Benzart 's, Last, most recent thread

Looking good, Ben. You're gonna have people renewing their vows so's you can make them cake toppers after this.

Wow Benzart, He is looking SWEET!
(pushes chair away from computer and continues the wave)

Looking AWESOME!

Crazy man! I guess I don't need to tell you how careful to be sanding those little fingers and toes! what are you using on these guys - cratex burrs?

Those take the cake for the coolest toppers I've ever seen.(Oh that sounded so lame.) The Hula girl is insanely good and this tiki looks to be the perfect companion.

Hope you're in good health and spirits so we can see the finished pieces real soon.

Thanks for posting the pics!

Well I Had to open a piece of wood today. I Love carving the Jade and stone but I Really Missed the wood. This is a piece of Palo Escrito from a Guitar Manufacturer where they make Classical boxes with it. It's a gift to him for sending me all that wood. This is some Really Sweet working wood, not to mention beautiful. Thanks Ron.

TIGHT! That is some seriously sexy wood!

Damn! That grain is really something to look at on its own, and the colors. Sweet, looking forward to more on that.

-Now I dont even know wood, but I can see that is nice!! Beautiful patterning/grain. Is it a heavy wood? Sensitively carved kotiati/patu too Ben, nicely done. Im sure your friend will treasure it.

Good to get that familiar smell back in your nostrils, but still wearing the mask too I hope..?!

:D :D :D to see you back at it! Keep us posted.

Tama :)

Woohoo! Wood! :D Gorgeous wood and nice work with the design on it. The jade guy is cool too

I saw this piece in person last night. As cool as the pics look, they pale in comparison to the real thing. It looks magical when you turn it in the light. The grain jumps out and turns to life. It's also very hard and heavy as hell. I can't wait to see what Ben does with this one!

YYYYYIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Benz is back with the wood. :wink:
Beautiful maori design dear Ben, it will be a masterpiece ( another one :wink: )
Will you use the hook knife ?
Beutiful wood. What is the brand of the guitars?

Thanks everyone, Gman, BigHodad-dy Reid, and Tama, Yes it was great to smell the wood and Yes with the Mask. Thanks too Hewey, Finky and Ben, Yes I ALWAYS find a use for the Hook, Can't live without it. Don't know the brand this wood came from it was just from a friend 'In the business". Here are a few updates and Progress shots.

Ben,

That so rocks! You know I love the layed down spirals!!! :D

Simply amazing!

That grain is almost as impressive as the carving!

well now ain't that fancy! Very cool stuff Ben, thanks for the multiple pics to give us
some idea of what in the heck you are doing there. Great to see you working in wood again.

The way the carving works with the grain.....that piece is spectacular.. BigBenz, topnotch as always..

I likes da wood good to see you carving it again:)

The curves are very neat.
Very nice looking piece, Ben.
Thanks for the shots that are real lessons.

Good Morning Ben,

The work looks stunning as usual.

Wonderful pictures....Hope you don't mind a couple of amateur questions? I'm still not feeling that comfort level with my knifes yet...of the 4 knifes that my kids brought me, I don't think that any are a "hook knifes" judging from your pictures...I have two curved knifes like this (big and small), but the edge is on the outside of the curve not towards the inside.

Do you find yourself pulling the blade more towards you to make a cut, or do you primarily push the blade away from you, or is it a combination of the two?

What type of bit are you using on your rotary tool there....it looks like a weird sand paper type set up?

Many thanks,

Babalu

WOW, another great piece, the grain is amazing!

AMy

Simply beautiful, the flow of your carve with the grain of the wood.

Mrs Hoptiki

Looks cool.

Nice to see you back on the wood Ben - the New Zealand style is outstanding. Looking forward to seeing a large piece soon...hopefully I can get over to your place in the future and see your stuff firsthand and have a beer.

hey benz, beautiful designs you got going there. that wood looks amazing. always like to see your wood carvings.
im also a fan of the stone too.

Ben...Just stopped by the house of Buzz for a minute tonight...he showed me the Benzart way of using a hook knife...I get it...thanks.

Thanks everyone for the extra input on the last series of photos. It is clear that you all want more pictures of the Actual progress showing the tools,chips and dust and other stuff so I will try to make an effort to show more like that.
Thanks GMAN, Heath and Raffer (long time No see :) :) :) ), Conga you too as well as Freddi, Keigs and Ben.
Babalu, you know I don't mind Any Questions so Fire away any time! The Hook blade is VERY Identifiable by the Immediate FEAR it provokes when first spotted. I push away, towards, up, down and sideways, or any other angle when cutting with the hook. It is just like any other tool, it has MANY uses other than the intended "Push away from yourself" ideology,(don't know if that word fits but it looked good!)
The "Bit" on that micro motor is just a sand paper disc that has been bent into submission, again by not using as intended!
Thanks for the questions. I will have to start a "Q & A" thread sometime.

Amy, Mrs Hoptiki and bete, thank you also. Marcus thorn, I will Gladlyhave a beer9or near beer) with you As soon as you arrive. I'll have a Cold one waiting so HURRY!

Tiki Duddy, thanks and babalu, I'm glad you received some expert intigrating into the world of Hook knifing from Dr Buzz. I take it you were able to see and get the REAL Hook?

Later today I will post more pictures. Sorry for the Amount of them but I DO resize than down to try and make the loading a bit faster. Maybe I should start a thread with One picture per post, would that help you guyz unfortunate enough not to have the broadband capability? At least you Can get online even if it is slow.
Later!
OH Yes, I Almost forgot!! I'm at a jade carving standstill until the crew finishes slabbing out my latest little jade stone: Sorry for the pic quality but they Were too busy to do it right.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2007-05-10 07:01 ]

Looks like there might be a paua inlay going in on the left there? Sweet carve and beautiful wood Benz!
PS these progress pics are great - I can work out a lot from them by having the tools you're using in shot on the various stages of completion.

myspace

[ Edited by: Paipo 2007-05-10 15:37 ]

On 2007-05-10 06:57, Benzart wrote:
It is clear that you all want more pictures of the Actual progress showing the tools,chips and dust and other stuff so I will try to make an effort to show more like that.

