Davez-tikiz - finally finished Lono 6-11 p.10

The Ku looks good sitting on the bar. I've had issues with brittle or soft sap wood as well, I've gotten to the point, if I am carving pine, I cut it off most of the time. It's fun to watch the results of Coontiki.
JP

Doubs, you are Really goin' to town. Like Swank, I Love how you mounted your Yipwon. The Ku came out great, that Redwood is Beautiful wood, but tricky to carve, Well done. Now the Keghandle also looks like he's gonna be a winner. What else you have up your sleeve, you're Killin' us here...

JP... thanks. Aaron warned me about the brittle sapwood, but it was too thin to cut it out... so I figured what the hell.

Ben... thanks my friend. I saw one mounted like that in a hotel in San Diego a few months back... gave me the idea. A few more things are up my sleeve... but they will take a little while. More to come..

I've been doing a crappy job of posting lately, although I have been carving. Workin on several pieces at once... here's some progress pics (Thought if I posted it would give me incentive to get some stuff done!)

A marq totem style from fanpalm:

a little Lono from Podocarpus (about 14" tall)

The first a rear pole of a future Tiki hut... its 6' tall

The second pole- to go in the front. Its 7' tall from Pine

With those killer poles your carving that is going to be one mana filled tiki hut!

I am a fan of your marq totem !
Will you stain it or let it natural ?

Benjamin.

Sneaky, thanks! I hope so... onceI get a little farther, I'll post some pics in the other crafts forum.

Benella.. thanks as well.. its gonna go in the backyard, so I may just burn a few spots for contrast and marine varnish it. I never know until it's done.

A little progress on the tiki hut pole... roughed out arm #2, and started on the feet..

Dem feets looks like Gimlin/Patterson bigfoots feets :D The pole looks killer! Lots going on over there aye? Damn...I better get chopping.

-Gman

Damn Dave, don't know how I missed all this last week. Great looking post. I owe you like, three `comments. Guess I was busy looking at Davez Drinkez. I hope your chemistry buddies don't mind you hanging out here for a awhile.
can't wait to see the whole post project hut thingy.
But, don't you think those little tikis should wear life vest when they are around the pool. If that one little guy slipped off of the slide. Did you go ice skating in the pool while it was snowing?

Don't answer any of these questions because you got way too much work to do.
Later Dave
Buzzy

wow that is looking good. its gonna turn out great. oh ill be checking in on these updates for sure.

WOW !

The marq was really cool but the Ku is AMAZING !!!
Really good.
Show us more and more progress shots.

Benjamin.

G.. thanks.. now get busy!

T Duddy, Benella, thanks! I've been going really slowly on him.. since he'll be a tiki hut pole I wanted him to come out right. I'm glad that seems to be working. Thanks for the compliments...

BuzzMan..... you got it.. it's me... chemistry free.. no mai tais for me.. can't talk now gotta carve .. no time.. clean and sober Davez OUT!

Another update.... did some work on the hands and feet of the tiki hut pole. Do thefeet look too big?

Yet another.... started this Lono yesterday. He's mexican fan palm.

Nice carvings Dave, It's good to have you posting over here more again.

JP

Thanks Johnny... its good to be back in the groove.

Here's tonight's update.... started working on the mouth. Trying to get the teeth/tongue thing going.. never done it quite like this before...

any help welcome!!!!

Update for today.. more work on the teeth...pretty much finished the rough work on the mouth.Just started on the eyes....

Sweet stuff Dave. Glad to see you kicking around here again. I think this guy is gonna be your best yet. He's coming together beautifully! I was only kidding when I said he had Bigfoot feetz :D

-Gfoot

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-02-07 04:53 ]

really nice, let the chips fly :)

Benjamin.

Holy cow, nice work and lots of it! You are really starting to step it up
and I love the big feet on your tiki pole. Keep in mind that a lot of us
(me,GMan,Ben) are really into toes, so think of us when you are chizzlin!

Gfoot.. thanks for the props... I am liking this one.

Ben.. thanks! No updates today... hoping to get back at it tonight.

Conga... thanks! Been saving the toes for last. I always seem to chip up the wood when I try to do fingers or toes.. gotta get it right this time!

Worked a little tonight... sanded the mouth a little. Worked some on the eyes and nose. The nose has me a little frustrated. Any suggestions?

Hi Dave! Ku says check me out after my plastic surgery:

Like my new nose, he says.

This is a great piece so far Dave.
Buzzy

dave! great work! i like the style of that one. how hes kinda standing on an angle. like the feet alot. man this is gonna be one great piece. keep the pictures comming.
hope to see more soon

here's today's updates.... first... a foot shot for Gman's fetish!!!!

then... progress on the lono..

Aloha, Dave! Your layout/drafting skills are really coming out in these recent posts. Super tight - lookin' good!

A-A

Thanks Aaron! That means a lot coming from someone who is such a master at those skills!

Great progress on the lono. It has your style. The toes are laid out really nice and even that must have taken a long time to get them that way.

JP

Johnny.... thanks! That's so cool... I have a STYLE! I consider that high praise... put a grin on my face for about an hour...

