Traveler's gloat and what is this?

[Steve Vaughan]

So, I just recently returned from a mission trip on the coast of Panama near the Columbian border and brought some neat pieces of wood back with me. In case anyone is wondering, permission was obtained first from the Kuna Indians I was working with to take this wood. And the customs people at the airport indicated this was OK to fly with as checked luggage. I'm hoping to make either some platters or stools with turned legs out of these pieces. Each of these pieces is a little over two feet long.

Here ya go for a look see:

This is a piece of the bottom of a dugout canoe. It was too long for the bag, but cut in half, the two pieces fit very nicely. I think this stuff is mahogany.
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And here's the homemade plug that had been placed in it at one time. If I make a stool, this will stay in it.
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This was an old washboard that the Kuna Indians used to scrub their clothes. This one was abandoned for whatever reason.

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Here's all four pieces, the dugout canoe on top, washboard on the bottom.
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Now, for a what kind of palm is this? This small piece is 3 1/2" to 4" in diameter, hard as a brick, and quite heavy. To me it looks like black palm, but I thought that was native to Asia or somewhere over that way. Is there a black palm native to Panama?

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[brian watts]

be nice to make a few pen out of that wood and the last pic is BLACK plam..looks to me

[James Roberts]

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Yes there is black palm in Panama. Was stationed there (US Army) for two years, '80-'82' and encountered black palm on our "nature walks". It had long black thorns and hurt like heck if you ran into them. Still had a few pieces under my skin for a year or two after leaving there. http://www.korbo.com/ecology/blackpalm.htm