Johnnyp Tut 2/19

I gotta spend more time around here!
Great place and carvings, aloha Mr. Johnny!

JohnnyP's, Nice Dolphin, you going to color him or leave natural? Either way he is a tough looking fish that he is. He has that look that is difficult to capture.

Hi all, I took Gman’s advice and carved another for the sale, we decided to keep the one shown in an earlier post.. Here is me with both in an unfinished state.

Julie, my wife, modeling with finished project. She did the painting . What a catch!

After a little diversion, back to tiki stuff. BK’s post about weapons and tiki bars had me finally motivated to start some I’ve been wanting to try. Here is my attempt and version of a Fijian Totokia club . Criticism welcome.
Club

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for looking.
JP

JP,

I'm diggin it. The second mahi looks great as well. Good move! :) The painting on the mahi looks great. Your wife did a wonderful job. She gets extra points for wearing a Dino T shirt. Dino RULES!

That club looks really nasty!!! I would hate to get busted in the squash with that freaking thing. Yikes!!!

-Gman

Excellent catch there Johnny and the fish are great too. A WIfe who can paint like that and boost the worth of your art is Very hard do come by. The dolphinlooks just fresh caught and would look better in my frying pan than anywhere else Of course the wall would be the next best palce. Thanks for posting.

Great Job on the Club! What kind of wood did you use?

Hey, Johnny P. I'd say you nailed it. That's one of the more unusual shapes..translates to "beaked battle hammer". Made to punch a neat little hole in the skull, thus preserving the rest of the "long pig" without contaminating it for the grillout!! Totokia are a tough carve from standard wood...The Fijians used an ironwood sapling that was "trained" at a 90 degree angle when it was small. They'd take the sapling, pull it up by the rootball leaving the tap root in the middle intact, and dry it exactly as it was, before scraping it and decorating it. The natural shape and very heavy weight of the bent ironwood sapling made an almost perfect weapon. Neat piece. It's great to see others doing some warclubs finally. That's the first totokia I've seen around here!

Thanks Gman and Benzart
Yeah, I think she's quite a catch also. She even encourages this crazy hobby of mine. Just her posing with it makes my art look better. Dino does rule.

Tikimecula
Thanks. I used elm for this one.

BK
A complement from you on the club means a lot to me.

I've been wanting to try this club for a while but I couldn't find the right chunk of wood and had other projects to do. BK's post boosted me in the right direction and while I was cutting firewood last weekend I found the right piece. If I carved this piece out of straight grained wood it would be really weak at the bend in the handle near the "head" or pineapple part and might have broken with a simple fall. I cut this out of large crotch in a tree trunk and the head, knob or point, and the curved part is made of the curly twisted grain of the heart of the crotch. I had to cut away a large amount of wood with a chainsaw to get this. (I'd suspected the original makers found a branch just the size and shape of the handle and just cut the head out of the trunk. I didn't have such luck. Thanks BK for the insight) It was very difficult to carve the head since every bump had the grain going a different direction.

Sorry about the quality of the photo. How do you get good resolution without the flash washing out all the detail.

I'm working on a somewhat shallow relief piece now and was hoping somebody would give me a tip on how to make the bottom of the cut outs clean? I keep getting tool-marks and splinters at the very bottom.

Thanks in advance.

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2005-12-19 17:11 ]

I just completed another Fijian Club. I don’t think mine holds a candle to Tikimecula’s or BKs . I did manage to get a sharp edge out of it. I tested it on an apple and sliced it right in two. I was unsure how thick to make it so I did some rough measurements from photos in a couple books and quick math to come up with my estimate. (read-- guess). It is about 2.25 inches thick in the handle and the thick part of the club head. It is spaulted (sp?) elm sliced out of log with a chainsaw. The spaulting gives it the dark line you can see in the middle of the club head in the second picture. All the checkering is done with a very low tech Stanley utility knife. I need to get a decent set of chisels.

Here was last night’s project. A quick Christmas gift. Just some chainsaw, angle grinder, and blow torch fun. It's elm as well and had dark /light grain contrasts that you can kinda see, but not too well. It was about an hour and half's worth of play time, (looks like it too)

Thanks for looking.
JP

JP,

Nice job on the club! I like your quickie tiki too. Check ebay for some gun stock checkering tools, I bet they would really help you make those clubs really, really, really fancy. They would probably be a bit safer than using a utility knife :)

-Gman

Fine club-work, Johnny P. It's also nice that your wife gets involved too.

