Carving Post

Very much like one I had carved a month ago for myself... this one is sold and is weather proofed for the harsh Midwest weather...

Good work all!

here's my "head case" tiki mug shelf, inspired by the great witco and keigs. It should be going on ebay soon, probably not the best timing with all the events coming up, maybe I'll keep it til the long beach tiki festival. Basement kahuna . . . your precision is mind boggling. Nice finish Lake Surfer.







here's the shudderfly slide show of all the pictures if your crazy. http://www.shutterfly.com/os.jsp?i=67b0de21b320079ce4dd

Nice shelf, Tony. After this weekend I am convinced we'll all be busy soon...

my digital camera was acting all fussy, so i couldn't take these until I took it apart to fix it.

the moai is the first real carving that i did on my own. it's kinda rough. probably did this about 6 months or so ago.

the "tiki bar" sign is still being finished up. still can't decide how i want to finish it. it is a solid piece of wood. took a lot to carve out all of those letters... they aren't glued in there.

my little tiki guy was a lot of fun to do. comparing him to my moai, i've come a long way. still have a long way to go, though :wink:

like BK, Gecko, and some others have said. the more you carve, the better you get.
Chris

[ Edited by: Angry Tiki on 2003-07-04 19:37 ]

[ Edited by: Angry Tiki on 2003-07-04 19:38 ]

here is my latest carving, not 100 % done but getting close. this tiki was different in that i tried to use chissels as much as possible compared to my others which used mor chainsaw.

i will also add my carving of a watermellon for my friends party.

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-07-07 19:36 ]

Lake Surfer, TikiTony, AngryTiki, Octane, good work! I love to see the different styles.
Octane this is not a putdown, it's just funny to me, but that squatty one looks like he got hit by a truck. It must be a challenge to do one so short. The watermelon is a great idea. Too bad you have to eat it. Sticky hands?
I'm doing more hammer and chisel also. Keep it up guys!

[ Edited by: jungletrader on 2003-07-07 21:14 ]

[ Edited by: jungletrader on 2003-07-07 21:27 ]

Nice stuff, guys...I've been paying too much attention to my mourning Hukilau 2003 and not enough to this thread!

Octane-

That watermellon Rocks! Very Cool!

BK-

Snap out of it man! (easier said than done! that was an incredible time that is going to be hard to beat! i'm still in awe and i'm going to work on the Sambora house tomarrow. nothing will beat the Mai Kai! ever!)

You're damned 'tootin. I miss that place.

Digggin' all your posts TikiTony, Lake Surfer, Octane, AngryTiki. I got a good chuckle from that melon. I will have to give that a try for our family reunion this weekend. Although, I dont think too many people in my family will have any idea of what it is. They all think tiki is a kind of wood that is used to make expensive furniture.
Chongolio

Do you mean Richie Sambora, Ben? That's gotta be a cheez wiz pad, ala Tommy Lee...

Umm, all of these pic's of carvings are outta this world! You people are one talented bunch! I have one question... where do I post pics of my Tiki Paintings? This is for carvings, I didnt see any on paintings. Is there a special place for paintings of enchanted tiki art?

Im not suffering from Insanity, I'm enjoying every minute of it!

[ Edited by: RenTiki on 2003-07-08 18:32 ]

RenTiki, you could start a thread on paintings. Just call it Tiki paintings post.

Ok, sounds good to me. I dont think I've done that before, but I'll give it a shot.
Thanks

[ Edited by: RenTiki on 2003-07-08 21:08 ]

BK- Got the job done but missed Heather by an hour.Damn! But now, they can brag to all their friends that they have Bamboo Ben work in their pad. Gonna get a digital and post some pics real soon here. Most of the installs are the Bali look though. I'll post some of the Tikis from the past instead. Amazing what you can do with a Sawsall.

Hey Bamboo Ben, do you have a cordless sawzall? I've always wondered if the work as good as a standard one.
RenTiki

Jungle trader,
I've done it! Except I forgot to call it Tiki Painting Post. Dont know how to change that. Check it out. Its in main discussion area. Thanks again.
RenTiki

No cordless. But have changed the "cut cord" many times! Arrrrggggggggg!

He's back with her? I think I heard Triumph The Insult Comic Dog ask him one time if "her carpet matched her curtains"...He said YES :)

RenTiki, ask Hanford if he'll change it to Tiki Painting Post. Hey, looks like I just asked him. Hanford?

