BENZART's Carvings Second original thread

Thanks Hewey, I'll start the next one tomorrow. This guy is finally finished except for one more coat of Poly'. I got the weight down to 32 pounds plus whatever the plywood backing weighs. That means that hollowing out the back and burning the back pretty heavy lost almost 20 pounds. I'll get pix this afternoon later..

Final weight with plywood back is 37lbs plus box of about 5 lbs will give it a shipping weight of 42 pounds.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-09-20 14:24 ]

Awesome Ben.

Love the teeth on this Maori carving! But did you have to make him bigger than my guy?!? Now I want him too! Just kidding. They're gonna look awesome at Hukilau. Hope someone will post pix.

Once again, beautiful work my friend.

Just another fine example of why you are the Master! Love it Benz.

Way to go Ben! That is completely off the hook.

-Gman

Thanx Stentiki, you could get this one if you want. HE is only another $100 and shipping will only be a bit more unless someone would drive him back to SO Cal from Hukilau. Or, I guess you Could just get them both . We could work it out. They Are twins you know... I may have another one you like best of all, so no need to decide now. Thanks for the props.

Turbogod thanks for the comps too.

GMan thanks to you to I'll have t get him back on the hook..

Thanks for all the good words everyone. one more coat of poly and he is done....

Ben, with the poly coat you can really see the overlay of the broad thick wrinkle lines underneath with the thin tight moko lines over the top. Nice touch.

Ben, he just keeps gettin' purdier and purdier..!

Boss!!!!!! I have not looked at Creating for a while. Ben ......these big boys rock. From the side it looks like he is holding something other than a weapon.

Thanks PalamaTiki, I'm sure he will be happy to know how purdy he is.

BongoFury, Thanks for looking. Yes some shots of him are a bit vulgar looking, which may explain the look on his face. I'm sure he went blind.

Another victim to the double post tiki gods...

Everyone laughs at me because I am different. I laugh at everyone else because they are all the same.

[ Edited by: hewey 2005-09-21 18:09 ]

On 2005-09-21 14:08, Benzart wrote:
Yes some shots of him are a bit vulgar looking, which may explain the look on his face. I'm sure he went blind.

He looks like the kind of person who would hang around school gates. All he needs is a trench coat.

Looking awesome Ben! The finish looks so smooth, and those teeth look like they may have eaten a few long pigs before!

Ben this one is AWESOME!!!! stunning work...I can't stop looking at those photos. Yes, i think stentiki should get all three! then they'd be on teh west coast and I'd have a small chance of seeing them!!! :D

Teh hukilau atendees are going to have a great time admiring your handiwork...I wish I were going to see them in person.

still saving my pennies, but not close yet.

thanks for posting and I look forward to the nextone!

What can ya say to the guy who carves the most awsome stuff... wow! Yet another masterpiece.

Thanks Hewey, Finkdaddy, polynesiac and Foamy, your comps hit the right spot. I have been working on another Lono which I will shoot and post later today .
Thanks again.

Heres the newest lono. Long way to go yet tho.



Shutterfly is screwed up and would only let me upload these.
I'm sure it will work tomorrow.

Holy Moly! Right into another one. If you could be obsessed with anything, this would be it. Thanks for showing us what dedication to a fine art is!

I'm convinced there are little Benzart gnomes that work day and night to help his majesty... Man you pump out incredible sh@# at an incredible rate!!

The issue is not with Shutterfly, it is with my Firefox. It has al the albums blacked out and doesn't show pic's posted by anyome else using shutterfly either.Help, Anyone know how to fix. I am in IE explorer and it is fine.
SO Here are the pix you couldn't see

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-09-24 19:29 ]

Ben,

I'm just back from St Thomas, and I can barely open my eyes - however I can open the up enough to see that you are on your way to another masterpiece. It's nice to see pics of it in the early stages - although I still have no idea how-you-do-it-mon!

Greg-
I'm starting to think Ben is a machine!

[ Edited by: Moondance 2005-09-24 20:59 ]

That is going to be one sweet tiki.

I know that guy! :wink:

lookin' great already, Ben!

Here is the recrip carver unit I got that bolts onto the angle grinder. It has a Decent amount of power and I'm using a light-weight, 4" cheapo Ryobi grinder.
The chisels are Heavy duty and of Very hard steel. they slide in and out with the push of a small button,,fast. A Larger more powerful grinder will add much power to it.











I'll update Lono in a little bit.________________

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-09-25 19:57 ]

Here is the latest update for BigBenZart#5. Tomorrow he will get sanded Smoothe and then get detail.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-09-25 20:26 ]

Hey Ben- That new one's coming along well! I can't decide which of the 2 finished guys I like best - the finishes are different, but both are just as appealing... can you do any wrong at all???? :wink:

I swear that your a machine . Thanks for the great photos . I need to invest in one of those carvers.

