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GMAN,
The abalone look great. Have you inlaid them yet? And if so, maybe you can explain the process a bit for us?

GMAN-
I'm lovin' that Maori with the tats. Are you going to stain it & if so what colors?
The Croc drum is also sweet. What do the sticks for the drum look like?
ray

Dig it!!

Hewey, BK, Loki, Moondance, and Jungle Trader,

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on the Maori and the croc. I'm having a lot of fun with these two guys.

To answer Kirby's question: I've seen them made of palm but do not know how they would sound. I wanted to use a nice hardwood for a real sweet pitch. From what I know, the slit at the top is the opening you use to hollow the bugger out good. You leave the top edges thicker than the sides and the bottom as that is where you strike it. Benz says to think of a car tire cut in cross section. The tone depends on the size of the cavity and the density of the wood and, to a lesser extent, the implement used to strike it. I imagine you could make one out of any wood if necessary. If you choose a palm, use one that gets real hard, like coconut. I made mine out of mahogany. When I finish it it should have a real nice sound. Look up "slit drum" "slit gong" or "crocodile slit drum" on the internet and look at some PNG sites. There should be lots of pics and ideas for you out there.

Loki, to set the abalone eyes in the Maori I am going to cut pockets in the face deep enough to securely hold the shell in place and keep them flush. I will then drill a 3/8" hole through the center of the shell and in the corresponding position in the eye socket of the Maori. Then I will make a wooden peg with a slight taper and a rounded head that will secure the shell to the carving (Benz says "like a guitar tuning peg - only different"). If I want to add an adhesive, BK has recommended super glue gel.

Thanks for all the comments and support.

-Gman

G-man, I just received a new book for Christmas from a good friend about real drum carving and skinning. Delving into that to see what's shakin' there. Very interesting to me since I am a drummer anyway. I'll keep ya posted on what I am learning. Good looking Croc' drum. Good to see you doing things out of the ordinary. I've seen alot of this and a lot of that lately as I have been peering. The most impressive by far lately was certainly Benz's Lono, not to take away from your work or anyone else's here, but damn. Nice work he did on your Maori by the way. Good to see you keeping the mix alive. It's all too easy sometimes to just keep hanging in the rut repeating something that's been done time and time again. Looks like you were having a great time at the "Jam", and everyone else as well. Have fun doing what your doing, and keep doing it.... We certainly are.

G.

[ Edited by: Tiki G. 2006-01-22 07:04 ]

Tiki G,

I am certainly having fun. I took the weekend off from carving and went to my land up north. I feel much more relaxed now.

Please let us know if you learn any important information on these types of drums from your reading. I received a lot of questions about this slit drum and I'm sure that many people here could benefit from what you know and are learning.

Thanks for commenting on the Maori, he is my main focus right now. The croc was a minor diversion; I just needed to bang something out. I've been taken a long time on the Maori and needed to rip into something else and get some closure. I have most of what I need to finish the Maori off now so I will be attacking him this weekend. I still lack the tools to do it right, so I will likely do a lot of it with Benz.

What have you been carving? I know you are working and I would love to see some updates from Jax - with pics.

-Gman

GMAN, Look what I found for you...Ficus...and rumor has is my neighbor is taking down his mohagany in march.

Loki,

You're a WOOD GOD! Thank you very much! Man am I gonna have some fun now!!! I'll take all sorts of pieces (big ones, small ones) of the mahogany too. I could do some limited tree work in exchange for the wood also. Any chance you could store those ficus chunks indoors for a bit? I should be heading your way this weekend and may be able to get them then. I really appreciate this!

If get the ball joints finished on my truck, I'll roll on by...

-Gman

Hey all,

I got a package in the mail today that had a wonderful gift from JohnnyP in it. He and I worked out a trade; he would rough out a Patu for me, and I would send him enough shark teeth for a few projects. Works for me. Anyway, the club is sweet and I plan on using my :) NEW FOREDOM :) and various accessories to dress it up and add some cool detailing. To finish it off, I will mount/set a row of tiger shark teeth down the working edge of the bugger. It should be real cool when it's done. First things first though, I need to spend some quality time with my Maori and get him all pimped out.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-26 17:45 ]

Are you going to put sharks teeth on your chainsaw bar? Is that what you laid out there on the floor?

