Loki and Stump Grinder: 5-11-08 Koru style wall hanging

Way to go Loki! I agree, he looks fantastic. Good call on the stain. I have that deep ebony too, and it scares me. The finish will look much deeper and refined once you have a few coats of spar or poly on him. Very, very, nice work. An absolutely choice carving. Be proud!

I think you should keep him inside though, down in your Florida room maybe? He's too nice to be rotting outside.

-Gman

Nice Marq!
When I read the title of the thread I thought maybe I'd see a wee little round marquesan tiki

Nice tiki...good job! I have always believed longer time spent is better.

Kick A$$ work, Loki. Marq mon is looking amazing. You deserve a serious pat on the back for your efforts. Nothing wrong with an art work taking a while to develop. Journey as well as the product, which sounds like you definately got. Double kudos.

Rock on! Cant' wait to see big boy Marq on Saturday. Are y'all seriously going to start at 8 Am?

nice job Loki...is he using a ball-washer? Very impressive tiki...

Really cool, great job, I really like the deep ebony look

Tahitiki

Thanks everyone for you comments...i should always take this long...

I am going to take GMAN's advice and keep him inside for now. StumpGrinder has different thoughts, but the Marq stood up for himself and demanded to be in the Florida room. Hopefully not as a cat scratching post. I pity any cat who messes with him.

I have no idea what to do next...any ideas?

Mahalo again for looking..it keeps me going sometimes.

Loki,

How about trying a full body Tang from your ficus stash? That's probably the next step up in difficulty....and you have all the tools needed.

-Gman

Awsome work, truly awsome. I love the presence this guy has. I think he's perfect to stand guard in the Florida Room. I bet those cats stay in line with him around keeping an eye on things. And I have to go with GMAN on the recomendation, I think everybody needs a tangaroa sitting around. Or maybe a little something with Moko?

I really dig the dark finish on this one. Taking your time working in this carving really shows in how well it came out.
Hope everyone has a good time carving at the jam.

Congratulations to Loki & Stumpgrinder for a well planned & well received Tiki Jam 2. I had a lovely time and it was apparent the other attendees felt the same.

Double kudos.

He looks great. Way to sling that chisel!

Wasn't this the Tiki Jam II weekend? How'd it go?
JP

The tiki jam was Fantastic. Everyone there had a blast, and the tikis were Awesome. Loki and Stumpgrinder sure know how to throw a party, I wish there were another one every weekend.
There will be Many fun pictures to follow in the Tiki Jam thread I'm sure.
Thanks Loki and Stumpgrinder.

New and finished works.

StumpGrinder and I both needed some time away from tiki to refresh our creative sides. We were thinking so much about what the next tiki project would be that we kept coming up blank. We decided instead to carve wood spirits. I know, they are not tiki, but it did get the creative juices flowing and they were FUN to carve. We both enjoyed it immensely. It also allowed us to work in more detail with the hook knife, and recip carver.

My wood spirit is about 8.5 inches made of Florida mahogany. I used flexcut gouges and V's in a palm chisel handle and a hook knife blade. Spent about 6 hours total and i'm really happy with how he turned out. Again, its not tiki, but it really put a smile on my face to carve him. The focus was on detail and facial features using small tools.

StumpGrinder made a walking stick out of a yet to be identified wood from a felled Wilma tree. We saved them from back in October and are finally getting around to using them. She used the recip carver and the hook knife.

Here is my guy all stained and ready to try out for the next Lord of the Rings movie...i didnt have the heart to tell him they were all finished filming years ago.

Stumpgrinder finished the tongue tiki. It really looks great and these pics just dont show how nice it is. The ficus wood has some nice spalding which gives it a deep and textured look. Again, we have been impressed at how nice ficus carves. It has very minimal checking and finished great.

I have finally gotten around to a project I've wanted to tackle for a long time. I'll just let you all watch what it turns out to be. Only one of you knows I'm doing it and I hope I do it justice to the designer. Any guesses?

Again, thanks for taking your time and visiting. Sorry about the non tiki, but sometimes you just have to work outside the box. Aloha for now.

Don't go to the Dark Side - if that chunk of wood starts to look like a garden knome, me and some tikis are going to come over there and knock some sense back into the two of you. The wood spirits actually look great and it is nice to mix things up a bit.

