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I live in the land of coconuts and they are being used routinely in our recipes. After the cream is retrieved the hard shells are discarded or burnt as fuel. After seeing the nature's wonderful creation of the hard shell which protects the cream and the tasty water I thought it is criminal to discard the shells and decided to use them for making useful articles. The shape of the shell gives wide choice to use it for different purpose. To begin with I decided to make a ladle and a spoon and later thought of making a tea cup. There are many more things to try and I will do it when I get the appropriate shell shapes. When the coconuts are cracked for culinary purpose they may not crack uniformly . You have to shape them according to your need and that is a bit difficult job because of the hardness of the shells. I have used only hand tools for this project. I posted a similar blog on Garden Tenders but that site looks to be in trouble. Pl see my blog http://gardentenders.com/members/sharad/blog/1910 on GT to know more about coconut.

Finishing with Linseed Oil




Sharad

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Very interesting Sharad, and Your blog on Garden Tenders is also very informative. Nice work.
 

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Your cup looks very nice Sharad. I think coconut shells make a great material to work with. I also enjoyed learning more about coconuts from your GT blog. I had no idea just how useful the coconut and it's byproducts really are and their place in several different cultures.
 

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Thanks John and Mike for your appreciation.

Sharad
 

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Nice work Sharad.

Lee
 

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very interesting work here, many years ago, my dad showed me how to make Wren houses using the whole coconut I think that all he did was use the end with the 3 soft spots, and drill a hole the size of a quarter in it, add a perch, and find a way to hang it. The hardest part was letting it dry, after drilling the hole, and picking the meat out. The wrens loved them, we had 6 on the property, and every one was occupied .
 

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Rockbuster it is interesting to see something made from a whole coconut. It is true it takes time to dry it completely.

Sharad
 

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Sharad, I love seeing things re-purposed that would otherwise be thrown away. Good work!
 

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Thank you Dr. Ken for your remarks.

Sharad
 

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When sailing in the Bahamas I saw some beautiful jewelry made from the shell, earrings, drops etc. It takes a really high polish. Made a few pieces myself using a jewelers saw.
MikeMc
 

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You might think about trying mineral oil to finish the cup or any other item that comes into contact with food. Good job.
 
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