PS. I'm glad that's where you stopped playing with the camera.
JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2006-01-25 17:56 ]

JohnnyP,

Yep, it is always about the saw.....

Cool - cant wait to see that club! I was about to do the same with my 2nd club! Im just tryin to track down some shark teeth, but I might have just found a supplier! Ill send ya a PM

yo G, tongue out and down.. out and down....this one should be cool...any word on GMT getting fixed and a visit to South FL?

Hey all,

Just got my #50 recip handpiece for my new Foredom. I'm still waiting on my 70 degree "V" gouge. I'm gonna hit the Maori Hard tomorrow and try to make some progress. Im super excited!!!(but not that way). I've got the rest of his moko layed out and I need to work on his top knot and toes. It should be a busy weekend. My Maori now has a Patu club and will soon have a Maori bone carving pendant from BK. This should be one styling tiki when completed.

I've changed the Moko lay out again here are new pics.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-27 22:20 ]

GMAN, I Love the new layout. It looks almost perfect. It will Be perfect when you carve it in with your new tools. Hurry up, I Can't Wait!!

Aloha GMAN!!!!!!!!!!!
Your Maori is looking pretty sweet my friend,keep having fun GMAN and carve brother carve,Aloha , Mooney

It's been dark down there for over an hour, let us see the progress.
JP

JP,

Nope, still have light down here....still going....

-Gman

I am a little jealous of the new tools Gman. Cant wait to see this guy done.

Hey folks,

OK, here we go. Since taking a class at the Davis School of Moko Design, I've acquired a few new tools, some new techniques, and spent a lot of time drawing Moko designs. I used much of what I learned in the classroom on my project today. I'm hoping I passed my first test. We'll see what the professor says......

Here are some progress pics I took during the day and some more I took after I finished for the night. It's difficult to get good pics of the Moko as the flash washes it out. I spent most of the time on the leg Moko, stepping and grooving the top knot, and detailing the fingers. I still have to work on his toes and hands and need to inlay the abalone yes. I hope you like him.

Thanks for looking....and Ben, thanks for sharing.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-28 16:03 ]

Aloha brah!
WOW!!! He's looking amazing bruddah! All the moko get you pupule , eh brah? Absolutely awesome! Keep up the good work cuz!

Malama Pono!

Awesome work Gman! This is ya best work yet by far - youve really raiosed the bar with this one! Cant wait to see it stained and fully finished. You cant sell this baby!

Beyond Cool , you just raised the bar huge.

Looks like you got the hang of that new toy of yours. I like it lots! Too much fun today!
JP

Excellent work GMAN, I KNEW You could DO IT. Glad you were able ro get the tool straightened out to do the job. What can I say, you finished it perfectly. That V-Tool Chews thru the wood like it's Starving, dosen't it? Look what 1 tool has done to change your work.
And YES you passed the test with flying colors. Looks kike you passed the BenZArt Moko Design School with Ultra High MArks. You can hang that on yer wall! Feel proud son, most peeps have to take it 3 to 5 times before they pass it!! Since I taught you so Well does that mean I get double pay???
HappyHappyHappy

[ Edited by: Benzart 2006-01-28 20:12 ]

Aloha GMAN!!!!!!!!!!

The detail looks Sweet and the carving is excellent!
That Benzart school of soul carving is Aweasome!!!!!
Keep having fun,Aloha ,Mooney

Hey GMAN- He's looking beautiful! I wouldn't want to sell him if I were you. :)

[ Edited by: Sam Gambino 2006-01-29 11:39 ]

Kaha Ki'i - yes pupule fo sho!

