Post #245152 by horseman1 on Wed, Jul 26, 2006 4:07 PM

Hello,

I have been amazed at the talent here on this forum, but more so the willingness to help each other here. Real artists sharing with others who wish to achieve the same level of artistry. Great stuff!

Anyway, I just registered tonight after drooling over all the pictures of the tiki carvings. I found this site because I have been asked to make a custom knife for a Tiki bar and have really no idea how to carve anything, let alone a piece of art like you folks do. I probably have any tool required for the job or can get it. I'm not too worried about that part. I suspect the tools are not as important as the skill developed from a fair amount of practice and understanding. Thats the way I find it is with a lot of things anyway :).

My idea is to make the handle material a tiki totem and forge a hidden tang knife blade to go in the handle. Other details I will skip because they aren't all that interesting. Trouble is, I've never carved anything! OK, I made a wooden pirate sword for one of my kids once, but thats about it!

I wish to use black walnut as a handle material because its strong and I have some available. Is it a decent wood for carving? Is there a certain type of tiki that would lend itself to this application? I figure it should be about 1.5" in diameter and about 6" long. I was leaning towards an Easter Island stone head type of thing. Please pardon me for being a noob and not knowing the terminology.

Whatdoyathink? Regards,

Kurt