Benzart 's, Last, most recent thread

I Know I Know I Know I'm a Slacker but I'm changing it to I WAS A Slacker, You/ll see mw with a mask on of Some kind , SO There
Here is an Update from yesterday:

:D :D :D Yippee!

Oh, what I would give to be able to come and hang out to watch Mr Moai unfold... Looks like a bit of that incredible Lono is rubbing off on him (or is he rubbing off on the Lono? :lol: )

*I meant to ask; what sort of wood are you using?

Ive stopped crying now too Ben; all smiles Down Under!!! :D :D :D Looking great!

Tama :)

Please please please, Ben, take care of yourself and it's good for every carver on TC. Saw dust is very bad as well as every dust...
:( :( :(

Benjamin.

Very nice Ben. Very nice.

Mahalo

McTiki

Just forgot something:

WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW for the (new/old :wink: ) pix.

Benjamin.

Looking cool Ben!

ahhhhh don't they look so in love?!! the two of the them?!! so cute together!!

fantastic work Ben, the future lucky owners of these would be licking their lips for sure!

take care of yourself and make sure to do as they tell you and wear the mask - we still have so much to learn from you!

cheers,
harro

The wood is Honduran Mahogany, Very stable but very chippy. I may inlay the hei-tiki from another hard wood.

Wow Ben- Awesome and inspirational as always. I'm really diggin' Curly. Back to work!!!!

On 2007-02-09 19:27, Benzart wrote:
The wood is Honduran Mahogany, Very stable but very chippy. I may inlay the hei-tiki from another hard wood.

Thanks for that. Inlay sounds great! :D

Tama :D

Argh! Attack of the purple chalk! :)

Nice as usual Ben. And wear that mask or we won't be happy happy happy!
I'm a slacker a lot of time too...sometimes you just think you can hold your breath and
not suck in the dust. But you can't. I'll be a goodboy if you are!

The progress looks good, it is always a treat.

You are my hero, I will wear my respirator more. I have also been thinking about my shop, I think I will install some sort of dust collector system, it does get pretty dusty when the power sander is running. I do most of my sanding outside, but there are times I don't. Thanks for the warning.

JP

On 2007-02-08 20:46, Benzart wrote:
I Know I Know I Know I'm a Slacker but I'm changing it to I WAS A Slacker, You/ll see mw with a mask on of Some kind , SO There
Here is an Update from yesterday:

You dirty old man! tiki porn!!

It's the Bone'zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!

or the BONE? always thinking with the other head... that's what makes the man, The Man

Those are some fine carvings, Ben. Just the name "curly spine" makes me feel like wrenching in pain though! It's going to be a beautiful piece - it is now!

Thanks everyone for all the kind words. Haven't felt much like even turning on the computer here lately but a bit better today. I'll be back later to add mor, Lust know you are ALL Great Peeps, Thanks.

Take it easy Ben, get well quick and feel better!

...Take care Tiki friend, I hope you're feeling better... best wishes! I'm sending you all the healing energy of the south!

Hey Benz, I hear you're not feeling so hot. I am therefore gathering up and hurling ++++++juju in a southeasterly direction. Hopefully it will land in Fla.

Hope You're feeling better real soon Ben.

Thanks Harro, I went and bought a mask that lets Nuthin' in but cleeen air, now to wear it.Thanks.

Welcome to Benzarts pages, Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully you will be carving on some new woods soon and I'm expecting lots of good things from you too!

Hewey, I was Hoping someone would notice the purple chalk, I did it Just for you.

Conga, I'm Wearing it I promise. I worked a bit yesterday and had to use the sanding mini drums on the flex-shaft so I had this mask on for about 30 minutes. Then I had to use chisels and knifes so the mask came off. after about 10 minutes I had to sand again so a smaller, quicker version of the mask came on (Paper dust mask) for about 3 minutes. it went back and forth like this for awhile until I noticed I was sanding with NO Mask. It really snuck up on me and it doesn't take much to get my brain confused but I will get the hang of it. It was nice seeing all that dust on the outside of the mask that would have Been in my lungs! I'm Doing it so you need to too! Thanks Conga.

JP, Oh Yeah, the Dust Collector that does NOT collect dust IF it Isn't ON! I'll Turn it on too! Thanks for the reminder.

Tiki Diablo, Gutter mouth!!! Thanks, I didn't think anyone noticed what the tikis were trying to do,, it's Valentines day you know? :) :) :)

Crazy Al, Yeah, the stack of Bonez, or Bone however you see it just sorts popped out one day when I was thinking of how to change the support sticks of the headdress to something else. I wasn't trying to get the Bone look but it happened and is fun. You know we All love Bones. Thanks Al!

Sam, Thanks. A Pleasure as Always to have you visit. Yes, "Curly Spine" doesn't conjure up Any comfortable images in Any ones head I'm afraid. Strange how things get twisted around. I can see the Spine look and seperately I can see the Curly look of a different part of the headdress, but to combine the two into "Curly spine" I didn't get by looking at the piece. Now that I'm all confused I think I'll curl up and stretch my spine and read a good book, IF I can get Comfortable

Thanks Bete
Thanks Clarita
Thanks Tikidav
Thanks AlienTiki
I appreciate all the "Get Wells" and support, Thanks`!
Here are some pic's from the short time I worked yesterday











And last, my new Assistant

That last carving of the dog is amazingly life-like....especially the glow in the eyes. :D

Hi Benz,

Happy for the new pix, 'cause that means your health is getting better.
Take care of you 'cause there will always be a lot of carvings whereas there's only one Benzart :wink:

Tama's moai has nicely started: grooving curves pretty, neat ones.