Way to go guyz, I Love the wood spirit and just the thing to get the spirit motivated again. Stumpgrinder, your tongue tiki really turned out great, though it took long enough to do twice. (I know, you learned twice as much!)
Loki, it looks to me like you are gonna carve yourself a Lono, right? I Win?? What else could it be?
Stumpgrinder, your dad still coming in this or next week?
Guys, thanks again for another Awesome Tiki Jam. kearn from the MaiKai wants to be kept informed for the next one. He Will be There.
When is the next one? Next week? Do I Win Again??? Yipee

Loki,

It all looks so great! The spirit is really cool. There's a guy who makes those out of cedar, and they are real nice. He uses the colors real well. Yours is choice!

Stumpgrinders tongue tiki is awesome. The torch is fun isn't it? You are both creating such fine works now.

As for your new one....I'm thinking a Ku mask kinda deal, like the one Mooney posted not long ago?

-Gman

The mystery project (nobody has guessd it yet) is on hold...... again. I did a nice butcher job on it so it will be turned into something else. I did figured out what i did wrong, so i'll be attacking another log soon to get it right. Hang tight on the never ending mystery tiki...

In other news, I had a wedge slice of mahogany left over from a chainsaw cut and decided to make a Tabletop Tang much like the as yet completed Race Tang (soon). It is about 16" tall and very early into the carving. The wood has some great spalding in it and should make for an interesting finish. The wood is getting very hard and when I cut anything it looks like glass. I used the band saw to cut the outline and am using the Foredom #50 Recip,straignt chisels and the hook knife.

StumpGrinder is designing a new tiki and is about to start hacking into it. Stand by, and as usual, thanks for looking.

That's a nice looking piece of wood. The end grain and figure enhances the tang. Glad to see you are back to tiki.
JP

Let's see that Tang boss? How's it coming?

-Gman

Oh Yes,, I didn't see how thin the slice of wood was, or I would have known for sure. He is looking very impressive, can't wait to see more progress.

For all you still guessing on the mystery tiki...it is not this table top tang...I'm glad I butchered the first one because the wood started checking and would have ruined it even if i got it right. I'm still going to carve the mystery tiki as soon as i find the right piece of wood for the job.

As for this little table top tang...hopefully i will have him finished this weekend. We are currently gutting our guest bathroom, so my carving time is non existant at the moment. My father in law is coming for a two week visit and he is a very talented carver himself. He's never done a tiki, but I know that will change this week. I'll force a log on him and let him do his magic.

The bathroom renovation is finally complete and the carving has begun again. My father in law has been visiting from Cleveland and has been in charge of the renovation. We dragged him to the Jet Setter Lounge on Memorial Weekend where we all enjoyed the wonderful sounds of the Haole Kats and drank tiki drinks. He is already a talented carver but has never ventured into tiki. That changed this weekend. BenzArt was gracious enough to drop by and we all sat around and carved and swapped stories. I have started a moai wall mask for a good friend of mine, but i forgot to take pics of it. I'll post them later.

My FIL started working on a tiki pendant for me using the hook knife. Benz gave him some quick lessons and he hasnt looked back yet.

Nothing like hands on training from Benz

Sorry about the crappy pics, i'll take some better ones when he's finished. I cant believe the detail that he can make on the mouth. The thing has a full set of teeth and its only 2 inches. It runs in the family. Stump Grinder is a chip off the ole' block. Me, I have to work really hard for it. Oh well. More pics coming soon.

What a Fun Addition to our Memorial day Weekend. We had a great timewith Ed. This is an Excellent first tiki. I see No Bandaids, sothe hook knife has been behaving, I see. He was just starting on that when we left. I want to see the Dragon he is carving!!

This is the pendant my father in Law (aka: Papa Bear named by the Haole Kats) made for me all stained and finished.

I spent a few hour yesterday hollowing out the moai mask i'm making for my buddy. Still forgot to take pics of it. But boy did i make a wood pile. Promise to get some pics up.

The pendant looks good. I was going to give you a call on Sunday to see if you were carving. Oh well - maybe next weekend.

That is a SWEET Tiki Pendant, I'm JEalous, I Want one. Pappa Bear catches on Quick I'd say. When is he going home, or is he already gone??
TEll him his Spag sause and meatballs were Excellent, Way Over the TOP. Next time he comes down can I borrow him awhile? Pleeease pleasse pleeeease?