Aloha,

Here is my first Tiki carving. Now remember this was my first carving, so be gentle. I basically have no idea whatsoever what I'm doing.

The first picture is the initial carving with a chainsaw

The second picture is after some carving by hand.

And finally the finished product after some dremel work and a coat of stain.

Normally, I dig the more traditional style Tikis, but that looked a little more complicated to do.

Anyway there it is. Im working on my second carving, so hopefully it might be a little better. I dig the more traditional styles, but they look rather hard to do.

Tahiti Jim

[ Edited by: Tahiti Jim on 2003-07-10 21:55 ]

Tahiti... get yourself at least 6 good carving tools... keep three chisels real sharp... you'll be amazed at what you can do and how good you'll get... I've been surprising myself and friends after only 2 years...

Carving is as difficult or as easy as you want to make it... only after doing it many times will you find that it gets easier... you took the hardest step already by starting to carve... keep at it and don't lose the stoke!

Here is my first carving headed for the Mai Kai Gift Shop (and specially tagged as such!), an aged, accurate copy of a 100-year-old Darimo Ebiha New Guinea Paupuan Gulf Gope Board. Each of the designs that I carve for consignment at the Mai Kai will be available no where else; I wanted to give them an exclusive on certain things...I consider it a great priviledge to sell there, and wanted to give them something special, so if you wish to buy seconds of any of the forthcoming designs you'll have to put in a request at the Mai Kai. Hope this deal goes well...this is my first real outing for my carvings..

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-07-12 15:53 ]

BK, you are headed for the Big Time. Can you try to do the same on the West Coast?

I dunno..there's a lot of good carvers in the P.R.C. (People's Republic of California) :) ...it would be hard for me to compete with the old hands at it. Seriously, I'd love to be represented out there somewhere, sometime, although I am a total lone gunman with a small garage workshop, and pretty much carve what I can carve with what I have, if you know what I mean. I know there's no way I can compete in the quantity department until I could take on a partner or assistant, but I want to keep the detail, finish, and quality the same if I ever do get to that point. I flat refuse to go the quickie route...I don't feel it does the beauty of Pacific Rim art traditions the justice that the tiki carvers of the 50's were still pulling off in their carvings. All of those guys were just so damned good...right there in that Polynesian "sweet spot", you know? It's sort of like the old beer window...that magic place between too much beer and not enough beer? A good example: take a look at the muscle on Leroy Scmaltz's upper body sometime (he must be 70 by now?)..That's pure blood, sweat, and tears, baby. That's from doing it right for a very, very long time! I admire that like nothing else. Does anybody in Georgia want to start a tiki carving collective in Clayton??...(chuckle, chuckle)

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-07-12 21:31 ]

Kind of a newbie here, but was very inspired by this thread... figured I had nothing better to do today, so I grabed a cocktail, a chainsaw and other various impliments of destruction and started my first carving today out of a dead tree at the entrance to one of my back yard paths...after a few hours (mostly looking and wonding what to do next) here's me tiki numero under in progress...

...more pics as the destruction of this inocent chunk of wood continues.

not much to look at, but it's been great fun so far!

[ Edited by: FastCo on 2003-07-12 22:00 ]

Another great piece, BK! I hope I have an opportunity to purchase some of your work before it becomes too collectable for any but the ultra-rich to afford.

FastCo, there's a definite Florida influence.......or possibly, what was that famous peanut farmers name? Not a putdown, we're all influenced by someone. Regional influence, it's coo......
Go deep young man...go deep. All new carvers are a little shy at first. Go deep and carve the %@#* out of the next one.

JT,
man, you've got an eye! - early 80's I went to Art Institute of Ft Laud, then worked doing air-brush T-shirts on the FL East coast for awhile, - Cocao Beach, and more specifically, Ron Jon's does have a look all it's own. I really didn't think about that influence until you pointed it out.

Also, thanks for the pointers and the "young man" comment lol - I'm not affraid about getting deep, just being my first time, I was trying to get satisfied with the look and layout before committing to the deep cuts.

here is a picture of my latest carving.

this is a short squaty one which it does look like it has been hit by a truck (jungletrader). what i plan to do is cut it in half and carve another face on the second half. once the two sides are carved i was going to put the faces pointing out (so the flat side also face each other) and notch down the back (flat side) so i can put strips of wood (like teak or a wood simular cheaper wood) across the two halves and make a bench.