Yes Excellent club work. The Totokia is awesome, especially considering how youharvested the wood for it.
To get the bottom of your cuts clean, don't carve a channel, carve a "V" line that comes to a point at the bottom. start narrow and as you get it to the width you want you can make it sharp, crisp and clean. If you must carve tha square bottomed channel type line, you can get "Bottoming chisels, even Micro ones, 1 mm and up wide. Basically it is just a mini mortising chisel.

I hope you all had a very good Christmas. I made and gave a way a couple of tikis this weekend -gotta spread the joy around a little at a time.

Benzart. I think I am going to break down and get a couple of bottom chisels. Thanks for the tip.

Here is couple of projects I finished in last couple of days. They are made of some really heavy dense hardwood I salvaged from some shipping crates that came from overseas. It took as long to sand smooth as it took to do the rest of the carving. I am not going to put any finish on them as the grain is really nice looking.

Marquesas clubs

Second club

I should finish carving a permit fish tonight and tomorrow I start on a large tiki. I’ll post progress shots over the next week or so as I go.

Has anybody here carved a U’U club? I have searched with multiple spellings and have not found anything.

Have a great day and thanks for looking!!!!

JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2005-12-26 13:06 ]

Those are sweet..your weapons stash is getting huge. awsome job.

great start on the weapons Johnny...will be watching closely to see what happens...especially
on number 2 with the figure carved into the side....it's going to look great....have been
tinkering with one of those but fear has kept me away....now I can have a lotta fun just watching
you!

Excellent examples Johnny and yes the wood is Awesome. It is probably Low grade Teak from China used by "Choy Lee" yachts for shipping dollies, only to be abandoned and trashed when the boat is carried away. The wood is BEautiful, Hard and Full of Silica which really DULLS your tools.
Nice work.

JohnnyP, if the wood is teak as Ben suggests it may be, then a little teak oil may be an option, it doesn't make it particularly shiny, but it will darken it a shade and bring out the grain. Teak oil also goes away with time and has to be renewed. If you didn't like it, just don't oil it again. It's just a thought. Nice stuff you're carving up there, I'm sold on the Polynesian weapons.

[ Edited by: foamy 2005-12-27 05:13 ]

Great work. Fast too. Teak oil is good stuff, or lemon oil. It gives the wood a slight glow from within, but wears off in time. Like Foamy said, try it and if you dont like it, leave it. Looking forward to the next project.

Hi,
I didn’t get much carving in the last few days. The weather has been rainy, froggy and pretty much mushing up the snow and making it too wet to work outside. Also, we had to catch up from the holidays.

Thanks Ben for the tip on the type of wood the above clubs are, Foamy and Loki, I will try the Teak Oil if I can find some. Thank you OnaTiki and Congatiki for the comps!

Here is the permit I was working on, its about 32 inches. I did not plan the knot for the eye, it just kinda worked out. Just needs a finish sanding and some stain or paint, haven’t decided which.

Would anybody want to trade some vintage Trader Vic’s mugs for some of my stuff?

Thanks for looking and have a great day!
JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2005-12-29 12:31 ]

JohnnyP,

That is a great looking permit man. Too bad you weren't making a flounder, because those two knots would have been perfect eyes. As a fish biologist, I can tell you that you are hitting the morphology on your fish carvings right on the button. Great stuff. I would stain this one, maybe a deep mahogany. MMmmmmmm that would look nice! Is this by commission or did you just do it to make it?

You should make a few lightly stained lookdowns and arrange them in a small school in a bamboo frame over a dark stained wood background. WOW! I see dollar signs!!! Wait, I'm heading to the garage now....... :)

-Gman

Aww C'mon, I knowa Flounder when I see one. Maybe the deal is you have amit to carve a flounder?? Funny that Flounder looks a little like a permit. Prmit me to show you a Flounder. See, it IS a FLOUNDER.
Nice permounder.

Gman- I didn't even see the potential of a flounder until you mentioned it. As soon as I read your reply it was crystal clear. Now I think I messed up and cut the wrong fish out of this piece of wood. Maybe I will call it a permounder and mount it on the floor.

I had to look up what a lookdown was, your idea of a couple of them in a frame would be sweet looking. That is a exotic looking fish. My next fish project is going to be a school of pompano.

Thank you for the complement on the morphology of my fish carvings.