Here are some update pics on the Moai hanging mask I'm making as an order for a buddy. I'm starting to get attached to him and it will be sad to let him go. But he is going to a great home in Virginia to add some tropical feel up there.

I should have him finished this weekend. Just need to finish the mouth and some clean up work, then stain and poly.

Lookin good. I like the eyes. Will you be putting a light behind it for effect?

Loki, he is Really looking excellent . You did a perfect job following the cuts I made and kept going with it. I Love the eye cut-outs. He is one sweet tiki! I wonder if he drinks sweet tea

Loki, he is Really looking excellent . You did a perfect job following the cuts I made and kept going with it. I Love the eye cut-outs. He is one sweet tiki! I wonder if he drinks sweet tea?

I got another mask order that needs to be finished for fathers day weekend. So i started him sunday. This is only a few hours of work. Finally, i'm starting to get the speed down. Something about a deadline makes you "get er done."

I have to hollow the back out for a few reasons. There is rot inside the core area of the coconut palm (all the black), and to allow the eye holes to punch through, and to lighten up the mask. You can see there was quite a bit of rot in this half of palm. It smelled like dirt thankfully not rot. When all the inside is carved out the half circle shell is nice palm that is easy to carve.

As always, thanks for looking. Stay tuned for more to come as the week progresses.

"He who does anything because it is the custom makes no choice."
Tiki Jam 2

[ Edited by: Loki 2006-06-12 06:08 ]

You know that chainsaw would make quick work of the inside. looks like you've been busy. Keep em comin.

Thanks AS

I'm not that steady with the chainsaw yet and it gets real thin in the log. I would hate to punch through with a wayward kickback. Besides i get a good arm workout.

Thought I'd see ya this weekend? Next time.

Loki,

Looks like you two are having a blast over there. Nice stuff! Were you able to get that palm all scraped clean? That rot looked nasty.

What ever happened to the speed Tang? What else are you working on over there?

-Gman

This Moai mask is now happy in his new home at the Jet Setter Lounge in Lake Worth, FL. The finish stain was red mohogany followed by a few coats of satin poly. Up close this thing really pops. I'm very happy with how he turned out.

I hope to finish the mask bound for VA by the end of this week.

Mahalo and thanks for looking.

love the mask Loki....the "cut through" eyes are nice....very cool Moai.

Loki, he turned out Great. You went Above and beyond for this guy,.

Loki,

Just plain awsome! I love the hollowed out eyes, and the finish is fantastic!

Loki, it looks awesome. You guys keep up the spirit down there. Two minds are always better than one......

That's waaaay cool. Nice finish too! May have to try a mask--I get palm logs occasionally that are no good for carving full body tikis, maybe I could salvage enough from my bad logs for this kinda thing. Keep up the awesome work.

NICE! Great job Loki. That palm finished up real nice. How are things on the other coast?

-Gman

So I just happened into the Jetsetter this evening and what do I happen to stumble upon...

AMAZING to get to see it in real life...very nice work my friend!

Looooookkkiiiii , come out and play ......

man did that mask ever turn out great. how many coats of whatever you used did you put on to make it shine like that?
GOOD JOB

What's going on down there? Too hot to carve?
JP

Hey all, I've been busy carving...i'll do a big pic post when i complete some of the many i have going...I've been getting mask orders and it's been keeping me busy...

Rodeo and JP, thanks for the bump. Glad to know you are still interested in my stuff.

Tiki Duddy, the mask in that pic is coconut palm, which is rough and stringy when being carved, but once you start sanding, it gets smooth like glass...lots of sanding. Then I use Minwax Poly Satin finish and sand with 220 between each coat. I'd say there were at least 5 coats on that guy...I always overkill the poly, but down in the hot Florida sun even 5 coats of good poly needs to be redone at least once a year.

I've got a huge slit drum getting close to being finished, a 3 foot ficus that is going to a neighbors yard,two masks orders in process, various small projects that need to get finished. And one project for me, that i'm just getting into. Of course that one only gets work when i find time...

StumpGrinder is working on a mug. It is sculpted and were about ready to send if off to Helztiki and Poptiki for a few test runs. Were looking forward to seeing the results. Again, i'll wait for pics until they are finished. We want to make sure it works before posting. Hang in there.

Hey JP it is HOT down here and August is the worst. I can only work a few hours before i'm exhausted. The problem is the heat just stays even into the night and it just wears you down. But that is what rum is for. Still hoping things are going well for you. Fingers still crossed.