Norwegian Woody

Hei Tikis!
I´m a guy that has had an interest in tikis for a while now, but the actual interest in wood carving did arrive just some months ago.
In May, my neighbor cut down a tree that was blocking the sun, and the stem was left naked on the root, standing there, yearning to be ornamented. I asked if I could have it for making a tiki, and I got it without question.

My issues then started to build up, cause I know nothing of wood, carving or tools. So I´ve had to do my fair share of research through the web. After looking at massive amounts of websites I also did find Tiki Central.
It seems like Tiki Central is one of the better places on the Internet when it comes to info on how to make a tiki, so I´ve kept coming back here several times to gain knowledge before starting on the real deal.

I have, like so many others, to thank Buzzy for doing what he´s doing. I have read about half of his discoveries, noting down and sketching a lot the last days. Brilliant stuff Buzzy! I also actually went to Canada in July to research totems of the First Nations People in British Colombia. They are amazingly great woodcarvers. I have also been to New Zealand and done research on Maori carvings earlier this year. I really love that stuff.

What I need is help.
Since I still know (almost) nothing about carving I hope it´s possible to get in touch with tikis here that are interested in throwing some ideas and suggestions out.

The log I have been so lucky to get a hold on is from a noble pine-wood tree. I have understood that the tree makes a bad one for the fireplace, since it burns so fast, but hope it´s still workable for carving. The size is 2,45m long and 60,5 cm fat. And yes, it weights more than a ton, so I thought to hollow it out (like the First Nations do it) might make it lighter, and then, easier to move.

Here´s some pictures of the log and me.

May Our Fire Burn Forever!

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2006-08-25 07:50 ]

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2006-08-25 15:58 ]

Well, now some days have gone by and I´ve been burning my brain to get this logger goin´.
But the progress have been made.
I stripped the bark off the log with an axe and a hammer. It went off really easy.

Then we cut a piece off on the backside to take off some weight, the thing was weighing a ton.

Then to move it into the garage I got hold on some rolling sticks from a neighbor down the road.

"The Gyptian way"

Then I asked my mom if I she knew if there were any tools I could borrow at her work,
cause she works at a practical high-school.
I asked one of her colleagues and he had this awesome angle grinder with some blades
especially made for woodcarving. The blades are called Lancelot, I´ll post some pics of it later.
And then I went to work.
As you can see, I´m not really experienced, and the carving is still not really sophisticated.

Mark up with chisels.

1st day of carving

2nd day of carving

But it still makes a pretty nasty scowl.

May Our Fire Burn Forever!

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2008-08-09 11:57 ]

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2008-08-09 11:59 ]

Wow man straght into it! Thats a mutha of a log you got there. Welcome to TC and make sure you cruise the tiki carving threads cause there is some gold in there. Post plenty of pics and have fun!

Yeah you go boy!

This is a great place for education and inspiration. Read the posts from BenzArt, Basement Kahuna, GMan, Crazy Al... and lots of others. Check out the "Tools carvers use" topic in this thread somewhere.

Good luck, and welcome!

Stingray,

Yeah man, put it to that big old log. Get your cuts deep in there as that is one massive piece. Remember to leave yourself room to work inside your initial feature drawing. Try to keep your cuts clean and have fun. Be safe and stop when you are tired. Keep us posted :)

-Gman

Thanks for the great feedback!

I´ve taken the recommendations from G-man and carved deeper and with cleaner cuts.
It has really worked out well. I´ll post pics of it as soon as I´m able to get into the action again.

What I mean is that I´ve been forced to do a break from the carving lately,
something that has been sort of a downer, because the tool that
I´ve been using has lost a small piece.
The angle grinder I´ve used started to vibrate way more than safe
and got steamy as a red hot chili taco, so I had to throw in a time out.

But today I´m back, with a new tool. I bought a Black & Decker 1200W angle grinder with a dead mans switch
this afternoon, and it has quite a nice handle to!
So I´m very happy and excited and can´t wait to see this log erected...hehe...

I now have a job to do.
I´ll keep you all posted about the development.
And in the meantime I´ll paste up some of my previous sketches for this project.

I have to keep carving

Well, It COULD go good...

As long as I keep my tongue straight...

Or else I could encounter experiences really out of this world...

Reeeeally spaced out stuff man...

Outta the head kinda...

Or I might meet some really strange guys like this...

And wild cannibal animals...

With weird head gear...

That turn into steel robots...

And that change color from red to green...

Nææææ!!!!!

I´ll think normal tikis are good enough...

Normal Tikis ay?!!!

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2006-09-14 15:32 ]

This sketch is rad!!!

Welcome to TC El Stingray

Keep at it. This is going to be huge!

Great start

Mahalo

McTiki

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your support!
I´ll dig into this big dipper as fast as possible!
And yeah, cool that you like the sketch.
I did that one in a big old ghost house I used to live in in New Zealand.
Might have been influenced by it.

