Cutting Blocks of Red and Black Palm

I just had a package arrive with some red and black palm.
It can be cut different ways to give different looks.
I took some photos just in case anyone was curious.



I marked a couple pieces to cut at an angle to show the eyes.


If you cut straight across at a right angle it weakens the blocks. I cut these at a sharp diagonal to maintain as much of the strength of the grain as I could and still show the eyes.



Here I have cut up one of the black palm pieces.


A lot of waste cutting this way.


But I think the look is worth the waste.


When I get this stabilized it gets a bit darker.
This is my favorite type of black palm. When the light hits the dots from an angle they light up like small golden eyes.

Lol, where was this a few weeks ago. J/K looks good.

On the red palm I decided to make the angle a bit closer to the direction of the grain.
I did this for 2 reasons. 1 to add more strength, and 2 to make the faced look more like elongated dots instead of small ones.



I am hoping the grain will show a bit more contrast after it gets stabilized.



Now a piece of black palm I am cutting for wa handles.
This plank is lighter on one side.



I marked a diagonal and am hoping for a 2 tone look with the blocks.



Worked out good.



This look has been popular in the past using the dark area at the spine and the light area at the belly of the handle.