Post #680129 by coconuttzo on Thu, May 30, 2013 2:20 PM

Wow, it's been awhile. I've been so busy with work that I've hardly had time or been too exhausted to do some actual carving. I'm sorry that I don't have much for show & tell. I've had a couple of commissioned pieces which I took pics of in the middle of the projects but I apparently forgot to take pics of the finished product :(

The first is a antique elephant ivory cue ball. Client wanted me to do anything tiki themed & I wasn't sure what I'd do so I decided to do a Polynesian tribal tattoo design, to keep the spherical shape intact. This was very hard to do because I was trying to measure out even panels to work within and it is hard to take measurements on a small 2.25" ball.

This honu carving is the opposite side of the first design. I colored some of the carved lines to show what it could look like after staining because it was hard to see the design without color, as you could see from the first. I did eventually carve out the black paint.

I drew this as a guide for me to carve out the tiki face. The dark lines are intended to be carved away. On the opposite side, I did the same face but instead, was flipped upside down.

This is a piece of walrus ivory which had a scrimshaw on it but client wanted me to erase it & make something tiki so I decided on a tiki bust. That hole was for the scrimshaw necklace cord which was a cheap nylon cord. I had to incorporate the
tiki around it & braid a decent durable cord. Too bad I don't have the finished pictures of both of these items. After staining & all, they turned out pretty cool looking.

This is what I am currently working on for the previous client. It's made out of walrus ivory which was cut from a cribbage board. I had to cut off all the drill holes for the score pegs & made this out of the remainder. I still have a bit more to finish it. Hopefully I'll remember to take pics of the finished pendant.

This is one of my favorite weapon pendants I'm most proud of. It's a book match of the last leiomano made from extremely curly Koa. I especially love how light reflects back, revealing the tiger striped curls which cross the grains of the wood.

I was thinking of how soldiers nowadays take their emblems of faith with them to battle as protection & thought the same thing could have happened with Hawaiian Na Koa. I carved a Lono head on the butt end. The eyes are 5mm x 4mm oval, 3mm thick inlaid sperm whale tooth ivory which I cut out of scraps from a previous project(never throw away rare scraps). After carving out the cavity for the inlay, I super glued the eye in. Then I drilled a hole through each eye about 5mm deep & snugly stuck a toothpick which I made of Koa, cut, shaped, sanded, polished & VOILA. I also double lashed the teeth which is the traditional way. Makes it look like a real club. The thing is, this is still considered an actual weapon, those teeth are razor sharp.

I had gone to Oahu a couple months ago & was fortunate to meet Sione Tu'ione Pulotu, the master himself at his home/workshop.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=37597&forum=7&hilite=pulotu

Coincidentally, my older brother is lucky enough to receive tutelage/apprenticeship from him during free time because he lives about a mile away. When I arrived at his home, he was busy making this masterful base of a Pahu drum.

Looking elsewhere, I saw this guy.

Here he's holding a calabash bowl made from Norfolk Island Pine. He says he roughly carves them out with a chainsaw then sands them down. No lathe was ever used & I believe him because I walked the entire workshop & never seen a lathe anywhere. That's what I call precision.

I have more awesome pics of his projects but I will save them for later & post them on the post featuring him, which I posted the link to earlier.