Carving Post

I am constantly inspired by the talent on TC. It's very encouraging to see artists in a variety of mediums. This whole Tiki movement is going to be huge mon.

Speaking of mediums,.....What do call a psychic midget that escaped jail?........a small medium at large. .....yuck, yuck...get it?

Octane... that's hot stuff... ash is fun... did some tiki lamps out of it a little while ago... holds great detail and I love the grain in it...

Damn, I gotta step up... I finished three in the last week and a half, I just have to shoot digital and get them posted...

BK... can't wait to see how the 7 footer is progressing... looking forward to the day I surpass the 5 foot mark!

octane, your progressing so fast. gnarly papaun basement kahuna. gecko, nice clean bar, can't wait to attempt one myself. i been making these tangaroas for my surf school students. the largest one is 1.5 inches hi.

thanks jungletrader, BK, Lake, Tikitony for the complements. though i have been told even a blind squirl can find an acorn every once in a while.

BK i would also agree with lake on wanting to see how that big dog (7 ft) is progresses. your in progress shot are cool to look at and learn from.

Lake, i like your carvings from the past posts and it would be great to see your new ones.

TikiTony those little guys look good, it has to be a challange to carve something so small.

thanks

The bar is getting awfully high in here. Killer work everybody. Octane that one is coming out nice. Good luck with the stain. I can never get them to look ancient like the dark Maori by Gecko. It looks like its been around forever. BK, thanks for the post of the progress shots. Very helpful to see how it getting done. How long have you been carving for? You have a ton of tools! Where is everybody buying there chisels? I searched around for the brands (Sheffield and Henry Taylor )suggested but came up with nothing locally. I just ordered the catalog from lee Valley and perused the website. Lots of choices . Thanks again, BK for da link I have be putting off any new carvins till I get some decent tools to work with but Seeing all the new post is getting me ansy to get another log.
Chongolio

-- I believe that our Heavenly Father invented the monkey because he was disappointed in man."
... Mark Twain

[ Edited by: Chongolio on 2003-07-18 12:11 ]

Chongolio... I get my Henry Taylor tools from Woodcraft of WV... I have a store in town and they take good care of me with some comp. sharpening and they know their stuff... you can check them out at http://www.woodcraft.com... get their catalog, its full of goodies!

Thanks lake, I just ordered the catalog. Now I just have to decide which one to start out with. There are some pretty good looking kits at both sites.
Chongolio

the chisel i use are just Home depot bought. they are Marples, and a carving set they sell Buck Brothers. i also have some older chisels from my dad as backups. i have no idea about chisel quality, but on the budget i'm on these fit the bill.

Here is the Ash tiki finished with stain.

And here is one i worked on over the weekend and have almost finished. just needs to be cleaned up. it is my first tiki over 18 inches. it is a inch under 4ft.

this one has the inspiration peice on top

Sweet work Octane! How much does the moai weigh? Not only is that 4 foot but the width is really big... I take it that's a palm trunk?

Damn, Octane....what you 'tryin to pull, brotha? Geck...we gotta make a showing real soon, my friend...this young buck's got some major game...

Cool man. Good work........

T.F.

Uh-huh, looks like I gots to get carvin' again.

Thanks for the compliments, i'm lucky right know that it is summer and i'm out of school so i can have alot of free time to carve away.
it is palm wood but it still weighs in the 300bls-350bls. the log is cut in half(vertically), and this is just the first half. the reason being, i couldn't move the log to my house when it was whole, and this way, i can carve two tikis that can stand against a wall and that are some what moveable.

BK i sent you a private message, about a book

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-07-22 09:51 ]

alright here is the last peice of my ash i couldn't add a whole body as i ran out of wood. it is simular (but not exact)to the one in the book of tiki on page 112. i'm not very good with stains or picking stains so this guy came out a little dark for me.

Finally got some digital shots of recent tikis... ( I have to borrow my cameras)

This tiki is now in my personal collection and is the one that I am most proud of in my 2 years of rookie carving... it is carved from a piece of linden wood...

Here's a shot I took of pretty much all the tikis I've carved from last December until now... its pretty neat to think that they were all just a chunk of blank wood and now they are all neat individual wood sculptures...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-07-25 23:59 ]

(Lips moving very quickly) "Be swift and wary, young Octane, for my chisel strike fast and true, like Chao-Lin dragon and phoenix" Here's the latest from the Isle Of Kahuna, a 7 foot, 6-inch, half-round Marquesan pole, modeled after the ones you see so many of in the Mai Kai. I truly love the Marquesan/Tahitian/Bora-Bora style, at least as much as the Maori stuff. This one is painted java brown, in keeping with most of these poles you see in the classic tiki temples, but accented in "nutmeg" and black.