Here's today's update.. first the hut pole... started on headdress detailing.. but my parting tool is a little too small...

and later did some work on Lono... started roughing out the headdress and eyes...

hey man its looking good. i like the design you got on the bigger one. and the lono is gonna come out good aswell.
take care

Hey double D, you've really got some great stuff going on !
I like to see when a carver has more than one piece going at at a time. Good to see you crankin' out the carvings. Keep it coming! Lookin' GREAT!

Hey dave! great looking tikis! that hut pole is looking really good! - the mouth/teeth/tongue is really tight and those eyes are going to pop! VERY nice layout. For the small parting tool - remember it's not the size that counts. You can also use your straight/flat chisels and go back and forth on the sides of the headdress. Takes longer, but does the same thing. Then, put your parting tool down inbetween and even it out a bit at the bottom.

That lono is looking HOT too - great bod on that badboy...MEOW!!!

Great looking tikis and great progress shots! thanks!

Duddy... thanx... the big one has been quite a learning experience... so far so good.

8 ft... thanx. I'm too ADHD to work on one piece at a time... I get impatient and the quality suffers. This way, when I get frustrated with one, I switch and work on another.

Polynesiac.. wow.. thanks for the kind words. I though about doing the flat chisel.. but there's a lot of headdress! I've been using the foredom/wecheer recip carver on the headress detail.. gives a uniform depth and nice clean cut. But the only size I have is the 3/8". Just ordered an adapter to use some other flexcuts, which should let me use my 5/8". Hopefully that will do the trick.

To all the encouragement from everyone... thanks! You guys keep me going, especially when something doesn't work and I get convinced i'm a hack! Thanks a million!

Last update for the weekend... I'm off to the big island for 4 days (cry for me...). Went and bought a Stubai 5/8" parting tool to make the headress lines a little bigger....

Here's the plan for the rest of the wood... extend the headress and maybe put some sort of inlay on the diamond area in the middle.

Awesome Dave. Keep em coming.

McTiki

Very nice.....extremely nice......

Dave you are kicking butt on your recent carvings, looking like the work of an
"old master." This latest one will be really nice when he's finished. Now,
have a good time on vacation and steal some ideas for your next carving!

Ditto what Conga said, looking really great. But you better hurry up and finish this guy before GMAN sic's a pig on'ya for bringing up his "FOOT FETISH", He's gonna get you!

Feet actually creep me out....and my hogs mostly only play dead :D

Sweet chops Dave. You made me smile today in an otherwise smile-less day.

-Gman

Great update on your carving! he's really coming along nicely. How tall is the tiki on the pole?

McTiki, Conga, Dale... thanks! Came back with lots of ideas... and the flu :(

Ben, G, Poly.. thanks as well... it was great to come back to such great praise. The pole itself is 8' tall... but the tiki from toes to forehead is about 3 1/2 feet.

I'll be back on it ASAP... gotta kick this flu crap!

Aloha,

Dave

Alright.... feelin better... back to work!!!!

progress on the tiki hut Ku pole..

finished the headress...

and the back....

and a little progress on Lono.... headress stuff.

Here it is after one coat of stain...

I rerally like it... except for in some parts, there is a big diff between the darkest stain and the lightest... here's a pic showing the contrast...

For example, the top of his chest and feet are really dark, whereas some spots around his knees and upper arms are really light. It's only had onecoat so far.

Is there any way to help this? Should I sand the darker areas? Just add second and third coats to the lighter areas? Just add more coats to everything and it will lessen? Just live with it?

I'm use to palm wood... which pretty much stains evenly. I do really like it... and the differences make it look kind of aged.. I'm just wondering if I can help it a little... any thoughts?

Aloha, have you tried some Min Wax pre stain, wood conditioner yet? http://www.minwax.com/products/woodprep/prestain.cfm .You could put in a small trigger sprayer or small hand pressure pot with more capacity. There's also stain/dye pens to spot darken the light areas if another coat of stain doesn't do it for you. I don't like the Min wax ones too much, alot of solvents and takes a while to fully dry. Sometimes the solvents in the clear coat reactivates the restained areas and turns it back to liquid and wipe off the color when you a brush. Some woodCraft stores carry a type of stain pen similar to marsh pens, I think Alchol based which dries quickly and allows multiple coats of color. Just color in and wipe/dab with your finger or rag(rag will take off alot) to blend in the area. Hope this offers another option. Aloha, Freddie

_________________[ Edited by: HOUSE OF KU 2007-03-05 01:45 ]

[ Edited by: HOUSE OF KU 2007-03-05 01:57 ]

Freddie... thanks for the tip. I had not heard of pre-stain... but it sounds like it would have been the right choice (had I know before..) I'll try another coat and then use one of the products you mention...

cool... another trip to Lowes!

Excellent stuff here Davez. Yes, the pre-stain or Stain sealer or sanding sealer or clear stain,, they will All work on this Wild Pine grain. Try sanding it with 150 grit and NO Higher to get the stain to penetrate better too. When you sand it with finer grits, the wood poores get closed and clogged up and the stain will not soak in. After you stain and it dries, then you can sand finer for the final finish.
keep up the Really nice work.