Carving Post

I think we need a post that shows off carvings or other tiki stuff people on here have made. Too start off, here are the carvings I have done so far.

Id like to see others carving without having to search through a bunch of posts. Thanks!

[ Edited by: TikiScott on 2004-01-11 18:34 ]

[ Edited by: johntiki 2017-07-01 18:42 ]

Here's some of mine: The mask came about because I wanted a Tonga Roa just like the one on Night Of The Tiki but flatter. The large club is a short Atakara, or Cook Islands type of serrated club. The small, fat club is a Maori Kotiate, or disarming club. I like carving when I have time. It's not exactly relaxing but extremely rewarding in the end. Those are some cool tikis at the top of the thread!

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2002-11-26 08:08 ]

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2002-11-26 08:22 ]

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-01-12 19:26 ]

P.S. The finish on the clubs was achieved by a slight charring with a blowtorch, a rub with potash, a wipedown and several coats of satin Deft. They still don't compare to the look of an original (of which I have one Maori club) but it's what I can afford.

Some of my recent carvings...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-09-01 08:37 ]

New weapons coming soon!

here are a few flavors of the pacific.

This is a personal creation. a coconut wood carved mask.

this is a yipwan I made a while back. From the Sepik New Guinea area.

![](http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cf07b3127cce921617f70aee0000001410[/img

This is a traditional tiki carved in Marqueas as well as Tahiti. When I make tikis i use a variety of finishes. some burned, varnished, painted and stained. I call this finish my "TV" Trader Vic color because he used those dark finished tikis a lot in his restaurants.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cf07b3127cce921617f10ae80000001410)

here we have a mixture of South Sea Arts. I combined a New Guinea mask on a tapa(bark cloth) shield from Samoa or the Fiji islands which is another big supplier of the beautiful art of Tapa.

In this picture as you see, I too like playing with bamboo! a frame for a album cover.

finally, I know it's not a tiki but I love to make things for tiki bars and what would a bar be without polynesian bathroom signs. I hate going into a bar and seeing those ugly blue plastic men/women tabs on the door! This makes the atmosphere more authentic.

ke brahddas an sistas, i get hungry so i gon grind already!

Shootz!

this is a psuedo carving/engraving of a hei-tiki maori style. They kinda reminnd me of little aliens. He's now my plant stand, I had a little stump left from another tiki im in the middle of carving so I just wanted to try to something different, not great but its getting easier and Im learn a bunch.

Just finished a pair of Fijian Sali clubs...(Trader Vic's used this type of club for a swizzlestick once). Will post pics ASAP.

Here is a pair of Fijian Sali clubs I just carved.....big ones, about 4 feet long.This type of club was immortalized in a Trader Vic's swizzle stick. A little charring, sanding, and dark Brewax gives them that old look.

Good job BK. Nice clubs. Nice work from everyone here on the carving post. Nice to see new interest in polynesian carving.

Thanks, Sir Gecko....likewise. I like that Yipwan spirit hook!

Here's a 3-foot-tall KU I finished a couple months back.

Damn! I can't get these pics any larger on Shutterfly.

Ken,
That pic is a thumbnail. Along the top of the albums section is a tab that says "View". Click it and then open your pic. After it opens full size, right click your photo and check properties, copy and paste. It will be bigger, Great carving by the way.
Mahalo,
Al

Thank you, Al! I'll try again.

Ken

This is fun. Here's another.

Looking good, real good.

Very cool! I like the Cook Islands tiki a lot...for a while there was a Marquesan guy on E-bay selling real carvings from there. They were beautiful...expensive, but the handiwork and woods were incredible.

Here is a Maori house panel image I am working on in solid cherry. It's in the "hollowing out" stage, which I do by hand right now. I SHOULD buy a router! The picture above it on the wood is the actual piece I am modeling it after.

Aloha carvers,
ho get some nice carvings from TC memba's on dis post! you guys are kicking some A$$ ya!
keep it coming!!

here is a pic at the old bamboo-2-u shop of my one carving for Judy. Not the best carving as you can see.

here get 2 my carvings sold out of Oceanic Arts. anybody here have these?

Pau hana(finish work) on dis tiki a few hours ago. He has a combo of exotic material, coconut trunk, bamboo and grass mat and one ukelele player fo play some ono tunes. Actually I wanted to put da wahine nodder but no mo da kine.

da back

My Maori style Hei tiki from New Zealand. I carved dis one from one mango tree borrow(sp?).
![](http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cc26b3127cce92da82a9d71d0000001410

[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2cc26b3127cce92da9a7a56f20000001410)

these didn't show up on da last post. I like try again.

gecko, I saw that bamboo 2u carve on some web site, I tink i get the pic somewhere on my computer.

....so what do you carvers suggest is the most "user friendly" type of wood out there for a novice like myself??......i really like all the pics posted thus far in the thread......great stuff!