Also...here's the first of the Samoan Knife reproductions for the Mai Kai shop. The task given me was to do a good looking knife completely out of wood; no metal. I selected the style in the middle of the first photo (taken by manager Kern Mattei of actual Samoan knives in the Samoa roon at the Mai Kai). I made the blade out of black walnut sliced to the right thinness by a Japanese saw (shown). It is a very, very hard wood. getting that thing cut and working around that delicate hook with a scroll is tricky. The completed blade is fitted into a fruitwood handle, then shimmed and pegged. The bindings are Lauhala strap, and the grip cords are hand braided jute fiber. Then I age and apply simulated hand wear. My knife is the one shown in the last two photos....I think it turned out fairly good, though strictly a wallhanger!

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-07-26 08:28 ]

Sweet mutha of pearl B.K. those weapons are some bad ass ju ju! It's unbelievable how fast you work. NIce work to you Octane our stain job looks fiine to me, but I know what you mean about not getting the look you were trying for. Hey Lakesurfer, are you selling any of you tikis? I have an Aunt behind the cheddar curtain (Wisconsin) who has been asking me about tikis.

Chongolio

Lake Surfer, that first tiki is very cool. that detailing around the head is great. the eyes are cool they almost fallow you, they really make him look alive. wow you have done alot of good looking tikis. that shot with all of them in rows is impressive.

BK, confusious say "one who chisels faster, gets done quicker"i see that you are a true master of Chao-Lin dragon and phoenix. i like the 7fter it turned out great. did the blue moss or funguss cause any trouble.

i'm very impressed with that knife. wow that thing turned out great, a true masters work (a bow to you).

BK, how did you learn to age your master works? did you read it in a book, see it on the net, or just picked it up over your carving experiences?

I forgot to add awesome tikis, Lake and Octane. I was just 'ribbin you, buddy! The "blue stain" is no problem, just a residual effect of a surface mold on summer wood. It just makes a carving in progress ugly because it's not that clean, white "pallete". It does nothing to the wood except that. The aging thing is just sort of a trial and error skill. Gecko is really good at this, too. I've had a computer glitch (major error) and have been off line for a day...my computer literate/genious wife had to completely re-program everything due to this. We have lost our saved e-mails but everything else is shaping up back to normal

Mahalo Kahuna... and beautiful work once again on the pole... and the weapons are very cool! Tomorrow I go to pick up two 8 foot 18 inch diameter chunks of white pine from my arborist friend. He works on at a country club that has many different types of trees and as soon as one goes I get a crack at it. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon after debarking I will get to start on the new mailbox tiki! Pictures to come!

I just saw some (uncarved) palm logs in an empty lot just off the San Marcos Blvd. on ramp to the W. 78. Looks like they're gonna be carted away with some other cut down trees & scrub, so someone with access to San Diego North County & a pick-up truck could appropriate'em pretty easily...

I'd like to try some palm sometime. Lake, white pine is a great carving wood. Just watch the grain splitting when doing a curved cut (can turn into cracks later). You can plunge really deep in white pine with one good chisel whack; I usually can finish guide cuts effortlessly in the stuff.

Hey BK or anyone else,have you ever tried sugar pine (at least that is what the guy told me it is, i'm not a woodologist), or cypress for carving? i was just given a few chunks of each yesterday.

Haven't tried cypress. We live in a mountainous area so not much around here. Lots of hardwoods and pine.

Hey, Geck....Where you at, braddah? (I wanna get a look at that tiki you just carved for Martin Denny).

Most of my tikis were carved out of cypress. (I got picks on this thread) Its not to hard a wood, but all my tikis developed minor cracks even after using the prune seal. Ther bark was kind of sappy also.

Chongolio

I'm feeling ambitious this week so while I work on my new project I'll share the "in progress" photos with everyone. My mind seems to think that I can get this done this week... we'll see if that happens... I have use of the digital cam until next Monday so here it goes...

I'm doing a tiki mailbox as a gift for a friend... you've probably seen them on the web... Today I picked up a white pine log from my arborist friend at the country club he works at... it measures in about 8 feet so it was real fun trying to get it in my 4 door Honda Accord, even with the back seat down... I drove the 12 miles home with 3 1/2 feet hanging out, but it stayed in the whole way...

It was a bear getting it out of the car... I'm guessing it weighs about 350 lbs right now...

(No, that's not blood, just red paint on the sweatshirt...)

So, tonight I started work the old fashioned way... with the drawknife, taking the rest of the bark off... the outer stuff had fallen off earlier...

Wrapped up for the night when it got dark... half the log is now shaved... making the effort to get the rest done by noon tomorrow...

Update tomorrow, and maybe a look at the tiki...

Boy, I know that drawknife drill, but it gives the old pecks a boost! Looks like you've got a tall one there, Lake.

MAN! I just cracked this post (been shying away due to length). Youse guys are amazing! Was tinking of trying my hand at carving but better stick to the cloth. BK, I got to get me on of those clubs a real nasty gunstock one (and a working one too, bruddah, I'm not just wall hanging!)

Gecko, were's da wahines pics with your tiki's???

[ Edited by: Atomic Cocktail on 2003-07-29 01:33 ]

O.K. I know it's not really a carving, but you guys are amazing and I was feeling left out.

Had a little Tiki party a couple of weeks ago and made this 6 ft. paper mache Moai.

