New stuff added!! - Tiki Carving

A AlohaStation Tiki Socialite So FL Joined: Sep 27, 2004 Posts: 2434	A AlohaStation Posted posted on Mon, Feb 10, 2020 11:28 AM OK time for an update. For the past few months I've been working on this muddler. It was a commissioned by friends for friends. It is also the last piece created in home workshop. The story about the wood is interesting. Mahogany. Several years ago I acquired some wood from a Craigslist ad. WillCarve and I went up to West Palm and met a guy that had stored an entire wood turning business from a friend of his that past away. Turns out the wood turner was a WWII vet and the stuff was from his retirement business. We got all kinds of tools and wood. None of the wood is labeled but most is pretty identifiable (Mahogany and Walnut). You will be seeing more from the wood stash in upcoming projects. I started by splitting the chunk and turning the 2 pieces on the lathe. The muddler was pretty easy and straight forward - the base (which was imagined as I was turning the muddler) required some of the tools I acquired from the WWII vets stash of tools. Once I was done with turning I focused on the carving. Every cut was done with either my hook knife or an Xacto. I sanded very little, as my cuts were very clean. I carved at my house, on my local beach, on the beach of the Panhandle and even carved a little while I was in Las Vegas for CES. It made the rounds while in Las Vegas (Golden Tiki and Frankie's). When I returned home, I finished carving and focused on putting the final touches to it - wood burning. The top of the muddler and base have been clear coated - while the lower half of the muddler is raw and only finished with food-safe Mineral Oil. The tiki comes from outside the Tiki Room at the Magic Kingdom. The people that were recieving this are part of The Central Florida Tiki scene and had produced mugs of the same tiki. I'm not much into reproductions and the original tiki is like 10' tall, so I made some subtle changes and added my own flair while sticking to the original concept. Will Crave and I mulled over how the base was going to work with this - and after several rounds of eye-fucking it we came up with a plan and strategy. I opened up the sides so that the muddler could dry easily after use. I also incorporated a channel so that any liquid that fell into the base would run out (assisting with drying and keeping it clean). WillCarve also supplied the rock footer that makes the entire package come together. He makes small bases like this one out of the extra cement when he casts figures for the Mai Kai. I thought that was nice piece of random provinance. I delivered the entire thing to the happy couple this weekend at the Mai Kai. My first time crashing a wedding, but to be honest they were happy that I was there (I think?). Good luck to the happy couple - I look forward to getting several drinks made with this muddler in the near future!! raw wood split for turning turning the muddler making the base sectioning working on details getting "the treatment"

OK time for an update. For the past few months I've been working on this muddler. It was a commissioned by friends for friends. It is also the last piece created in home workshop.

The story about the wood is interesting. Mahogany. Several years ago I acquired some wood from a Craigslist ad. WillCarve and I went up to West Palm and met a guy that had stored an entire wood turning business from a friend of his that past away. Turns out the wood turner was a WWII vet and the stuff was from his retirement business. We got all kinds of tools and wood. None of the wood is labeled but most is pretty identifiable (Mahogany and Walnut). You will be seeing more from the wood stash in upcoming projects.

I started by splitting the chunk and turning the 2 pieces on the lathe. The muddler was pretty easy and straight forward - the base (which was imagined as I was turning the muddler) required some of the tools I acquired from the WWII vets stash of tools. Once I was done with turning I focused on the carving. Every cut was done with either my hook knife or an Xacto. I sanded very little, as my cuts were very clean. I carved at my house, on my local beach, on the beach of the Panhandle and even carved a little while I was in Las Vegas for CES. It made the rounds while in Las Vegas (Golden Tiki and Frankie's). When I returned home, I finished carving and focused on putting the final touches to it - wood burning. The top of the muddler and base have been clear coated - while the lower half of the muddler is raw and only finished with food-safe Mineral Oil.

The tiki comes from outside the Tiki Room at the Magic Kingdom. The people that were recieving this are part of The Central Florida Tiki scene and had produced mugs of the same tiki. I'm not much into reproductions and the original tiki is like 10' tall, so I made some subtle changes and added my own flair while sticking to the original concept.

Will Crave and I mulled over how the base was going to work with this - and after several rounds of eye-fucking it we came up with a plan and strategy. I opened up the sides so that the muddler could dry easily after use. I also incorporated a channel so that any liquid that fell into the base would run out (assisting with drying and keeping it clean). WillCarve also supplied the rock footer that makes the entire package come together. He makes small bases like this one out of the extra cement when he casts figures for the Mai Kai. I thought that was nice piece of random provinance.

I delivered the entire thing to the happy couple this weekend at the Mai Kai. My first time crashing a wedding, but to be honest they were happy that I was there (I think?). Good luck to the happy couple - I look forward to getting several drinks made with this muddler in the near future!!

raw wood split for turning

turning the muddler

making the base

sectioning

working on details

getting "the treatment"

Post #800593 by AlohaStation on Mon, Feb 10, 2020 11:28 AM