Yes we would. Every post of yours has some great lessons.

JP

Thanks Paipo, I Know the progress shots help and with that in mind today, I went to work with camera in hand With a dead battery and by the time I remembered to take it off the charger, I was done for the day, but Tomorrow I PROMISE, Here is what I did today.

Images uploaded by you in the last 24 hours:
How do I include these images in my posts?

Ddddddddddamn! If that doesn't take the cake I don't know what does!

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-05-10 17:38 ]

Good gobbeldygook! That is reeeeeeeeeeal nice.

If it can be explained in writing I'd love to see a breakdown on hook knife technique.

Well, you fooled me! I thought there was going to be a little koru motif in there with a paua disc in the centre, but I see the power of the tiki has prevailed! This club type is usually called a Wahaika and is my favourite style of Maori club - Waha = mouth, Ika = fish - "Mouth of the Fish". They vary quite a bit but the concave curve with a tiki on one side and the kotiate-style notch on the other are consistent features. You gonna tikify the butt too?

Thanks Gman, No I took the cake and Ate all of it, Ha! :)
Thanks Big Hodad-dy Reid, I will try to take a few pictures tomorrow using the hook knife to give you an idea as I really don't think I could put it into words.
Paipo, thanks to you too, I wasn't sure until today which way I was going with that space. After looking at a zillion pictures I chose this route and will mess up the butt too. Glad you like it. Guess I'll have to change the header, thanks!

Beautiful work, Benz. EVERYONE'S progress shots are ALWAYS appreciated and ALWAYS awesome. That's what keeps the Carving Forum moving in my book. Personally I would love to see more Benzart weapons - BTW is this your first?

Hey we were flippin' through the Club Med brochure & noticed one in Port St. Lucie. Nina & I honeymooned in Club Med Moorea, Tahiti & loved it so now you're on our vacation radar, my friend!

Cheers,

Aaron

On 2007-05-10 21:11, Aaron's Akua wrote: Personally I would love to see more Benzart weapons - BTW is this your first?

I meant to ask that too and forgot....other than your taiaha styled pendants, I don't recall ever seeing any Benzart warclubs or weapons. Is this the start of a new series/era of Benz magic? If so, the guy getting this is doubly lucky!

Beautiful Benz!
Everything you touch turns into something beautiful and filled with thet special something!
The whole "using tools/materials as they were not intended to be used" is one of those things
that only time and actual "hands on" experience can provide...Even a bent and flawed brush can bring a texture and stroke that no other brush can provide! great work, as usual! :)

That´s realy awesome. Such acuteness and cleanliness work makes a master carver.
That´s also a beautiful piece of wood. I admire your perfection. Greetings!

Thanks Aaron, glad to see you here again. Yes this is my First Weapon except the taiaha here and there, glad you like it. I'm Sure there will be a few more in the near future too!
Yes there IS a Club Med here and not far from my home,,COME ON DOWN?

Paipo, Thanks for the kind words. I received 5 boards, all with split ends and all about 1 inch thick with Beautiful grain. Palo Escrito and Ziricote were the 2 types. I have been searching for Something different to create with this stock that would showcase the beautiful grains in this wood. Finally I decided on this weapon type, a first for me but there will be more with these boards. I didn't really want to get into weapons because there are already a few carvers doing them and you know me, I Love to do Different things, but the wood made the choice easy for me. Thanks for the background lesson.

Thanks LLT, Compliments from you are to be cherished. Using tools is a topic that is very dear to me and one that is difficult to explain in mere words. I'm a "Tool" person and love to browse through tool catalogs. It's amazing how much you can learn just from SEEING a tool and reading the descriptions, then letting your mind wander to where you could Really go with this tool or what you could Really DO with this tool...I Ramble too much. Thanks Ken.

Thanks Haikai, you touched on another one of my pet peeves, a Clead carving. What that means is taking the extra time to use all the tools at your disposal to Finish the cuts that you make. Simply just refining the work a bit further. We can all do it and Most work deserves it. There Are pieces that are quick, Down and dirty, which you won't want to spend any more time on than necessary.
Rambling again..Thanks

Sweet work, Ben!

Beautiful weapon!! (this sounds strange, but true ) :)

Simply stunning to watch!

Thank you Ben!

Inspiring and continualy raising the freakin bar!

Mahalo

Thanks Pappy, Clarita and McTiki, Always appreciate the kind words.
As Promised here are some progress shots showing a few tools.
Except that I posted them backwards. The first pic should be the last, no biggie.

Hey!!!! Watch those finger dammit! Where's the gloves????

absolutly beautiful, Benz. everyone's right- those hands-on pics are gems for the rest of us. i've been stopping in to peek a look at you guys once in a while, but not nearly enough. thanks for the continuous insperation.

Thank you Ben!

These few pictures say a million words.

Thanks McTiki, but Gloves? See those scars all over my hands and fingers? They are proof that you don't need no stinkin' gloves (my apologies Loki!) Gloves eliminate the sense of touch you need to do it right and things heal and besides, you are more careful without gloves.

Thanks Greentikipat And Babalu, Thats the inspiration I need to keep the camera rolling. I'll try to get more explanations squeezed in there too. I have LOTS of Secrets dying to et out so don't be afraid to ask. I will not do any more to this piece until Monday as I usually don't carve on the weekends, those 2 days are set aside to share with my Bride.
cheers