Carving Seminar Benzart, Basement Kahuna Tiki Diablo

Dude.... just got back. It was SUCH a PARTY!!!!

Wow. A few days seemed like weeks. Then the time changed and whacked us all in the knees. But everyone had a great time and we all learned a lot. The Coon Tiki slide will soon find it's way onto the internet, and you will all know, you missed a time! Aaron caem away with the gold medal, but we believe he may have been juicing.

Thanks Ben!
Thanks Danny!
Thanks BK!
Thanks Al!

And big thanks for everyone who came to Tennessee and made this happen. It was a fun (though tiring) weekend. Next time, no snoring allowed.

Had a great time! Thanks to all that made this happen.

Crazy Al

Tikigap,Swanky,TikiTOny

Pez

TikiTOny,Doubravsky,Guy that made Mai Tais???

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2006-04-03 11:25 ]

Nice pictures skip! Who carved that last one? He sure has a pretty big pecker for a little guy!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2006-04-03 07:35, Jeff Central wrote:
Nice pictures skip! Who carved that last one? He sure has a pretty big pecker for a little guy!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

That's one BK brought with him and ended up leaving it here in TN. He's a lot bigger than he appears in pictures. About 3 and half feet tall and 18 inches across or more.

Swanky and Al...

BK with weapons blanks

[ Edited by: doubravsky 2006-04-03 11:36 ]

Aw man that looked like fun. Great pics guys, keep em comin'

haha! lee has a thumb guard. what a wuss!

So, who is who?

Thanks! Will the real AA and Conga stand up and be noticed?

-G

[ Edited by: Gman 2006-04-03 14:24 ]

Het GMan....Coontiki was a great time...will post some pics a little later...yours truly
Conga is in the second to last picture...the stud with the black "t" and light tan shirt...
attempting to finish the half-Benzart carving...wow was that a humbling experience. Many
thanks to Swanky..Ben...Basement..Danny...C'Al...and everyone else who was there.

Coon Tiki semi-group-shot in the cabin:

A few guys are missing ... like Basement Kahuna and Tiki Diablo and others, but here goes, best to my recollection...

Left to right:

Me (TikiGap), Benzart, CongaTiki, TikiTony, Pez, Von Tiki, TikiSkip, (In the back) - Silverline, JungleJim, kneeling in front on right is 8-foot tiki, TikiLee, Crazy Al, Doubravsky, and Swanky, on the far right.

PS: Sorry about the snoring... but it didn't bother ME a bit!

It was sooo cool, and I'd suggest getting to the next one of these gigs is you can.

Thanks and Props to Swanky, MsSwanky, Benzart, Tiki Diablo, and Basement Kahuna. Thanks Crazy Al too!

(Thanks for the update Conga!)

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-08-25 11:21 ]

Doubravsky is next to Swanky...a couple more shots of the mascot "Coon Tiki" in progress


And where WAS A-A when the group pic was taken...he is mysteriously missing or hidden in my
pics too.

Aloha! What a nice weekend! Hope everybody got a few good tips for a few good chips and had a great time...Thanks to all for coming so far and all of the great company. I got a lot of great info myself, and a few new tools to replace some of the poor, beat up stuff that so often lurks in my tool drawers! Ben, for whatever we other guys taught, I'd say you taught all of us greenhorn young bucks a few tricks. And people even brought goodies! Plus a big-shot carver from L.A. gave me this killer gear shift knob!

Gman... here's Aaron and Vontiki....

and here is Aaron's ass.... would that be AAA?

I agree Everyone had a great time and All including myself learned valuable lessons.
I have bout 175 pictures I will upload and show tomorrow. When we have another one of these seminars, do as Swank suggested and pack your bags early as there will be VERY LIMITED Space Available. Words cannot describe the great times had by ALL, Including Myself and all the "Teachers". I will upload and share abour 175 pictures tomorrow. Right now I am Very tired, hungry and ready to go to bed. All day in airports and flying is not fun ..
Thank you Swank and Stephanie for the Taxis, the shopping, the digs and Maid Service
and Crazy Al for showing and Tiki Diablo and BK for being there. More Tomorrow.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

can't wait to see all your pics, ben! now go get some sleep!

That Coontiki racoon was incredib'Al!

P.S. I vote that the Div-X movies of our very warm, gracious and ultra-talented host and hostess Swank and Steph on the makeshift Toboggan rides with us should be up first..You guys really did kick out the jams this weekend on everything. Big, big thanks.

Shit Howdy! Can't remember what I was doin' during that group photo. Either using the facilities or calling my wife, cain't rightly remember. Might be both, come to think of it...

Git 'er done, git 'er done....

I'm hoping to git some a them redneck taboggan videos up soon...

Cheers,

A-A

wow... wish I was there.

looks just like my kinda event.

hope it happens again.

WOW! Just got back tonight and although the trip back was MUCH nicer than the trip there, we're beat! Coon-Tiki was the BEST time I could have imagined! I mean, put a bunch of guys together in a mountain cabin, give 'em GREAT drinks and razor-sharp tools and you've GOT to expect a good time, but this was a BLAST! HUGE thanks to the Swankys for putting this seemingly impossible event together and making everyone at home away from home! Countless THANKS to the instructors who really went the extra mile to show us what they've spent years learning. Many thanks also to all those who brought a little something to share! What a great bunch!

