Benzart 's, Last, most recent thread

Those are some lucky beers. Your eye inlays impress the daylights outta me.
JP

Holy crap thats tiny. When I first saw the picture I thought it was the same size as the others. Looking good.

Thanks JP, yes Lucky beerz. Makes you want a cold one no?
AS, Thanks too. and yes they are Very Small, smaller than I have done in a long time.

Wow - that little guy is impressive man!

Thanks Hewey At least you saw it before I might mess it up.
He is getting to the point where it won't take very much to make him fuel for my MiniChimi, (who must be getting very hungry by now!) This ultra small detail is very nerve-wracking.

how HOW do you do it?!? is it magic? some crazy vodo? WHAT?
your work is so amazing its unreal. whenever i try anything it dosent come close to the great work from you and all the great carvers on TC.

Cripes, that guy is tiny! A real netsuke size masterpiece. What tools are you using to work so small? Are these going to be cast in glass?

Thanks Tiki Duddy, It's magic alright, only I can't show or tell you how I do it. Just say MAgic and leave at that.
Paipo, Thanks Too!. I am using jewelers toolz and miniature chisels and a surgeons scalpel. Also a strap-on magnifying glass.
I had to try some of the Moko tonight so here is another update.

hey ben what kind of jewler tools you got there? what ever it is its working for you

Hey Benzart, realy beautiful work! I can´t wait to see the finish!
Nice weekend, Kai

It's looking very, very cool Ben.

Hiya Ben,
Great detail with the burner on that little guy...i cant imagine the steady hand for that. Please dont feed him to the fire pit...that would be tragic...Hope all is well.

The Malicious Maori! Looking great as always, Ben!

Thanks Tiki Dudy, I have all kinds of jewelers bits for the Foredom, saws, files , buffs, all that kind of junk. I have used a Lot of different tools on this guy
Kai, Thanks, he is Finished now so the next step is to get him to the Bodhi Boy for the glass works.
Bete, thanks my steady # 1 fan, I appreciate your kind words.
Loki. I don't know, he May make the fire pit yet. I thought once today He would already be there but not quite, Thanks.
Sam, Thanks big time, yes the MAlicious one IS Just that. He doesn't know I had the fire pit warming up!

Here are the final pictures of this bad boy. The Macro shots really show all the mistakes and little parts that need more work. It's like I am afraid to look at the macro's for fear the fire pit is next..

FIRE PIT?!?! NO, NO, NO!!! i'm sure somehere (me included) wouldn't mind having it before you burn the poor guy. i think he looks great....especially for how small he is. that's a lot of detail on a small piece. great job!!

Amazing work on such a small piece. How many times did you burn yourself? Personally I really liked the face w/o the lines. The lines seem to take away from the expression on the face. Great work.

Thanks Tiki5-0, I think he is saved from the pit!.
AS, It is amazing how many times I burned my fingers then turned right around and did it all over again in the same place. I finally built an extension for the fire pen to extend almost to the tip and even Then I got a finger in the way. I agree about the lines but it had to match the mug so it had to have the Moko. After I was half way done I figured out how to make finer lines but had to finish up with the heavy lines to keep it balanced.

Mistakes??? Firepit??? No such talk should be coming from you about your work. About my stuff yes, your art, no. Great stuff! We need a video of you doing your handiwork. Watching progress with still photographs makes this seem like magic. Poofff...wonderful things just appear.

JP

i agree with JP there. you should take a video of you doing your work so people can see the techniques you use and all.

Unfortunately I don't own a video camera or I would have taped the process long ago!
Thanks AS and TD

simply WOW

Benz, Great stuff. I might have to go and get my own home beer keg so I can order some tap handles from you, even if I have to wait years on the list... Pelee Jan is very envious of your small stuff, and learning the "ropes" from you, too!

Your work is always so inspirational, Ben. You raise your own bar, and all of ours, with every piece, even when it doesn't seem like you can go any higher. But then, sure as the sun, you come up with something better than the last. It will be cool to see how your new love of the wood burner will evolve with your carvings. It is going to be a wonderful ride. :wink:

Mahalos to Hewey, Freddimon and Finks, I appreciate the kind words and props.. I have plenny wood for tap handles!
Here is the start of Vicious. I didn't want to post pic's until I was fairly sure it wasn't going to feed the Chimmi.

Benzo,

That looks wild....and really small. What are the dimensions on that bugger? It looks like you are gonna need your magnifier to work on him! What's the wood?

-Gman

Is the little "handle" attached to his head so you don't need a pair of tweezers?

I noticed the parallel grain in an earlier post and was wondering: What would have happened if you rotated the design 90 degrees to the left? Would the wood grain be able to hold the same features in this new position? or Did you make the face where it was based on how you would need to carve it, as far as for or agaisnt the grain?
Buzzy

looking awesome (or should i say vicious?!) Benz!

love the way he's still got the agression in his expression.

i notice the moko is carved on this one - will the moko be getting burned too (like malicious?)

can't wait for more progress.

