Post #226676 by Bay Park Buzzy on Fri, Apr 14, 2006 2:18 AM

Tiki # 12: On #12, I tried to concentrate on the angle of my initial cut and blending in features and multiple depth layers-much as I did on #8. I purposely chose something more complex to attempt this time. I looked in my album once again for inspiration (how’s that scavenger hunt going TCers- I’m not going to name the prizes yet-I’ll wait for least one correct original source named first.) I found something suitable. There were a few changes that I did from the original source: like the eyes, nose, mouth, tint, and body. Other than these minor changes, I left it exactly the same.

It all started with a Mexican fan palm 4’1” tall, eight inches in diameter. I didn’t know it yet, but this would be by far the best piece of wood that I ever worked with.

here it is all drawn out

Unfortunately, for the purposes of historical documentation, I was so into making this one that I never stopped carving it long enough to take pictures. Here's the face after finishing carving, lightly sanded

the whole thing

side view

It still needs considerable sanding so I gave it three weeks to dry more and took it inside to finish it

I used a belt sander first, then the drum on the dremel, and finally a ton of hand sanding with a sanding block

I really liked the grain and overall quality of wood so I applied several coats of Zinsser Bulls Eye clear shellac. Originally, I was going to make this my first dark tiki, but changed my mind after sanding

finally done

There it is with #8 and #11

I like to think back to the way the logs were and it makes me proud to have made these attractive works out of something that otherwise would have went to the landfill. From tree to trash to treasure...

What I learned during the #12 process:

1. This wood is really neat if you get a perfect specimen
2. You can tell the difference between when someone tells you he/she likes your work because he/she is your friend and when someone says your work is good because it's actually kind of good.
3. You can really lose time when you get into it totally.
4. Keep sanding even after you're sick of doing it-you'll only make it better until it's finally perfect.
5. This is really fun
6. The wood will continue to tan over the next couple of months