new stone pieces and wood Tangaroa - Tiki Carving

T Tamapoutini Member Aotearoa (New Zealand) Joined: Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 1530	T Tamapoutini Posted posted on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 7:51 PM On 2007-09-08 14:06, Paipo wrote: It's a piece of obsidian, which is a volcanic glass. Looks like it may have had a bit of tumble in the sea, as naturally occurring pieces usually have razor sharp edges - hence their use as mataa or spearheads. It was also used for the pupils in the eyes of the moai kavakava, and I think on the big guys too? I collected and carved a lot of NZ obsidian in my brief stint as a "commercial lapidary" and it looks very similar to our equivalent. My advice? Don't carve it- it's a treasure in its own right. An actual piece of Rapa Nui! Wish I had one! It can be a pretty difficult medium too - it's chippy and hard to get a good finish on. If for any reason you decide one day to make something from it, buy yourself some other obsidian and have a play so you know what you're dealing with. Wear protection (eyes) - this stuff is lethal! ...but if you DID decide to carve it; it certainly is possible & you look to have a very nice piece there. Ive only ever carved it once and approached it in very much the same way I carve jade (and the only way I know, heehee): it was a palm-sized abstact 'fondle'; kinda bean-shaped with a series of small ridges on one side for tactile appeal. Initial shaping was done on a regular diamond wheel and smaller detailing achieved with the handpiece/diamond burrs. Hell of a stuff to clean-up though. I went through several grades of diamond cloth by hand to smooth out the shape & ditto wet n dry sandpaper. The thing is; the scratches NEVER seem to disappear and so each stage (to do it properly) took an eternity; far longer than any stone I ever worked - ever. Im guessing that the glass is really hard & just takes that much longer to wear away the surface and close up those scratches. But once 'there' (anywhere from a frosted lustre to a glass finish) its there; obsidian seems to retain its polish almost indefinately and wont give you any 'drying out' problems like stone can. Worth the effort. BUT, as for this particular piece Id have to agree with my man Paipo - hang onto it for the wonderful piece of Tiki-ana it is. Obsidian isnt a particularly rare or expensive material (often downright despised in its natural occurance for puncturing tyres and/or the feet of livestock/farmers..) and Im sure you could track some down for practicing on. GOGGLES A MUST!!! Preferably a full face shield - no kidding, this stuff splinters like glass & how much you wear on your face depends on how well shielded you are from 'spray'. Rub/wipe it carefully under running water, from your hands/face when cleaning up.. Hope this hasnt put you off the stuff; some of it really is very pretty - differing patterns/bands of colour and sometimes even a chatoyant/cats-eye type effect. *Cool pics of the Moai emerging from his 'egg' - Oro oro oro oro! Rock on! Tama :)

On 2007-09-08 14:06, Paipo wrote:
It's a piece of obsidian, which is a volcanic glass. Looks like it may have had a bit of tumble in the sea, as naturally occurring pieces usually have razor sharp edges - hence their use as mataa or spearheads. It was also used for the pupils in the eyes of the moai kavakava, and I think on the big guys too? I collected and carved a lot of NZ obsidian in my brief stint as a "commercial lapidary" and it looks very similar to our equivalent.
My advice? Don't carve it- it's a treasure in its own right. An actual piece of Rapa Nui! Wish I had one!
It can be a pretty difficult medium too - it's chippy and hard to get a good finish on. If for any reason you decide one day to make something from it, buy yourself some other obsidian and have a play so you know what you're dealing with. Wear protection (eyes) - this stuff is lethal!

...but if you DID decide to carve it; it certainly is possible & you look to have a very nice piece there. Ive only ever carved it once and approached it in very much the same way I carve jade (and the only way I know, heehee): it was a palm-sized abstact 'fondle'; kinda bean-shaped with a series of small ridges on one side for tactile appeal. Initial shaping was done on a regular diamond wheel and smaller detailing achieved with the handpiece/diamond burrs. Hell of a stuff to clean-up though. I went through several grades of diamond cloth by hand to smooth out the shape & ditto wet n dry sandpaper. The thing is; the scratches NEVER seem to disappear and so each stage (to do it properly) took an eternity; far longer than any stone I ever worked - ever. Im guessing that the glass is really hard & just takes that much longer to wear away the surface and close up those scratches. But once 'there' (anywhere from a frosted lustre to a glass finish) its there; obsidian seems to retain its polish almost indefinately and wont give you any 'drying out' problems like stone can. Worth the effort.

BUT, as for this particular piece Id have to agree with my man Paipo - hang onto it for the wonderful piece of Tiki-ana it is. Obsidian isnt a particularly rare or expensive material (often downright despised in its natural occurance for puncturing tyres and/or the feet of livestock/farmers..) and Im sure you could track some down for practicing on.

GOGGLES A MUST!!! Preferably a full face shield - no kidding, this stuff splinters like glass & how much you wear on your face depends on how well shielded you are from 'spray'. Rub/wipe it carefully under running water, from your hands/face when cleaning up..

Hope this hasnt put you off the stuff; some of it really is very pretty - differing patterns/bands of colour and sometimes even a chatoyant/cats-eye type effect.

*Cool pics of the Moai emerging from his 'egg' - Oro oro oro oro!

Rock on!
Tama :)

Post #332697 by Tamapoutini on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 7:51 PM