Post #234469 by Tiki Lee's on Mon, May 29, 2006 2:39 AM

Aloha, or should I say "Howdy, Y'all Coon-Tiki Folks!"

This past Saturday, I FINALLY got the chance to put my Coon-Tiki lessons to the test, and started a carving. I thought that since my last attempt at carving Danny's project was doomed from the start (my chisels didn't arrive in time and I had to use fat, clunky Lowe's chisels on my log that was quite soft and rotten), and that the poor hideous creature ended up being cremated by its maker....

...that I decided to try that one again. So off to a fellow novice carver's house (who just so happens to have 6 palm logs just waitin' to be dug into) I went to share my new-found knowledge and carve up a few projects. Little did we know that a dreadful kink in our plans was about to arise: the de-barking of the Palm!!!!! It took For-Fricken-EVER to get that log shaved! We were using our chainsaws to take off layer after endless layer of fronds and bark. I finally stopped "floating" the chainsaw over the surface, since the fibers were clinging on harder than passengers on the Titanic's aft section, and started making cuts from the top to the bottom, slicing off the final outside layer and getting to the moist "white meat". I then smoothed out most of the un-even-ness by floating that ol' chainsaw once again over it.

Well, to make a long story longer, we finally got down to carving, and I have to tell ya, having the right chisels make a whole heap o' difference! Everything carved easy, and although I made a few mistakes, I felt that I was actually doing o.k. for a "second first time attempt". I sliced right thru that juicy, wet palm like it was "buttah". After about an hour or so, I had almost finshed the main part of the carving and the light was fading fast. So my friend and I called it a day - & a good one at that.

After I got home, I put the mask in the garage and told myself I'd take a picture of it the next day before finishing it off. Well, the next day came and out I went to take a picture or two. However, I noticed something wierd: the whole face was not only cracking as it dried, but it was flaking off chunks, and some chunks were even Curling up! I got so in "repair mode" that I forgot to take a picture of it until me and my trusty bottle of Zap-A-Gap were done regluing all the many many fragments that were just barely sitting in place. I had to glue just about all of the mouth ridges, and most of the eye ridges. It looks oddly aged now, but not too bad I guess...

So, I guess my next step is after I finish the other eyebrow and carve all of the native decorative details into it, is to actually BAKE it in the oven to get it as dry, cracked and split as possible, then age it with stain and paint like we used to do at Imagineering. Hopefully, it'll end up looking like a cool old weather-beaten tiki mask done years ago by some simple native of the Cook Islands that got marooned on a deserted island and had to make a friend to talk to, since there were no soccer balls around then.

I'll post the next steps as soon as I get 'em done.

Aloha Y'all!

[ Edited by: Tiki Lee's 2006-06-04 22:40 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Lee's 2006-06-09 19:06 ]