I haven't had time to go through all 346 photos I took, but here's a few:

Here are all the attendees (except your humble photographer) doing their best Benzart Maori snarl!

Here's the prize(last Corona)-winning carving of the weekend; Crazy Al's Coon Tiki (in the wild):

And here are a few shots of BK's presentation on his patented aging techniques:

i got the ol' strip search at the air port.... Danny said it was beacause of my hat... i think i had traces of gasoline on my clothes from the chain saw....... anyway, i thing they misplaced my camera on the repack, so no pics from me.
Small chance it's in Stephanie's car... cross the fingers...
Her'Raw and Ye'Haw and everything else to Stephanie for getting the great venue and all the help moving dudes around and !!!Sacrificed her ride in more ways then one.

Swanky and the boys were all great!... many great carvers showed up and there will be more to come out of this event.
The hook knife is my new freind, and now i can even keep it sharp.

now off to SF for yet another tiki...... chop chop...

Looks like and sounds like you all had a great time, that's so awesome to hear.

Today's secret word is: "Nawger Nob"

I had not given that much thought until I saw t-shirts that were headed back to LA and Vegas and other far flung places...

I am so ready to carve up a storm this summer!

As promised here are a few pictures of THE Event. First some pix of the Lovely cabin in the hills:







Then here are the people..

I like this one. Looks like a bunch of old timers sitting around whittlin at the general store...

Thanks for posting those ben - there must be more somewhere tho. I saw you clicking away quite a bit!

Well, I'm off to Phoenix for the week, but I wanted to echo Ben and say what an awesome wonderful weekend I had. The group was great, the mana flowed, everyone was really cool. I had a great great time. Ben, Danny, Dave and Al were all awesome.. I'm so grateful they were willing to come out and share so much knowledge!

I can't say enough about what a great time I had!

found camera in saving kit? nice!
I should do more reading then posting... but this stuff was cool

Thursday....
load in

.... three kings??? at least ONE here!!!

table fit for a king

Willy came by...

and this Star too!

Swank pad.... #1!


this rocks...

Let Sven get a rope and call me a Heretic, but NG is way the tiki'est by far!

Fri morning:
shooting the shit... mutual admiration society
Sporting wood over wood? Geek squad alert.... yikes


Fri afternoon:
the tiki

the bear

that's it for now........

[ Edited by: crazy al 2006-04-04 10:04 ]

Here's my little tiki. Benzarts lesson, Ben did the left side. These were all carved with a hook knife. This is my first carving ever! One of the cool things was the fact that these guys study the history behind the tiki art stuff. They don't just start hacking away at some wood. Al had his nose in the books all the time marveling over the history of tiki.

Wow skip, you did a great job!

Al, my bar never looked so good as in your pictures!

I think I would say the teachers did a great job! But thanks.

On 2006-04-04 09:17, crazy al wrote:
Let Sven get a rope and call me a Heretic, but NG is way the tiki'est by far!

That's an incredible piece! Is that yours Swanky? Do you have more pictures? Maybe an animation of it rotating?

On 2006-04-04 09:23, tikiskip wrote:
Here's my little tiki. Benzarts lesson, Ben did the left side.

MAN Tikiskip, your's kicks ASS! Mine had a stroke!

Looks like you had way too much fun. Sign me up for the next one, I am not missing that great amount of talent the next time.
JP

Wow , such great pics. I cant imagine the atmosphere that was there. Congrats to all of you on a great adventure.

Sheer inspiration Gents! WoW the mana flow in ohana cabin da Smokies!!! Da most akamai chipping ways of Benz,BK,Tiki Diablo but toss in C'Al and Tiki tOny for kicks!
Looks like Swanky and MsSwanky took good care of all y'all boyz! Mahalo Benz, for sharing all the great pic's!

flip-flop-flip-flop-flippp...

M

[ Edited by poptiki on 2022-10-12 05:02:16 ]

You hit the nail on the head Poptiki...Since I am from the upper midwest...I was meeting
EVERYONE at Coontiki for the first time...and it seemed like we all fit together like a glove.
Either incredible luck...or we are the greatest people on earth!

Aloha TC. I just got home a few hours ago. I drove a total of 2107 miles. Whew, I even drove THROUGH the night of the tornadoes in TN and KY. I had no idea it was that bad until I heard the news the next morning. Man I was very fortunate to escape the storm. It was all around me. Anyway, I wanted to check in and say that I am so very glad I decided to attend Coontiki. From the incredible Hapa Haole Hideaway at Swanky's house Thursday night until I left the mountains Sunday afternoon to return home, everything was better than I ever hoped for.
Best of all is that I now have a bunch of new friends! No longer are they just nicknames that I talk with on TC. So to everyone who was there: Thanks for being there and making the weekend an incredible experience. I know my memories of COONTIKI will be with me for the rest of my life. I have photos of a few things I will add later. So for now let me leave you with one Silverline just sent me. I think you can tell why I am Happy, Happy, Happy !!!!!!!!