Hewey, Rodeo, JohnnyP, Benz, Mooney, Sam - thanks for stopping by, looking, and leaving comments. The Maori is moving forward. I still need to cut in his eye shell and do LOTS of sanding. I worked on his toes today and got about an hour of sanding in. I am pretty much done with the carving on this guy and all that is left is tweeking and sanding. He's getting kinda scary...pupule, pupule!!!

Benz - my tuition check is in the mail :wink:

Here are some progress pics from today.....

Thanks for looking. As always, candy coated comments are appreciated :)

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-29 14:10 ]

It's going to be an awesome piece, very cool.

I really like the moko of the fingers...very simple design but it looks perfect for him. Great job on this guy.

I really like the toes , this is really coming together. Glad to see your getting use of the new tools , Have you put them down yet ?

Any ideas for stain on this ?

Gman this is really nuts....if you don't keep him...he will surely keep trying to return
home...wonderful job....you learned your Ben Lessons well.

You gotta be proud of that one. The toes are a neat twist.
JP

You've been quite for a bit, you must be planning something!
JP

Wow this maori looks awesome!
can't wait to see the final product.

Very good! Thanks for posting the progress pictures!

Hey all,

Thanks for the positive comments on the Maori. I've been away on travel - been in New Orleans for work. Looks like all sorts of stuff has been going here on since I left. All sorts of new projects :) I was able to check in a few times while I was over there, but I couldn't post.

I haven't done much but sand on the big bugger since I got back, but he is getting closer and I'm thinking about finishing him out soon. I have several commissioned pieces to do, and I'm getting itchy to move on. Here's a few newish pics.

-Gman

Welcome back GMAN. We Missed you a lot. I'm sure your Maori missed you too. He is looking SO Good.

Thanks Ben, it's good to be home. Thanks for the kind words about the Maori. I think he is pretty much completed, and I'll be finishing up with him soon. I've been neglecting/not doing the other carvings and paintings that I need to do to stay in business. The G hits us small business owners hard, and you have to work like mad to make enough to pay all the dang taxes. I've spent too long on this one and need to get going on some other commissioned pieces.

Very cool Maori! I like the coulors of the wood and the face of the figure. Especially the nose!

this is a great piece GMan...you should be proud of him. As our buddy Kaha would say...
he's plenny pono.....
I don't really know what that means...I just like the way it sounds. All your stuff is
pono pono pono.

Haikai, thanks for the comment. I like the colors and his face too :wink: I'm suffering from chainsaw withdrawal though, it's time to start cutting into another chunk of wood! I love your stuff BTW.

Conga, thanks. To the best of my knowledge, pono means "goodness". Yes, much pono here. Also Kaha says "pupule", which means "crazy". There is a lot of both over here right now. Pupule pono!

-Gman

I'm still working on the Maori. I did a little work on his toes today, cutting in an angle on the tops of his toes, and spent the rest of the time sanding and cleaning up some problem areas. I didn't take pics as there wasn't much change that would show well in pictures. He's coming along though.

-Gman

Hey all,

Here's a rough out I did tonight after work. I've been working late in the office and not having any sunlight to work with. Tonight I got home and had about a half hour before dark and decided to quickly change clothes, sharpen my carving chain, and try to start a new piece. I worked for about 1.5 hours and it seemed like the only dang light I had was the light from the stars reflecting off my saw bar. Geez. I think I did most of this one by feel. It was scary. Put that in the carving safety post - don't use a chainsaw in the dark. Here are the pics of the rough out. This guy is cedar, 42" tall, and will be Maori tekoteko.

I hope you like him.

Gman

I like him! I really dig the two tone of the walnut. What an eye! Man that's cool.

He definitely looks like a winner, so Hurry up already we don't want No More Vacations to be left hangin'. He really looks bossy, don't try to BS Him or he'll get you

Nice start GMan....you have carved out a style that is uniquely (sp?) yours...your tikis
will stand out in a crowd! Can't wait to see more.

Very cool, I saw a finished one you did in a previous post, is it going to be the same style? It is very cool. What did you do in New Orleans? I have a lot of Friends there.