Post #701781 by Secret Squirrel on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 5:37 PM

I agree with with what has already been said. I give your friends girlfriend credit for wanting to buy him tiki carving lessons. That's a very nice gesture but I don't think she's going to find anyone that gives lessons. Tiki carving is definitely a learned art but there is no reason your friend can't start carving on his own. It will be a bit easier if he has any previous woodworking skills. That's how I started. I had woodworking skills but never did any carving until recently. I would suggest getting some basic tools. Then get some good tiki reference material. Photos are great but having real authentic tikis in a collection to look at is great reference carving material. I look at my tikis all the time when I'm carving for ideas or if I get stuck deciding where or in what steps I want to make cuts. When I post on the forum in my carving thread I try to add step by step pictures so new carvers can see the tiki progress as it's carved. It might seem boring to long time carvers but it might help a new carver get started.