Amazing sketches!!! Im sure you will have no probs envisioning where you want you want the sculpts to go... Where abouts in NZ were you? TamaTT

AWE! Compliments received! Just makes me want to do more!
I was living in Christchurch for about a month. It´s kind of an eerie place.
And I got lost so many times in my neighborhood, cause the houses look so alike...hehe...
Loved NZ though, amazing is not a big enough word.
I also had an encounter with a Tongan woman that I will never forget. All respect to those powerful people!

Very cool sketches , Now you just need to get them carved.
I know what a downer it is when life gets in the way of carving, but the wood and tools are always glad to see you when you return.

El Stingray,

Post some pics of that monster log when you get to a nice point to take pics. I can't wait to see what you've done.

-Gman

Hej granne! ackuratt.

I hope you get skilled enough to make thoose sketches into real tikis.
You´ve got some mad skills!

Hey Sting..great work..keep it up.

Excellent sketches and a good start on your first tiki. Don't give up on it as it's looking like he will be a Winer.

Hej!

Nice drawings :) and that is one big boy your carving! Cool to see more Nordic people in here too! I have been working alot in Norway, but only seen lots and lots of trolls, no tikis....exept from those at the Heyerdal Museum ofcourse :)
But I see things are gonna change!

Looks like you Scandinavian guys are starting your own tiki revolution up there. Really nice sketches, I love the charcoal one (if that's what it is) too. Those are some scary tikis!
PS like Tamapoutini I've also lived in Christchurch before, for about 15 years but I left about 7 years ago. Nice to know you've got a kiwi connection!

Nice sketches man! love to see some more, a nice style to em.

On 2006-09-14 21:54, tikidreams wrote:
Hej granne! ackuratt.

It´s excellent to get to read el "Sweet Brotha"s language like that!

Det duger!

On 2006-09-15 12:36, Paipo wrote:
like Tamapoutini I've also lived in Christchurch before, for about 15 years but I left about 7 years ago. Nice to know you've got a kiwi connection!

Thanks very much for the support! Yeah, I enjoyed the stay in NZ, it was worth my life, kinda, cause now I can pass into the other world a smiling man:) I love the maori ways. Just as I recognized a haka through the radio the other day, it put me right back into the what we call up North an "Adder" bush, like the special jungle trees you have that is a big inspiration for the maori wood carving and tattoos.

Hi dear carvers.
It´s been a while since I´ve been on Tiki Central, but it´s because I´ve been busy busting my arse around carving, researching etc. It takes time to make yar own for the first time. At least when you know nuttin´bout techs and tools.
I´m posting the latest pics of Kong Tiki so you can see which stage I´m at. The tiki is not typical traditional, but that´s on purpose, cause of the importance of history in your own piece. It´s like to be an ancestor right? Cool. So check it out!
I´m using a Black & Decker angle grinder and just bought a small cordless Dremel multi tool that I´m gonna try out next time I´m home in Fredrikstad and my parents garage. (They must be a little agitated cause of all that sawdust on the car by now, shit.) What I would like to now about, and get, is a small one hand chainsaw. If that´s something that´s awailable on the market. Anybody knows? Excellent!

Wow! That is a scary Kong-tiki. He looks like a wolfman-tiki to me. Nice work El Stingray!

Cool Tiki, Stihl do a pruning chainsaw MS 200 T that you can use one handed

WELCOME to TC MakuTiki, Glad to have you here!
Looks like you have a Lot of Bottled up tiki art waiting to Explode there. You are getting some Excellent detail too, can you post pictures of all the tools you are using?
Nice tiki.

On 2007-05-08 01:18, Sneakytiki wrote:
Wow! That is a scary Kong-tiki. He looks like a wolfman-tiki to me. Nice work El Stingray!

Hehe. Well, every Tiki has it´s personality. Inspired by the dark Norwegian woods and the creatures of the night, this is the look of it.
Thanks!

On 2007-05-08 02:04, cheekytiki wrote:
Cool Tiki, Stihl do a pruning chainsaw MS 200 T that you can use one handed

Thanks for the tip mate. Found this one: http://woodsmanequipment.com/product.php?productid=MS%20200T
Seems like a good one actually.

Hey El Sting,

I was in Oceanic Arts in Los Angeles this week and Bob, one of the owners, said that some Norwegians were just there buying tikis for their new tiki bar/restaurant in Oslo.
I forget what it will be called.

Maybe if you get Kong Tiki done you can store it at the new resaurant.

Skal,
Erik

:music: Isn't it good, Knowing she would. :music:

Great thread Stinger!
Congrats on your new kid.

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga 2007-05-10 22:25 ]

On 2007-05-10 11:29, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
Hey El Sting,

I was in Oceanic Arts in Los Angeles this week and Bob, one of the owners, said that some Norwegians were just there buying tikis for their new tiki bar/restaurant in Oslo.
I forget what it will be called.

Maybe if you get Kong Tiki done you can store it at the new resaurant.