Here's my favorite photo.

It was a great weekend with a happy mixed up tiki woodsy vibe. Loved every minute of it. Here's some of my pics:

The Teachers

The “Honorary” Teacher

The Day’s Spoils

The Night of the Tiki Carvers

“Nawger Nob”

Our Fearless Mascot

Sunday afternoon we had some fun doing the "Coon-Tiki Slide" on a homemade redneck toboggan down the steep grassy slope behind the Lodge. I think we invented a new sport. Video links to be posted soon.

Good times, good times...

I would like to say thank you to everyone that attended this event! You all made this a success! I am so glad I was able to play a part in making this happen... I had a fantastic time! Even though I wasn't able to be there for the classes I still feel like I got a tremendous amount out of this past week. You were all a pleasure to meet and spend time with. I truly enjoyed spending time running around with you guys. Watching all of you at Nawger Nob was like watching kids at a candy store.
Ben, you are so great! Thank you for all of your help and the private lesson, I can't wait to finish my first carving attempt.
Danny, you are a character and you were such a great help! It was a treat meeting you.
Dave, as always, great to see you again and I will be seeing you soon!
Al, thanks for coming all this way just to grace us with your presence - it was truly appreciated!
To everyone that attended, many thanks! I hope that this weekend was as inspiring as it was entertaining. It was amazing to me that we could bring so many people together that, for the most part, had never met before and to see you all get along so well and have so much fun. Thank you all for your patience, understanding and help - I know that we are going to do everything we can to make this happen again and now we know how to make it even better!(Like having about three dozen banana peels or a few slip n' slides) And finally, Danny, Al, and Aarron...can you say you've ever been to an event that ended with such a BANG? Literally?!?!? Hey, does that count as a Tiki bite? :wink:

Is there something the rest of us all missed? "Ended with a Bang"??? C'mon, I want the facts, the WHole story, Tiki Bites? All 3 of you were last to go to the airport and MsSwanky was your TAxi Driver, so lets hear it.
Aside from that, the weekend was just plain Fantastic. You are right about everyone getting along like old friends. The whole time, everyone was so well behaved, enough to make Any Parent proud. Guys, you all did well.
I'm Still stoked from the vibes that floated around the whole time.
Big HappyHAPPY,HAPPY

It was so cool to meet all of you and to spend time having fun and learning from the masters.I went there thinking I might have a little bit of an edge,but I was surprised and quite humbled by the whole experience.There were so many talented new carvers there and the old dogs really shined with their experience and were not afraid to share any technique. I feel fortunate that I was able to attend. I had a really good time and a sincere " Thanks" to Mr. and Mrs. Swanky for being such gracious hosts.I hope to see all of you again in the near future.It's an experience I won't soon forget, and I encourage everyone to attend next year's event.
I've got some new chisels and some new found enthusiasm! Thanks again!!
--VonTiki ( Dustin)

Well...let's just say that my lead foot may have finally gotten the best of me...
less than one tenth of a mile from the cabin I came to a blind hill at the exact same time someone else did... we both tried to swerve and about 90% of our vehicles missed each other but the front end of my car met the back end of her car. One lane road with nowhere to go... My front driver's side fender got scraped and dented - her driver's side bumper got torn off. 'Could've been worse - it should have been head on. It would be impossible to point the finger on this one, so no cops or insurance involved, just not worth the trouble. Turns out her dad lives just past the cabin and he's a mechanic - he already fixed a dent in this car that they just bought, still had the temp. tags in the window... Oh well, it's all in the name of TIKI. We exchanged info, I'm gonna' call her and see if he can fix my dent too...that was the big BANG! The guys were very sympathetic and made me feel better about it - they said my handling was very good...we almost made it out unscathed but my car was too loaded down -full to the brim - and we slid on the gravel too. I think I felt worse about the fact that Al, Aaron and Danny were with me when it happened than I felt about the actual accident itself! Ah the sacrifices we make...So as the co-organizer of this event I reserve the right to count this as my Tiki bite! Hey, still no blood drawn on my end - I shall not complain!

I think the whole thing was really cool, but I especially learned a great technique for keeping the tools up to snuff, from Benzart. We learned how to have a stack of sand papers, in a clip board or whatever. So when I got home I looked thru my stash of sand papers, and found that I have some 3/10th of a micron sandpaper! Really! I also have some 8 micron sandpaper. Here's a pic! The finest is on the left, coarser on the right.

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-08-25 11:25 ]

After Stephanie & the other driver exchanged info we all got back in the car... BK had pulled up behind & saw the whole thing. He was talking with the other lady as we got ready to go... As the other lady drives off, BK cheerfully calls out "Drive Safe!"... What a smartass!

Sorry 'bout the car, MsSwanky. You shuttled our butts around all weekend & missed out on all the carving fun. Next time you carve & we'll drive! Hats off to the hosts, Swanky & Stephanie. Really nice event you two put together for us. Mahalo!

A-A