Post #292411 by tikinoob on Fri, Mar 16, 2007 1:23 PM

I finished my tiki bar in the fall and finally had some free time to tinker with some carvings. (the p alm carvings on front of bar were done by a friend Josh of TerraTiki= http://www.terratiki.com )

Besides pinewood derby cars when I was 8, this is pretty much my first experience carving anything. Please excuse my ignorance - I know next to nothing about authentic carving styles - I just dug in and watched things take shape...

I'm whittling, with a fairly large Buck pocket knife, the first here is out of left-over Cypress from my bar roof.

Fairly simple, but a fun first project. I've got a 5 gallon bucket full of pieces this size and the end-goal here is to get good enough to carve some wicked tap handles.

The second more recent experiment came after clearing out all the areka palms around my bar/deck.

I carved it REALLY green, and enjoyed it a lot - much faster/simpler than the hard cypress. It's cracked some here and there since, but it's pretty much just an experiment for bigger/better things, and I think it just adds character anyhow... The wife says she liked it a lot better before I torched it, but eh, whattaya gonna do...

My main question is what should I use to seal this puppy? I've got varnish left over from the bar, but that would be pretty painstaking and also shift it pretty yellow after a couple coats. I'm thinking of just a simpler aerosol shellac for a small/crummy piece like this?

I've got several 4-7 foot lengths of thicker areca drying in the garage.

I know they're not your typical carving material, but i think they'd make for a pretty cool totem jungle amidst the actual living palm shoots. Anyone have any tips on preparing/finishing palm like this? Also, what would be the proper tools for carving the small cypress?

thx for your time
cheers