Post #292033 by AlohaStation on Thu, Mar 15, 2007 7:43 AM

Thanks for the compliments. He loves great standing next to bar.

tikitammy and flynny - The finish is very easy! Let me start by saying that I take every shortcut possible when finishing. First, for color, I start with cheapo acrylic paints and extremely water them down. I have found that palms are VERY absorbant, so the pigment wil actually soak into the soft wood. My colors are so thin that it often takes 2 coats to get the right "tint". Burn the wood next with an acetalene torch wherever shadows are desired. Sand off the excess burned areas (takes a few minutes with an electric sander). Make sure that when burning an area with color not to overburn - sanding will take the paint off QUICKLY. Do any touchup with black paint (mostly in the deep cracks). Then Polyurethane! Palm with soak up the first coat of poly changing the color of the wood - from a cream color to the rich brown - no stain was used of this piece.

Now its on to the next piece. With great anticipation I dove into the next piece. Paipo graciously gave me permission to replicate his Bird Moai. I thought that I had the perfect piece of wood - an old Cedar ceiling beam, its beautiful!!! After starting on this I am wondring if that was the right choice. The wood is firm and chips EASILY. What you see only represents about an hour of work - so I ask - should I continue and possibly have a catastrophic accident or do a smaller version with different wood? Has anyone carving dried Cedar?