This wasn't a commission, Michigan is not a hot market for this kind of stuff. I just did it for kicks and fun. I've only sold one thing so far, the rest I've kept. Some day I hope to have a tiki bar inside and I am watching Finkdaddy's, Pappythesailer's, TikiTikiBoom's and OnaTiki's bars with much interest and have drooled over RevBambooBen's recent work at the Kona Club and Tiki Lee's. Right now the only layered tiki look I have is my stuff all stacked in corners of the house and hidden behind furniture.

JP

JP,

Call it a "permounder" or what ever you want, it's still killer!

-G

Happy New Year!!!!

I finally got around to starting the bigger tiki I mentioned in an earlier post. Only a couple hours into him and only chainsaw up to this point. It is just over 7 feet tall. Long way to go yet. Tomorrow I start chainsaw detailing and angle grinding . The flash seems to be washing out the picture.

Does anybody recognize it? I bet more than couple of you lucky folks saw the original last night.

Thanks for looking and I hope your 2006 is a wonderful year.

JP

Nice stuff Johnny P. I'm looking forward to see how the 7-footer turns out.

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2009-06-05 17:05 ]

go Johnny go...like the looks of this one already...anxious for the updates....

Aloha Cuz!
Nice carvings bruddah! keep up the good work and keep posting those pics! I cant wait to see da kine tiki your carving when its pau! Youve got choke talent brah and I love your war clubs too!

Malama Pono!!!

That guy's shaping up fine JP... I like that fish too. I've always wanted one of those old, original wooden fish signs that were hand-lettered - maybe one from the '40's or '50's - that's kind of what I thought of when I saw your fish. Great work!

Thank you Raffertiki, Congatiki, and Sam Gambino for the complements.

Chip and Andy, Yes this is my version of the tiki from the Mai-Kai. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Fort Lauderdale last year for work, so in my free evening that's were I went. You are so lucky to live so close to such a treasure. The closest tiki bar I have is 6 hours drive away.

Thank you kaha ki'i for your kind words.

I don't have an update yet but will work on him tomorrow and post progress pictures.
Thanks again.
JP

JP,

How did I miss this post? Right on! This looks like the start of a killer piece, although I have no idea what the Mai Kai tiki looks like. Your chainsaw work is great to look at, it kinda gives me that tingle to go out and fire it up. I can't wait to see the next update. Please post more on Saturday night. I'll try to do the same.

-Gman

JohhnyP, now I have to ask. Where did you get the inspiration to start all of this tiki carving? It seems like you had a whole yard full of astoundingly good tikis before you ever started posting here. What got you started, and what got you inspired? There's a good story here, I just know it! :)

A-A

Wow..this one slipped through the cracks for me! Nice stuff...The two weapons you carved are actually Maori! One is a Kotiate, or disarming club. The Warriors had a way of catching another's club in the groove and "flicking" it out of his opponent's hand...The other is a Patu, or short club. Great start..my second thing ever was a Kotiate, so they have a soft spot in my heart! Nice tiki, too...looks like the New Guinea figure that pre-hurricane faced inward toward the Molokai Bar at the Mai Kai. Cool stuff!

Hi, here is the update on my version of the Mai-Kai tiki. The wood is elm and is somewhat spalted. It is still good, but every once in while there is a softer spot. I don’t think the log would have made it one more summer. It was a balmy 30 degrees today and no sun as usual in Michigan! Perfect tiki weather,

Here is me working on it.

Thanks BK for the insight in to the clubs. I was wondering about the significance of the shape. I did not know if it had anything to do with its use as a weapon or if it was just symbolic in nature. Yes this one’s inspiration was the tiki facing into the bar area. Your club work is exquisite so I appreciate your comments.

AA . I’ll tell the story. It’s not too exciting but I’ll upload a few pictures that my help with the context in the next couple of days. I only have dial up and it takes forever to load pictures.

Gman- I’m looking forward to seeing your update!

Thanks again,

JP

JP,

That dude looks like Sasquatch up there in all that snow! I thought I was toughing it today because I had to wear a sweatshirt! Seeing your pics makes me happy it was only "cold" here today!

I am really digging your stuff. You are all over the place, but everything is killer. I like this one the best of all. I think he should get the real "treatment" and be an inside "furniture grade" tiki. I think of all those great carvings you have around your pool and your bad weather and just wonder how they will survive the winter. Hopefully the freezing and unfreezing won't ruin them.