Thanks GMAN, Yes he IS really Small, just 1 inch tall carved in Black Birch and Yes with the magnifiers for sure.
Paipo Thanks, yes the little "Handle" is there so I can attatch him to a small hand Pin Vise which makes life MUCH Easier. Don't know why I didn't think of it before. I spent Way too much time on my hands and knees finding the littlebrat that kept getting away from me. When I'm done I'll remove most of it and just leave the top knot.



Baypark, Thanks, I haven't carved the Sideways grain on this wood, but generally the sideways grain is more difficult to carve and you don't get the best detail, so Yes, I set the carving on the grain to take the best advantage of the wood grain.
Harro, thanks too,
The original piece of this one had a heavy carved Moko which I am trying to reproduce. I don't think I will need to burn this one (unless he misbehaves, then it's into the chimmi)unless I have some clean-up to do. Here is the original which was about 2.5 inches high.


Hopefully I can finish him up today.
Thanks everyone

ben, it's crazy how much detail you can get on something so small. i don't think i could ever do it, but you 'da man! can't wait to see what they'll look like as the pendants and the mugs. i'm sure they'll be awesome. now we just have to wait till december to get our grubby, little hands on them.

that is just too good. the detail is so amazing and its so small!! how have you not gone mad working on that tiny piece?
well its turning out great so looking forward to it when its done.

I spent Way too much time on my hands and knees finding the littlebrat that kept getting away from me.

Benzart, that's hilarious! I really love the carved Moko. The detail is beautiful.

Zaya

Wow Benzart, those are some really cool super detailed mini-tikis. You must have quite some patience and determination to put all that time and effort into your little guys. Have you ever carved Jade? I think that you could make some killer pieces. Hopefully life is treating you well on the other coast.

Will

Thanks Tiki5-0, You clean those grubby little hands before you touch Vicious and Malicious, we wouldn't want to get'em mad now wouldn we.
TikiDuddy, Thanks, I Have gone mad, My mind has takena vacation to some special place and won't come out.
Thanks Zaya, I appreciate the props.
Thanks Will, Patience, I guess I have to have some, Actually I I was a doctor I'd be really rich with all my patients. I tried carving a small piece of Jade and all I managed to do was ruin it and a few tools.

Here is the final update on the Vicious pendant. Finished him up today.

Poofff!!!! There goes the magic again. Those are tiny, it is amazing how you trained those mosquitoes to carve in your style.
JP

These are amazing!! I can't wait to get my set of the pendants!

Thanks for letting us watch the process.

HOLY COw, I Finally found the Chainsaw I have been looking for forever. The one like GMAN promises to have but never shows us? Well HERE IT IS:

And Another model which may have a smaller bar.. And Shelves FULL of Them..Gimme,gimme,gimme!

[ Edited by: Benzart 2006-08-27 11:07 ]

once again, Ben, you blow me away...
Any thoughts on some smaller-scale instruction at the rumored Coon-Tiki 2? The half-benz we did kicked ass, but I'm sure I am not alone in my desire to get some tips on the tiny stuff!

Hurrah for the hook knife!

WOW!! I am REALLY looking forward to The 'Oki 'Oki!!!!

Benz,

If you wanted to borrow my little saw all you had to do is ask. I have both the 1" and the 2" bar for it. Careful though, it doesn't run on premix...it runs on Cox fuel, the kind they put in model planes. When we re-powered it, the best engine I could find was from a small plane. Glad to see you found a distributor of small saws. Too bad they are all Huskys though......

-Gman

Impressive & fascinating Ben, Very Hip....Kelly

On 2006-08-27 11:26, Kapu Kahiki wrote:
once again, Ben, you blow me away...
Any thoughts on some smaller-scale instruction at the rumored Coon-Tiki 2? The half-benz we did kicked ass, but I'm sure I am not alone in my desire to get some tips on the tiny stuff!

Hurrah for the hook knife!

Awesome picture in your signature line Kapu Kahiki.

Nice job on those pendants!

So whats next - a full-body Lono from a grain of rice?

the vicious pendant turned out great ben! it's truly amazing how much detail you get on something so small!! i will try to get my grubby hands clean before i touch vicious and malicious....they already look pretty angry....i wouldn't want to upset them anymore!!! i might loose a finger or something.

"So whats next - a full-body Lono from a grain of rice?"

Don't give him any ideas.....

Hey Kapu, Big Thanks, I Appreciate the props,
As far as a Coon-Tiki-@, I'd Love to do one and I would Love to get down to a More minute size much smaller. It will take more tools though because I use the flexshaft a Lot and smaller chisels as well as the hook knife. Have you cut any fingers practicing with the hook knife??? Thanks again

Heath, yeah the Left Coast 'Oki 'Oki sounds like a real rush, can't wait. Thanks.

GMAN, Yeah I am familiar with thise little engines, the .020, the .049 and the recing fuel and the glow plugs and getting fingers chopped on by the props. Used to make those planes from scratch @ 9 yrs old.
The distributer here was giging them out to those who wanted. Hold out yer hand and get a minisaw, that eazy.Thanx
Ben