Post #428491 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 8:42 AM

Well, the tooth of time is gnawing on all of us, and eventually we will cave in --but that does not mean we can't slow the process down. Carved in 1994 by Leroy Schmaltz, my lawn Moai named Big Daddy Olu (=cool) has been faithfully watching over my Tiki Island. I gave him regular coats of varnish, and treated him against termites when I saw them. But you do not see the termites that come from the ground, and being a tree in his former life, he is rooted firmly into that ground. So I assume he is slowly being eaten from the inside, and his decay is inevitable.

A brief history:
Big Daddy Olu was born when the tree he once was died, and had to be cut down because its heavy dead branches threatened the house. Back then I briefly entertained the thought of carving the stump into a Tiki myself, but I foresaw myself ending up with a toothpick. So I decided to call in a professional. Back in 1994, there were no other Tiki carvers around in L.A. but the master himself, Leroy Schmaltz. Since he had to work at O.A. during the week, Leroy came out on several consecutive weekends to do the job. Here is the evolution of Olu in my 1994 photo album:

Top left shows the original tree (with two tree trimmers for size reference). The middle pic shows the raw stump with its bark, bottom right shows my dad (who was visiting from Germany) helping to de-bark the stump. Bottom left shows Leroy making sketches while I point out ideas about details.

The next page shows the work in several stages: Left: Leroy checks out his handiwork after the first cuts, Middle: Leroy on scaffolding to do the forehead, and upper right, the finished Moai in the raw. Finally, Olu freshly varnished (with my son Diego at 2).

I recently decided to give Olu a semi-gloss coat, to repell the upcoming rainduring LA's winter season. I like how it reflects the light, bringing out the sculpted lines nicely:

A couple of days ago, I noticed a crack under his forehead had widened, and a chunk of wood seemed loose. I decided to investigate and the piece came right out:

I squeezed my fingers in the hole, and brittle pieces and dust crumbled out. Termite brain rot! Here is the piece with some inards:

Here is a close up of the crack:

...which looks worse with a flash!:

...and here's what it looks like inside!:

Now before I operate, here is my plan: I really do not want to open a can of worms and remove the whole frontal lobe, I am afraid of what I might find, and it's gonna be difficult to re-attach it. Knocking on the forehead, it all sounds pretty hollow.

So I am going with trepanation: Drilling two or three holes in the upper part of the forehead, and filling in wood hardener to let it sink down into the wood, and after letting it dry, push expanding foam into the hole from the bottom, then plop the square piece of wood back in, finally sealing it up with wood putty.

My question to the wood carving community:
Is it wishful thinking that the termite-tunneled wood inside will suck up the wood hardener like a sponge, and solidify and fuse the wood again? (It is liquid like a clear solvent) What about my foam idea? Does anybody have any other suggestions?
All I am hoping for is to slow the process down, I am not gonna cut him off the ground and put him into a resin block.

Here are some pics of Big Daddy in happier days: