JohnnyP,
Thank you, luckily you aren't looking at them closely. It seems like I can sand forever and there are always still places that have imperfections.
Benzart,
I have been working like a dog. Everyday I am either sanding or carving. Lately there has been a lot of demand for larger tikis in the 10-20 foot realm. It has been challenging moving around 1000-200o lb tikis. Fortunately, I have access to these logs and to some heavy equipment. You will see more of me in the future and I have several other tikis that I will post soon.
Finkdady,
For some reason the shape of the Moai is very elegant. I have been enjoying being able to seal these burls with danish oil. It seems to bring out the colors and is a lot less toxic than polyurethane or marine varnish.
GMan,
From one chainsaw carver to another thank you. I think that we have proven that you can bust out a clean tiki with a chainsaw and lots of sanding.
Congatiki,
I love the comps. Large tikis seem to be the way my carving is heading. It is a good feeling burying your saw into a nice large chunk of wood. The large tikis in the pics aren't as deep as I would normally make them because they have to be split in half and wrapped around a 6 inch support beam.
PopTiki,
I always try to make every new tiki better than the last one. Unfortunately, sometimes they just don't seem to cooperate, but these ones are coming along. Thank you, it is people like you that keep me posting topics onto this forum.
Polynesiac,
How has the little left off of the rock at Royal Palms been? Up here it has been a lot of stormy victory at sea stuff. You should definitely make a tiki out of the burl. The finer you sand it the better the swirls come out. I have been going up to 1500 grit. What's great about burls is that a little danish oil seems to do the trick of sealing it. Have fun with your new project. I will be heading down there sometime soon. I made my sister a 6 footer for her wedding present and the year marker is about due. I'll look you up.
Surf-n-turf,
Fortunately, one of my friends does salvage logging. He is always pulling large fallen trees out of ravines or off of the beach. Occasionally he will come across a burl. About a month ago he had a huge stack of burl slabs and I was able to cherry pick a few of them. It is amazing the difference between the slabs, some only have swirls while others have birdseye and metallic wavy patterns. Once it dries up here a little more he will probably be milling some more. Drop me a line, I can hook you up.
Thank you all,
Will
sctikis.com