Skal,
Erik

Hi Mr. NoNaMe
Cool that you heard about it. The Tikibar I think you refer to is called Aku Aku, and is located at Grünerløkka in capital city of Oslo, – if you´re in the neighborhood, you might wanna pop in for a mug. It´s very popular, always has a long line outside and is pretty expensive place to drink (the mucho cluroso y cachondo wahines hanging around might even that one out.). The owner, Jan Vardøen, is also having another bar called Bar Boca beside Aku Aku and is known through all of Norway serving the best tropical drinks. I´ve been to Aku Aku a couple of times, being a little disappointed that I haven´t seen a life sized Tiki in there yet. I might have a word with him. Skål mate!

On 2007-05-08 04:17, Benzart wrote:
WELCOME to TC MakuTiki, Glad to have you here!
Looks like you have a Lot of Bottled up tiki art waiting to Explode there. You are getting some Excellent detail too, can you post pictures of all the tools you are using?
Nice tiki.

Hi Benzart.
I will post pics of the tools I use as soon as possible. For me it takes a while to finish the Tiki, since I live in Oslo and the Tiki is placed an hour drive away at my parents place, I don´t get to carve as much as I´d like to. I´m thinking of getting a stable, very small Chainsaw, making it easier to carve faster and deeper into the wood. Now I´ve used a bent big old saw, only for cutting down trees with, a Black&Decker angle grinder, first using an Exalibur blade that was way too nasty and out of control, and then I´ve changed the disk to a course sandpaper, much safer. At the moment I´m using a small chordless Dremel tool, making the ornaments on the tiki. I will post shots of it probably when I next go for a carving visit.

My Tattoo!!!

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2008-08-09 12:02 ]

Du borde vara här oftare!
Bra jobbat iaf!
Kolla min tråd.

[ Edited by: tikidreams 2007-07-21 23:30 ]

Takk broder. Ja jeg vet at jeg burde vært på Tiki Central oftere, men noen ganger tar jo ting tid....! Skal sjekke threaden din mann!

On 2007-07-21 23:30, tikidreams wrote:
Du borde vara här oftare!
Bra jobbat iaf!
Kolla min tråd.

[ Edited by: tikidreams 2007-07-21 23:30 ]

Nice stuff there, you do the Ooga Mooga? Excellent!

Hi everybody!
After a year of pesching rain and driech weather in Scotland I have now returned to you.
The carving goes very slow since I'm not often in the garage these days.
Anyway, I got some questions about affixing some shots of my tools, so here they are:

Until now I have been using Black & Decker angle grinder [1] with some coarse sandpaper wheels.
(In the start I used some really vicious Excalibur blades (chainsaw looking) on the grinder,
but when the thing started to unscrew itself while I worked I had it. I was just too dangerous.

I am using a wireless Dremel tool [2] for ornamentation and details,

and I have been using a slightly bent chainsaw [3] This one is understandably quite biased,
and the chain keeps falling off.

I'm also posting the latest progress on my first born Tiki, so you can have a look on how things are progressing.
– Like I say, this will take a while…

I can't answer a thing, but I'm glad you returned! Looking forward for updates!

Hey Clarita. I took a look at your myspace and the candles are fantastic.
Are you selling the them?
I loved the background music too.
Great surf. Gotta go and find some records of the band.

'''el Stingray'''

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2008-08-10 05:15 ]

Hard to carve with a Bent Chain saw? Looks like you're doing pretty well. Good luck and Keep us updated.

It's coming along great, man. Mine take forever too. Just keep plugging along. :)

Hi guys, here's Kong Tiki!
I'm happy with the outcome, even if it took some time for us to get there.
Hope you like him.

Standing, but still raw.

Here I have added roach control. Makes the wood look good.

Lastly I painted him with Trebitt (Mahogany color), a Norwegian color base,
that is a bit transparent so the wooden texture gets a little visual.

…And here's the final outcome :)

Hey hey! It's Ready!
– And it would be good to get some feedback for future projects :)

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2008-11-09 16:31 ]

Nice work on this guy lots of detail and life in him
that comes out well.

On 2008-11-10 21:37, seeksurf wrote:
Nice work on this guy lots of detail and life in him
that comes out well.

Cheers Seeksurf! Yeah he´s aaalive and healthy, a true Norse Tiki!

Frost is good for Tiki. Frost make Tiki happy!

MY TIKI IS EXHIBITED AT THE WORLD FAMOUS KON-TIKI MUSEUM, AT BYGDØY, OSLO THIS SUMMER!
The Kon-Tiki museum is founded by internationally recognized explorer and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and it is a great honor to have my work exhibited at this incredible museum. To read more about the exhibition please follow this link:
http://www.kon-tiki.no/Ny/nyeutstill.php

• The flyer above is not the official.
  I made it for the fun of it and to attract some attention.

Right On! Congrats!

Good thinking and Kong Tiki looks great, just don't forget he's in the backyard or you might have a heart attack.

Excellent stuff stingray

Kong Tiki at the Kon-Tiki museum!

Picture taken by my photographer friend Martin Andersen