Post #466986 by TikiMango on Sun, Jul 5, 2009 2:34 PM

Tikisbytyler, thank you for that. I say try everything once, you never know when you'll find your calling. Did you see this? http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32936&forum=4&13

Benzart, thanks. I was thinking about the gel stuff, but didn't have it handy. It's going on the list.

This is probably my last week of bone work, as my son from Cali is flying in this coming weekend to spend a month with me. Unless he picks up the bone, I'll probably put it on the back burner until after he leaves. I might introduce him to it, just to see what he thinks about it. So I was up around 4:30am, so the day has been a long one. Good thing about that though, it gives me more time with the bone. I bought a little package of 3-ply string, tried my hand at traditional lashing. I think I failed totally, but I won't give up just yet.

I don't know how to braid, so I didn't attempt a 3-plait braid here, just the single strand for around the neck. I'm not sure how anyone learns this stuff from things on the Internet. Those diagrams are confusing as hell.

I just thought I'd contrast this hook on white. I was really glad I didn't drop this one, and I hope that pointy point will survive a long time.

I was going through my remnant/scrap pile of bone pieces-parts, and kept picking this one piece up. I'd stare at it, then put it down, only to pick it up again. I finally decided to try making an Aku Aku from it. This is my first moai ever... I get intimidated by the simplicity of the moai, as it seems really easy to make a great or terrible looking one. I hope I succeeded.

I noticed there were all these "cracks" in my chunk of bone, and it didn't look like any amount of sanding was going to get rid of them. I decided to stain this piece in a light wash of black India ink for about 15 minutes. I then hit it all over with 1000 grit sandpaper and the buffer. I think it looks like a properly aged moai, almost on the verge of looking like stone.