My first Tiki from Grizztiki....next step? to burn or not to burn...

Hello there folks, i just finished carving my first tiki and wanted a little advice... do you all think I should burn the little guy or just stain him... i call him twintiki because whilst I was carving him I noticed that when I turned him over...there was his brother on the bottom... so I carved this double face depending on which way you hold him... my daughter pointed out that the back looked somewhat like a tiki as well.... but.... I think I'll stick with the front for now... I've carved before (bears and what not) but this is my first tiki...(started small) I would appreciate any comments or suggestions... This little guy took me a week(realisticaly only a few hours being I carved for a few minutes a day throught the week)....I'm moving on to something bigger now! like a 4 foot chunk of cedar...I'll keep posting progress work as soon as I have time. Lemme know








Sorry about the whole sideways thing...I edited them but they didnt stay righted...probably the operator(it's late folks, I'll try harder next time
Cheers! and Mahalo

Very good stuff. If you burn it, take care of your hands :lol:

Benjamin.

Looks great for a first. As small as that is I wouldn't worry about burning it - it may fire up like a match. It looks like Bass wood?? If it is, you may be happy with the way it takes the stain. Give it a shot.

Based on my experience as a woodworker (no finished tikis yet), try each technique on a scrap of similar wood first. It would be a shame to have that piece ruined in your eyes. It has taken me years to really learn that scrap is much cheaper ($ and emotionally) than an almost-finished piece.

Hello,
That ist a very nice piece, you have created there. I never tried to carve those sizes. And i´m not sure, if I ever could.

Speaking of burning it, how about trying out some poker work (in german it is called Brandmalerei). That´s a bit tricky and needs some practice, but you can get fine lines and some darker areas. I have started with that some time ago and it works very well.

Hope, my opinion helps in your decision.

Keep on carving, I like it.

tok-tok

Looking good my friend. sorry no advice for you i have never stained yet,
but have burned.

First of all – great looking tiki! Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

I would be hesitant of burning such a small piece of wood, especially one with relatively fine detail. I would recommend get a nice dark stain and completely paint it. Whilst it is still wet, go over it with a rag and rub the stain off the high sections of the carving. When it is dry, then seal the thing with poly. You’ll get the nice vintage look you’re after, and it will really highlight the lines on him.

DUDE.......dont burn it...it'll turn into a charcoal brick.....try one of those soldering guns with the fine tips....[ like the ones we have in the tool bin at work ] and run the folds...it will give it a fine line definition and still look cool.......great tiki.....

Closetiki - I love that idea. Now I've got three finishing techniques to master, and a great excuse to but some pyrogaphy equipment.

When I did my first tiki, everyone told me to experiment on it...kinda hard to feel free, and experiment on your first one! Ya may wanna wait a few more tikis before ya go crazy. I say do something experimental, but somewhat controlled. But YOU"LL know how far ya wanna go.

Thanks to all who commented and gave wise words of advice... I decided to go with a light burn to the folds and a nice stained vintage look... will post pics of all work in progress as well as some finished pieces...