I love it! (the tiki, AND the retro-chisel).
Will it fit on most standard angle grinders?

YOU'RE A MADMAN!

Ive got it! Ben is actually twins! One works, and the other carves tikis all day. Cause thats the only way I figure someone can realistically pump out such fine artwork on such a scale so quickly.

I am still trying to work out where the ghost of a long lost dog fits in though...

Ben, what's the make/model of that heavy duty recip carver? What was the damage? Was it worth it? Is this the one that Doubravsky told me he just ordered after consulting with you? Must have details!

Thanks for posting all of the pics. It is a great lesson to see how your tikis look at each stage. I think it's all starting to soak in, Prof. Ben.

Thanks for all the good words and feedback. You guys are the greatest, I Love ya'.
The power chisel is an Arbortech that I purchased from Treeline tools for 95$. it comes with 2 chisels and I purchased 2 extras for 21$ EACH.

http://www.treelineusa.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=103-3101

They are about to bring out their new catalog along with price increases, sooo if you are thinking of getting one of these don't wait for the new catalog.

They have 3 models , one pre-assembled with a grinder all ready to go. One for metric retrofit to your grinder and one for Imperial sizes. They have a pretty extensive list of grinders that fit so give them your grinder name and model # and they will send the correct one.

Even though they state that the chisels are extremely sharp, don't believe it. I had to sharpen them all, after which they cut very well.

Thanks again

"I'm starting to think Ben is a machine!"
I said it before. The idea that there is a clone of Master Ben could also be the secret. But I'm sticking to he is a machine. No sleep just work, incredible work at that!
Wes

Amazing carving. Doing anything smaller these days? I'm developing a case of the "I wants".

Hey Ben I was in a hardware the other day and saw one of the chisel that connect to your grinder and couldn't decide whether to grab one or not - so it was great to see that you have test run them for me - so what do you think of them? Can you control depth still? I have held off going "electric" for such a long time but my orders are coming in pretty fast so I think I need to get a little faster without losing my style of chisel and hammer. By the way your moari guys kick ass! great work love to give one of them a try one day.

I really like this Arbortech chisel add on. At first it was a bit bulky and awkward but getting used to it , you can easily bury the chisel and have to work your butt off to get it pulled back out..Highly recommended. I am also working out a way you can use your hand/mallet chisels and gouges with this unit with minor alterations. This tool rocks for the money. Buy it from treeline.
Here is a quick update from today on the Lono





Thanks again for all the comps
Moondance, Yeah, I'm a machine and carve 23 hours a day but don't tell anyone. Foamy, I won't do too much small until after the surgery on my left eye or after first of January.
Marcus, ThanksI'll help you all I can, just say so.
G-nite guys.

Looks like your new tool has made the master faster. Beautiful work Ben ...

Ben-
I really like that you are keeping busy because I love seeing new progress pic's everyday!!! I like the Benzart thread the most out of any other thread on Tiki Central. Thank you for sharing your hard work with us. Oh yeah, this new Lono looks "F"ing great!!!
Later,
Spermy

Thanks Rodeo, just what we need, a "Faster Master" at work. I Like that.

Spermy, thanks to you too, love the props.

He's coming alive.. i can see it already!

this thread is AWESOME!!!

amazing work by a master carver. i feel priviledged to read the helpful tool tips and carving advice, and see the progress photos as these awesome tikis come to life.

thanks for all your posts Benzart!

cheers,
harro.

Thanks Harro and WELCOME to TikiCentral or just plain old TC as we call it around here. Glad you like my stuff. You too Palama,, we cant be letting him come alive cuz then we would have to feed him and all that.
Here is the last update before stain.

Far out - you only just started this one. Are you gettin quicker? Awesome work as usual man.

Your work always inspires me Ben!

Great work as always!! Can I request that one of the next ones be a girl? A Princess Puanani!! :lol:

I love to watch this thread....

On 2005-09-27 21:40, tikimecula wrote:
Your work always inspires me Ben!

What he said , along with what everyone else said too..

Thanks everyone, you make it easy topick up the toolz.
Hewey, I started this guy a week ago and still have a couple days left on him. Thats 9 to 10 days and Not very quick. Thanks for the props though.

Thanks tikimecula, that is the ultimate comp!

Moki, thanks for sure. A Princess? Do you have pic'sof such a tiki? Bring'em on and I'll see what I can do.

rodeo, what can I say but Thanks big time.

Ben your amazing.......Is this the last one before Hukilau or do you have one more in ya!

G.