Have you tried carving a candle into a tiki? - Tiki Carving

8T 8FT Tiki Tiki Socialite Kansas City, MO Joined: Nov 30, 2003 Posts: 1411	8T 8FT Tiki Posted posted on Mon, Nov 29, 2004 5:13 PM Aloha, as an offshoot of a thread from last year where we discussed group tiki art projects, I have now completed a second tiki candle carving and thought I would see if anyone else has done these and has other tips or ideas to share. Feel free to add your advice and/or photos. What I have done is to start with a large candle which can be found fairly easily from a number of sources. They can be pricey at retail but thrifts are more reasonable. My preferred way to get them though is to watch out at yard sales where you can often get them for next to nothing. You need to look them over a bit because with some candles, the wax is not colored all the way through but has a thin color coating over a white interior. This may not make a difference to you but personally I prefer a solid color. In the photos below I have used a terra cotta candle which was 6" tall and 3" across. The other is an olive green which is 9" tall and 2 3/4" across. My designs are nothing original, just a conglomeration of different other tiki styles I have seen. I use a set of X-acto knives to do the carving. Surprisingly it doesn't take long to create a tiki this way. I just sort of whittled on the green one during a couple of football games this past weekend. When I am done with the carving I just use a small paintbrush to flake away the crumbs and then I plug in a hand held hairdryer and let it bathe the wax body of the completed carving with hot air so that the remaining crumbs melt leaving a smooth surface. If you are not into carving wooden tiki items with chisels, this may be something you can do instead. Or, for the carvers who have to wait for nicer weather to carve outside, you can use candles as mini prototypes of larger tikis you want to create in wood later. This may help you to avoid making mistakes or even ruining a nice log which you have planned to use for a specific tiki project. Why not give this a try and report back with your results. Have fun, 8FT Thought a shell pendant would enhace this one. Save the Tikis! [ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:17 ] [ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:20 ] [ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:22 ]

Aloha, as an offshoot of a thread from last year where we discussed group tiki art projects, I have now completed a second tiki candle carving and thought I would see if anyone else has done these and has other tips or ideas to share. Feel free to add your advice and/or photos.

What I have done is to start with a large candle which can be found fairly easily from a number of sources. They can be pricey at retail but thrifts are more reasonable. My preferred way to get them though is to watch out at yard sales where you can often get them for next to nothing. You need to look them over a bit because with some candles, the wax is not colored all the way through but has a thin color coating over a white interior. This may not make a difference to you but personally I prefer a solid color.

In the photos below I have used a terra cotta candle which was 6" tall and 3" across.
The other is an olive green which is 9" tall and 2 3/4" across. My designs are nothing original, just a conglomeration of different
other tiki styles I have seen. I use a set of X-acto knives to do the carving. Surprisingly it doesn't take long to create a tiki this way. I just sort of whittled on the green one during a couple of football games this past weekend. When I am done with the carving I just use a small paintbrush to flake away the crumbs and then I plug in a hand held hairdryer and let it bathe the wax body of the completed carving with hot air so that the remaining crumbs melt leaving a smooth surface.
If you are not into carving wooden tiki items with chisels, this may be something you can do instead. Or, for the carvers who have to wait for nicer weather to carve outside, you can use candles as mini prototypes of larger tikis you want to create in wood later. This may help you to avoid making mistakes or even ruining a nice log which you have planned to use for a specific tiki project. Why not give this a try and report back with your results.
Have fun, 8FT

Thought a shell pendant would enhace this one.

Save the Tikis!

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:17 ]

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:20 ]

[ Edited by: 8ft tiki on 2004-11-29 17:22 ]

Post #127855 by 8FT Tiki on Mon, Nov 29, 2004 5:13 PM