Post #134676 by Benzart on Sun, Jan 9, 2005 10:58 AM

Yes, very possibly and probable. The way the machined pieces work is there is a master which is secured into a Router duplicarving machine. it will duplicate anywhere from 1 to a dozen pieces depending on the machine. for each piece to be duplicated on the machine, there is a router connected to an arm system that attatches to a stylus . As the stylus is moved across the Master, the rputers follow ,taking away wood so that what is left is a rough copy of the master. The demensions are all accurate but there is no detail. The piece is basically at the stage of roughing out which is the last stage before smoothing and detail are added. That part is done by hand so the end product will actually have a hand carved look but most of the work wil have been done by the machine.
Like the picture posted by Thedrunkenhat of the Hanalei pieces, they are all Identical in size and shape as if they were cut from the same pattern and finished by 2 or 3 individual artists working for the company.
The maoris had no patterns and were carving from memory and creating pieces for an individual story or record. In eaach of the carvings, the spirals and markings told part of the story and all fit together to form the whole page so to speak.. I hope this helps.