Post #281155 by mieko on Fri, Jan 26, 2007 10:51 AM

Welcome! From my (limited)experience, here's what I know.

1. Don't know of any books or web stuff that cover the size of tikis that people normally carve. I found a book on whittling, but it's for smaller, handheld type things.
2. I did my first 2 tikis with a cheap mallet, and 3 straight chisels (1/2", 3/4" and 1") that run $10-$20 from home depot. Power tools might be useful for getting a log to the right size, but other than that are completely optional.
3. Depends on your tools, but with the sizes above, something 18-24" and do maybe just a face, and it should be pretty easy to tackle.
4. No clue on that, over here we look for people chopping down trees.
5. I wouldn't worry too much about sealing it until after you've carved it. I haven't done it ever, and I think there's a lot of people who don't.

Some starting tips that I found useful:
Most of the cuts you make are going to be V's. Cut one side down, then cut the other, having them meet in the middle. Depending on how you hold the chisel, if you hold the flat side against the "outside" of the V, you'll usually get a much steeper cut. Hold the otherside, and it's easier to get an angle.
If you're even with your tapping, you can count your taps to make most cuts the same depth.
Draw first! Find a center line and draw that out, then sketch out what you want. (lumber crayons are great) The more you draw, the better it'll come out.

Maybe I'll try to get some more in progress photos, especially of the early stuff, it was really hard for me to start, I was lucky to find classes. :)