A question came to me: Do you sand the parts at the very end or do you sand more frequently ?

Benjamin.

Benz it is such a pleasure to wake up early in the morning and see your carvings, they always look great.

:D :D :D

*Cute assistant; whats her name?

Tama :)

Thanks VampiressRN, I had a Hard time with the eyes and the Mouth, it kept biting.lol
Benella, thank you too. I sand all throughout the whole process, which means I take the mask on and off MANY times. Thanks.
Hiltiki, thank you for your inspiring words and props, they make my day.
Saw the Doctor today and all the tests I have recently had show COPD with Emphysema, partly from old age but mostly from abusing my lungs with 30 years of heavy smoking and many years of breathing Unfiltered lung irritants. IF I wish to keep carving I Must use the dust protection tools I Have in my shop. I have no choice. I think I'll keep carving!
Thanks everyone.

Here's to your health Ben! Many more years of art! Protect your investment!

On the aspect of dust, I've been concerned today.

Working on some new projects and I purchased some new woods for them. I've been working with exotic tropical woods.

So I picked up some Cocobolo Wednesday and my dad and I were cutting slices on the bandsaw. Inbetween adjustments to the rail for different thicknesses I had forgot to kick on the dust collector. Cutting the Cocobolo made a lot of noise, as it is very dense, so I didn't notice the lack of noise from the dust collector. As I read tonight, cutting and sanding Cocobolo makes a very fine dust, which did happen. It has a pungent smell too. While it is not toxic, it still isn't good to breathe it in. Cocobolo has an oil in it and it causes irritation like Poison Ivy. Think of that in your lungs. :(

Anyway, I noticed my mistake and kicked on the collector, not before my dad started with 20 or so sneezes. My sinus is a little stuffy too.
Nontheless, I'll be wearing a mask when working with this stuff in any further cutting and sanding.

It is a good idea if you're not sure about a certain wood to research reactions to it. Everyone's will differ, but taking a few easy precautions can save you problems in the long run.

Ben, PLEEEEZE.....keep carving. Whatever it takes.....Kimmosabe masked man!

Ben, cute dog you got there. Take it easy!

Ben, as usual your stuff is great! I was sorry to read about your health issues, hope you are getting a bit better. You have to keep carving, so use the tools you ahave and wear a mask!

Amy

Ben, there's some serious upper resp infection going on in Fl right now. Nasty stuff! Makes ya want to just curl up with a blankie! Esp. with the chill in the air. Get well soon brother. take it easy and don't rush into anything unless you are up to it. Easy does do it!

Mahalo

Ask Sherrie (sp?)to make you some chicken soup!

McTiki

Sveet stuff Bubba! Tell Tama I'll come get this one from you and mail it over to him myself :P

Thanks to everyone for all the good vibes and well wishes. It has really meant a lot hearing from you all. I will be back to work later this week so I better get things brushed off and ready to go. I have SO Much stuff to do and some Main things to finish, Tools to sharpen and dust collection tools to dig out and get working. No Dust for me.
See you Soon!

Glad to hear it Ben. :D We all can't wait to see what's in store!

I'll be waiting and watching.....be safe.

-Gman

its great to hear ben. cant wait to see more work on your guys there.
now listen to the doc.
NO DUST FOR YOU!!

Sounds like your feeling better, awesome! Sounds like you're going to be very busy too! Take it easy!

Gidday Ben.

Hope all is ok? Its hard not to worry when we dont hear from you. No pressure; you've only got yourself to blame for that one though; your encouraging/entertaining chatter is much appreciated around here.

Cant wait to see moai from you soon. Did I say moai, I meant more... :wink: :lol:

Take care mate!

Tama :)

[ Edited by: Tamapoutini 2007-02-21 13:54 ]

Take care of you boss, because when you don't feel good, Tc don't feel good too :wink:

Benjamin.

HEAD-ON! Dust-Off! BENZ is BACK!!! :D

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Bring em on, Safely!

JP

Looks like tomorrow is the day I canget back to carving for a bit, HappyHappyHappy.

On 2007-02-21 19:04, Benzart wrote:
Looks like tomorrow is the day I canget back to carving for a bit, HappyHappyHappy.

Wear your mask Damnit!!!

( I'm wearing on from now on!!! )

OK OK OK, I wore the mask for awhile to day, but then I only carved for awhile so I wore it while I was sanding. Here is the update on the Moai I worked on today, Enjoy

Grad see you back Mastah. Glasshoppah say, Be good to rungs, only have 2.

Good to hear you are feeling better and are back to work. We need our Benzart fixes regularly and your cheerful support is what keeps many a chisel sharp around the TC world. Stay healthy my friend.

man, ben. i don't post here much because you know how i feel. that's just some tight, tight stuff. i might just buy a ticket out to you to hang out for a weekend.

and what the hell camera is that? those macro shots are saaaweeeet!!

please pass on your hands and brain to me.