Once again, this piece is slick! I like the long arms and legs and the overall fragility of the piece. Hell, I wish I could make one! You're smokin' me son!

-Gman

Damn thats sweet. Love the progress shots
I guess I should stop bitching about the weather and start carving more again.

You are setting the stage for the big show. He is looking great. Is that Really you all bundled up out there in that white stuff. I heard that stuff is Poison man, ton't get any on you.

And I thought it was cold today in S. FL...62 for the high and 42 low...you are one dedicated carver JP.

really impressive update on this one Johnny....really proud that it's coming from the
northern territory....can't wait to see more! I think he fits in really well with your
other creations!

Here are a couple of pictures I could find of the item in question.

Hey guys, thanks a lot,

Gman- Winter is not bad for tikis, they are frozen, what is hard on them is the hot dry summers then the wet spring and falls. Wood that drys out in the summer sucks moisture up like a sponge in the other seasons. I have only sealed a couple of my tikis, the rest are unfinished, weathered naturally and are left exposed to the elements. I have about 15 or so tikis outside in the gardens and a couple are already succumbing to the "fallen idol of Copan" look. They are pretty soft and crumbling, it just adds to the eccentric exotic flare of this little tiki haven. Besides, I can make more.

I hope I can turn this one into "furniture grade" so it can go inside.

Rodeotiki and Congatiki Thanks for the complements.

Benzart and Loki The snow is not poison, just unpleasant. Besides,it would drive me crazy to sit inside all winter. We're not as fortunate as you guys are to have warm winter almost all year. Besides try as I might I have brought the look of the tropics up here, but still have not figured out how to bring the weather.

Sanky,
Thanks for the pictures of the real Mai-Kai tiki. My only reference was a disposable camera photo with flash through the glass. Now I can see detail I could only try to remember have to re-think my scheme with this wonderful information!

Thanks again.
JP

Alright! I've waited long enough! Where are the update pics!

Gman No update until next Monday. I had a sore wrist all week, I must have strained it sanding too long last weekend, so I've been taking it easy. Thanks for the interest though!
JP

Slacker.........

Damn, Dude.. i take 2 months off and come back to heaps of 'new' talent! excellent work on all counts!

I don't know how I didn't check that you were so close to where I live. It must have been the fact that you backyard looks so good. Nothing that good could be so close. I think you must have the best tiki yard in Michigan and maybe you are best wood tiki maker here too, maybe the only wood carver.
I would like to heard the story. You must have lived somewhere warmer in the winter months then here. I live on TC to see those things. Nice tikis, and nice backyard.

Hi all, No update on the big guy yet. We're visiting the in-laws this weekend and I thought I'd share a picture of a Vanuatu drum I carved for my mother-in-lay law summer. It is about 6'4" tall and would not fit in the vehicle. So I tied it to the top and made the 4 hour freeway drive. We got a lot of strange looks and a lot of pointing and laughing. It was a fun ride. Like I've said, tiki is unknown up here. Also, shown is a small Boskoesque tiki I made for her. It is amazing how loud these drums can be, when the kids are banging on it, it is deafening.

Sorry for the quality of the photo, Benzart should start a post on how to take better digital photographs for posting here.

Palama Tiki. Thank you for the complements. I've learned a tremendous amount from this site and it's talent.

teaKEY. Wow I don't know what to say. Our back yard is different that most up here. I think there is stronger talent than me in Michigan I'm still learning and stumbling as I go! I did not know you were so close either, I assumed since you were doing tiki art you must have been out of state. Let's start a tiki revolution in Michigan like the tiki craze that has taken hold in Wisconsin!

Thanks again- have a nice day!
JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2006-01-14 13:12 ]

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2006-01-14 13:16 ]

Hi, Finally got a chance to get back to the big guy since I was fortunate enough to have the day off. I focused on adding symmetry then spent a couple hours sanding away bringing him to 80 grit. I then cleaned it up from the pile of sawdust, and brought him inside to add the facial marks that I will carve in during the evenings this week. I'll also spend some time cleaning up the burn marks from the angle grinder sanding, elm likes to burn and mark easy.

You can really see the spalting or dark lines in the wood, in these close ups. I have a can of very light colored, oak pickled stain I plan on using so all the spalting can show up. It really adds to the character and gives it a old vintage look.

I couldn’t resist!

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for looking.
JP