Post #509954 by AlohaStation on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 4:02 PM

Well its been a while since I've posted an update. Mostly because the stuff I'm working on just isn't up to snuff IMHO. The Coconut logs that I acquired have not been very receptive to my carving. First I started off with cutting a log in half and carving it while it was still very wet. Carved great but dried like crap! The halves warped and cracked dramatically. The cracking will look great once I stain them but the warping bizarre - these are salvagable. It went so well with the halves that I immediately started the largest of the logs. The plan was to carve the image and leave the bark on to reduce the cracking. It worked, but I ran into another problem - MOISTURE. While the outside of the log dried nicely the inside turned into moldy straw (middle image). Some of my initial cuts were too deep and as it dried the body completely broke off! While checking its progress in drying I grabbed the tongue and it broke off with no pressure - DAMN! This log will probably be a total loss!!! 3 hours of carving lost!

Meanwhile, I have also been working on my Mahogany tiki. Progress is slow with this one but its really starting to shape up. Below is just a tease...