Post #446475 by Mai Tai on Sun, Apr 12, 2009 12:35 AM

Surfalaia, as promised, here are some pics of the tiki that I picked up at the Trader Vic's warehouse sale, to compare to the one you just picked up in Seattle. As you will see, they are very similar.

Yours:

Mine:

At the Trader Vic's warehouse. As you can see, the finish has been fairly scratched up, as years accumulate, and as it gets transported around.

In my back yard. The tikis are alomst the same. They look to be the same diameter, and about the same height. The face area is almost identical. The eyes and mouth are pretty much the same, and the chisel mark notches on your tiki's face are on the back of my tiki. The hands are pretty much the same, except yours are closer together. To me, it looks like they were done by the same carver.

Getting a bath, in preparation for teak oil.

The teak oil brought out the natural shine in the wood. You can see the difference in these before/after pics. Other than washing with soap and water, there was no sanding or any other kind of wood prep done. The areas where the finish was scraped away simply filled in after several applications of oil. Other added benefits are that it is a weather sealant, and provides UV protection - not that it matters, since the tiki is now permanantly indoors. It's the same stuff that they use on teak decking on yacts, which gives it that nice shiny finish. Also, the oil naturally conditions the tiki's teak wood, since the oil is derived from teak wood. At first the finish was soft, like carpenter's glue that hadn't fully dried, but after a year of penetrating and conditioning, the oil is now rock hard, and fully bonded to the wood - if something were to bump into the tiki fairly hard, like Unga Bunga dropping a mug, it's doubtful that the finish would chip, it has bonded that securely to the teak.

The finished product, after several days of teak oil application, plus drying out for a few more days. Even so, the house still smelled like teak oil for a couple of weeks.

In it's new home, in the bar area at Casa de Mai Tai. This tiki is 7 and a half feet tall, and the bottom 34 inches are uncarved, which makes for a perfect fit behind the back of the sofa.

That cabinet next to it is a mug cabinet that that I also picked up at the Trader Vic's warehouse sale. It's also made out of solid teak. There was nothing wrong with the finish on the cabinet, so I left it as is.

Here's the finished product, complete with crutches from Coco Loco's broken leg. The space above the cabinet is reserved for a Shag print that was matted by Link at Frame Fetish, and Monkeyman is currently making a custom frame for it.

Here's one for the mug weirdos, 'cuz I know you're gonna ask.

Enjoy your new tiki, it's an awesome score!