Coconut Palms

Coconut trees are synonymous with the Pacific and tropical islands and are very beautiful trees. But what is not as well known to non Pacific islanders is the versatility of this tree which is often called The most useful tree on earth. I don't think the tropics would be anything without this most valuable tree.

I am not going to list all the benefits of this tree - you can go to Wikipedia for that, but I will include an old diagram from the 1941 Pacific Year book which gives a comprehensive (and now politically incorrect) report of what is going on in Pacific Island nations and Territories.

During a recent trip to Kiribati I also found out anothe ruse - as a water detector. On the porous coral rock attols - access to the water table is varied. However coconut trees are a great indicator of where the good water is. A large tree that has grown quickly is almost always over a spot where it would be good to dig a well. Remove the tree (and use the products for 50 different things) dig a little and voila' - water.

My family and I had an opportunity to work in Fiji for several years (2006 - 2009). During that time we had the opportunity to pick up some of the local furniture which is made out of select coconut palm wood.

I have recycled some of this timber and have been selling some as pen blanks. The timber is very strong yet porous and light and would benefit from stabilisation but the fibres and grain are quite unique and random making for a very interesting result.

I have some left if anyone is interested.

Another 'product' of the coconut tree is the sap which is bled from the developing seed/nut sprout. In Tuvalu and Kiribati (and plenty of other places) this is called Toddy. In its purest form it is a highly nutritious juice that provides almost everything a person needs. They reckon you could live off pure toddy for ages. However  it is easily fermented to produce a quite astringent alcoholic beverage which is very, very potent and can easily send someone 'spacka'.

I have tried it a few times - before xmas in Kiribati and in Tuvalu in 2010 and believe, like kava, is an acquired taste only only to be pursue when desperate and the VB has run out (or warm).

Good things I have discovered with the Internet recently - part 2

Computer users like other things have cliques. PC or MAC, IOS 7 or Windows 20xx etc. In the early days there was a subculture of Amstrad PC8256 owners. I had one of these great machines that had built in word processing software and a dedicated printer, but sadly proprietary software that ended up like dozens of other non Microsoft/apple products.

Luckily I could see the writing on the wall and sold it to a bloke who used to be a mate and finally bought a real Dos based XT computer.

The point of the story....

I am learning about woodturning and have been amazed to discover the woodturners equivalent of Linux (but probably not Amstrad) - pen turning.

Yes -  I had seen the odd bit of wood turned into something nice in souvenir shops and the like, but it is much more than that. I recently went to the Working with Wood Show in Melbourne and had a very interesting time, but what struck me the most was the amount of interest and products supporting the turning of wood and acrylic pens.

This is a huge subset of woodturning that has just amazed me - there are thousands of pen turners out there doing some amazingly beautiful work.

If you don't know anything about this then do a quick google search and check it out. I bought some of the basic tools required but I am not sure I want to get into this myself (my first turning was 600mm across) as it could be one of those crack type orgasm hobbies - you know - once you start you can't stop!

But the supply of timber blanks got me interested. I have made a few tentative inquiries and pleased to report that I have been sending wooden pen blanks all over the countryside by the box full.

I have Fijian Mahogany and Beefwood blanks ready to go.

Fijian Mahogany 

Beefwood

Give us a call if you are interested in them, they are also for sale on ebay and I will be on the lookout for more interesting featured timber to cut into blanks.

One of my customers has a great set of videos on the whole process of pen turning and can supply everything you need to get started.