Gecko, man those last 4 in the two above pics kick ass...you're a true pro! I didn't know Oceanic Arts was selling your stuff.. I'll take you some pics of some of my extras tomorrow as promised.

aloha,

Hala bullhiki, I tink palms are da easiest but no get palm trees in Illinoise? I know Chiki tiki has carved pine.

Hula, I droped you a email cuz.

BK, tanks about da pro stuff but I'm not there yet brahdda!I like get my black belt, my master carver degree one day! maybe 10 years still down da road still.
da two tikis i sold to Oceanic Arts was wen i was back home fo visit. I don't mail them in anyting.
I like your stuff as well bro. you should sell some of your stuff on ebay!

k ppl shootz

Here is a pic of the progress on the Maori panel at the moment...

Well, folks...here's the Maori house panel done but minus the abalone eyes (coming from a friend that collects antique buttons). It took a week of steady carving in my spare time. The wood stained up beautifully...it's around 32 x 24". Whaddaya think?

Beautiful work, and finish. This guy can carve.

Wow, excellent work!

Man, that carving kicks butt! How many hours did you put into that?

You could have said that it just arrived from New Zealand and I'd have believed you.
Superb work!

Trader Woody

Maybe he carved those big bad Luau tikis he claims to have found in an "antique" shop.
Anyone else notice how they seem to be multiplying?
Nah, nobody is that good!

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2002-12-19 08:15 ]

Sweeeet! ya das a keeper! I wish I had the time to make stuff for myself!

Thanks, guys. The encouragement kicks butt. I tend to be too much of a critic of my own stuff...It took a lot of patient work, about 8 nights at about 3-4 hours a night. No, I didn't carve those Imperial Luau tikis....if I had skills like that I wouldn't be wasting my time as an antique dealer! I'm starting work on a Solomon Islands ceremonial paddle and a large Atakara when I get the Holidays out of the way. I have been thinking about trying to pile up some my war clubs, paddles, spirit boards, etc. and try a tiki acessory sale down at the Hukilau '03 bazaar. And Gecko ya still got that spirit board? Every time I get the camera charged up it seems like I get dragged away by something else..

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2002-12-19 10:40 ]

I still get em. I'll save it for ya Wen eva you ready. A friend showed me the mug you are talking about fo trade and no I don't have that.
Good idea about selling at da Hukilau '03. Everytime I see your panel I think about my Koa body board I'm carving on. It's just hard to spend a lot of time on certain pieces of work right now!

Aloha

Can anyone else see this tiki. Trustar already picked this one up so its not really for sale anymore...

Gecko, your carvings are grrrrrreeat! (tony tiger)

tHese aRe my last two that I carved!

Cool stuff, looking good....you guys are lucky to have a supply of palm logs. I haven't tried any freestanding tikis yet. I'm about to try my first in poplar....a five footer in a Marquesan style, after a postcard we have in the collection from the old New York Trader Vic's. All we can get around here is pine and poplar. You do see cherry, walnut, and oak, of which cherry is the best carving wood, but large logs almost always go timberframe. I have them saving large 2x slices for me, like the cherry panel above.

you guys are lucky to have a supply of palm logs

Hmmm...really? I don't even know where to find palm logs. Where does everybody get their logs?

Mahalo tikitony, you get nice carvings too brah. keep it up.

Polypop, if u lookin fo some trees(not da pakalolo kine) call da tree cutters in your village from da phone book. those guys hate shredding palm because it wen jam up da equiptment. good luck.

Polypop, If you want to try your hand at carving , i'll give a starter log.

Chiki,
I've always tried to say "don't lie to yourself and say you can carve." But I've always been curious about it. Not knowing where to get logs has kept me away from trying it. I'll probably crash and burn and embarrass myself in the process --but the curiousity of at least trying is killing me.

Now, where did you say I could that log again?..

ok I need a little help, how do they get that witco-esq burn with the dark veins. I know its burnt, but is it charred then stained or what. Im trying to get that look for a sign im doing and it 's just not there yet. see pic

I was gonna try some ebony stain after , but wanted to try on a small piece first.
little help

Here is a 5 1/2 foot Marquesan/Cali Cartoon style pole I am working on ....Always admired those poles in every Trader Vic's...This tiki will be available exclusively in our hotel room at the even more exclusive Hukilau 2003. Next to it is a New Guinea clan style paddle made of solid cherry...the incising/paint pattern reverses on the other side.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-01-12 19:19 ]

Hey BK what kind of wood you using? That guy's looking great.

That would be poplar...a wood thats kind of akin to basswood but maybe a bit more fibrous...common in Georgia and North Carolina....If you ever carve it keep a can of boiled linseed oil for drying control...paint every deep cut and seal both ends of the log with common pruneseal....the slower it dries the better...