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-07-13 13:07 ]

I havent posted on da carving post fo some time. Not a tiki dis time but here's a bar I made today for a customer. Noting fancy.

nice work guys. Congrats braddah BK. Braddah JT, get your tiki yet?
Aloha

Gecko, way happenin bar!

Yeah Gecko, got the bad ass tiki. Thanks, looks like da' kine in my living room. The wife say it doesn't match but this time I say too bad, it stays here till I get my tiki room in the new house. I stand my ground and win one. No way will I put it outside, too good for that. My tikis are takin' ova da' worl..........okay, okay, maybe not the world....maybe just my house..........okay,.......maybe not my house,.....maybe just my little corner of the house.

Nice bar, your work, as always is superb.

[ Edited by: jungletrader on 2003-07-14 08:07 ]

That's awesome! Wanna draw me up some blueprints for a six-footer? I'm gonna replace mine eventually with a better-shelved and organized bar.

BK sed "Wanna draw me up some blueprints for a six-footer?"

blue prints??? ho, was'dat? no need fo degreez, angle irons, dis times dat equals dat, or blue prints here braddah. Jus pound'um. All you need is a sharp eye.

you gon be ok.

Aloha,

Ok, I have some palm logs, but they are a little wet and need to dry out for awhile. I hear you guys talking about other wood, so what is a good wood that you can cut into right away without waiting and where do you get it?

I live in Phoenix, AZ., so there are lots of Palms.

Thanks

Tahiti Jim

"Kahuna One to Carving Control.....I have visual on that target.....I'm going in..." Here we have a nice, clean 7 foot, ten inch long, ten inch diameter half round of beautiful, clean white pine. I'm doing a Mai Kai vintage-style 3-figure Marquesan pole. The half-round is a nice option because it is small-floor-space friendly, 100% surface size and same look, takes oil/ochre finishes nicely, is less prone to checking as it dries, and can be direct-mounted around door frames, etc. The two railroad rail pieces an old friend who worked for the railroad gave me..they hold anything in place very nicely. The equip photo show all the freshly sharpened chisels ready along with my other carving stuff. I love a fresh palette!

ummmmm da smell of freshly sharpen chizles, betta den pig betta den poi!! start poundin!

i have a question about sharpening chisels for the chisel master BK or any other chisel masters out there in tiki land. how often do you sharpen your chisels, after each carving? How do you tell when they need sharpening?

thanks

When I'm carving I sharpen them at the end of every day with a fine Arkansas oilstone. My sharpness gauge is whether I can closely shave a spot on my arm like a straight razor (literally). Sharp, high quality chisels make carving life a hell of a lot easier. just be careful...I've had two trips to the E.R. for stitches (that bestows on me the purple tiki medal with second award star). My wife has purchased me a lightweight steel mesh glove which I wear on my left hand now for protection when I'm really flying. :)

Damn braddahs, the work is looking ono! BK, love the plaque and Gecko, the bar is looking good. I like the way the tapa looks on the side! Keep it up!

**Poly-Pop ***

[ Edited by: polynesianpop on 2003-07-15 15:11 ]

Gecko carved these beauties, Jungle Trader got the one on the left, Poly Pop got the one on the right.

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2003-07-15 12:37 ]

Those Geckos are cherry! (But everything Gecko is cherry!) Brad wants me to carve him a couple of Barney West style Maoris for the Hale Tiii...I'm still trying to figure out how to start.

here is a tiki i'm working on. it is out of ash. the peice of wood is for a baseball bat. ash is defentially a hard wood and i'm glad i ask BK about sharpening chisels.i'm not finished as i need to clean it up and to add a body.

here is another one i made a couple of days ago, it is from palm and like the first still needs to be cleaned up a little.

That'a cool, Octane...I'd definitely add a body as you have a nice piece of wood there (that's what my Fender Telecasters are made of). Hard as a rock, though.

thank you Bk for the nice words. here is the ASh tiki after day two. i got the body carved, and alot of it cleaned up.

I have a question for all the carvers out there that have stained a tiki, and that is what type of stain do you use? is there a particular color or shade you like, or would consider better for a tiki?
thanks

Damn Octane, you're pretty good!!

For redwood I use Howard's Citrus Wax after burning and cleaning. Don't know if it would work well with ash. But you could try it on the back maybe.

Pimp recognize pimp. I'm gonna say right here that Octane and Monkeyman are brawlers. They're country grammar. They may end up making Gecko, Me, Keigs and Lake look like some played out, 3rd base, Kangol sh*t