...And I know routers are frowned upon, but I was in a hurry.

I'm looking for carving tools at garage sales and I promise to do it the right way next time. Come to think of it, what are the essential tools for carving, best woods, etc.?

[ Edited by: spy-tiki on 2003-07-29 10:45 ]

[ Edited by: spy-tiki on 2003-07-29 10:47 ]

[ Edited by: spy-tiki on 2003-07-29 10:50 ]

If you go to http://www.workshoptools.com and call and ask about their tools, they have great prices. All the chisels, etc. you need are there in a large kit. They likely have the best prices around. My best friend runs the place.

nice blank you get Lake surfer, whats a log li'dat cost on da mainland?

Howzit Gecko!
A log like that is no charge when you're friends with an arborist at a country club with lots of trees. When there are signs that one is dying he gets at at quick like... there are logs aplenty laying around drying for me and a few other woodsmiths... pine, birch,oak,ash... all I have to do is haul it home...

How's the carving going there in paradise?

Progress Report: Tiki Mailbox.

Missed a few days on the report but the back and shoulders have been too blown out at night to post... After much hard work and help from the chainsaw the mouth for the mailbox was finished. Still have to do some cleanup work inside the mouth, then the teeth get carved around.
Today I went full on at the face and got a good portion done in between the scattered thunderstorms. Its getting there... and after I managed to boost it up for a picture I was pretty proud... I've never carved anything of this size yet, and it's pretty cool to see it take shape... almost hate to give it away!

Looking good Lake. You must have awfully tall post people in your Area :P
Thanx for postin' the progress shots.
Chongolio

-- I believe that our Heavenly Father invented the monkey because he was disappointed in man."
... Mark Twain

[ Edited by: Chongolio on 2003-08-01 09:38 ]

nice jOb Lakesurfer, it must have been a pain to carve out the mail box slot. . . but well worth it. Here's a Hawaiian style tiki I just finished for my girlfriend's Hawaiian neighbors, pictured in my backyard for the last time. . . so sad to see them go sometimes.

Progress Report: Tiki Mailbox.

Finished up the carving yesterday. Tomorrow I'm off to buy a new bottle of propane so I can take the torch to it, then seal it up with a few coats of spar urethane. Affix mailbox to the inside with wood screws, then wait until the wedding reception on the 19th so I can give this one away...

Finished product pictures to come...

Been out of town for a little while. made a mistake and went through Chicago airport (it only made me about 18 hours behind and made me miss three flights).

spy-tiki that is a cool Moai, and it doesn't matter if it is routered or carved with a chisel its all tiki.

Lakesurfer i like the mail box holder it looks good. i always like the in progress shots.i agree with Chongolio do you have tall postal employees? just kidding.

TikiTony looking good, i like that one, and the tiki hut in the background. what kind of wood is it? what do you normally use?

Well i did start a carving before i left and worked alittle more on it today. here are a couple of pictures. it is one of the three Tahitian cannibal tikis. he isn't quite finished and needs to be cleaned up, and have a little stain added to him.

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-08-03 19:59 ]

[ Edited by: octane on 2003-08-03 21:36 ]

Pretty damned cool, Octane...you should age those when you're done; that first one looks like it came straight from Oceanic Arts in the 50's, which is great! Nice work...I dug that mailbox, too, Lake, nice piece...that thing is massive. I 'm guessing the post will be sunk three to about four feet, right? That thing will be like iron in the ground. If johnny high-school ever decided to play mailbox baseball with that one he can kiss his shoulder socket goodbye! Cool pole, too, Tony. Like the hut!

Mahalo for the kind words guys... Kahuna, I've got it measured for 2 1/2 feet to be sunk into the ground in post concrete... after I got the postal regulations figured out (bottom of mailbox has to be 42"-48" above the ground) and redid my pattern twice...

Its not Johnny I'm worrried about... its the crazy snowplow drivers here in Wisconsin... this is going to a friend who lives out in the country... though I think it would do some damage to the snowplow!

Kahuna is about to get wild on some weapons. I have about 8 pieces in the works, and I'm going to try and marathon them....Found lots of new photos of beautiful 19th century Fijian stuff.

thanks for the praise BK. i'm not sure if i'm going to carve all three or just stop after this one. i like the aging idea but i'm not good at it or really know how. but here is the tiki finished with stain.

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-08-04 18:45 ]

I'll let you in on a secret (okay, not really a secret but works dandy): Small propane torch like you can buy at any hardware or department store, the kind that uses the 2.99 skinny blue canisters. Go easy until you get the hang of it. You don't want to burn it, just darken it until it has a uniform old oxidized brown look. Sand with a 220 grade paper after darkening. That's the chosen method of everyone from Leroy Scmaltz to Bill Westenhaver to most of the seasoned carvers on this page. Leroy Schmaltz also uses a lot of really effective painting techniques using layered shades of brown.

[ Edited by: tikifreak on 2004-12-20 12:05 ]

here is a Moai i carved today out of a hunk of pine i was given. first time using pine. i tried to torch it to make it look old as BK said. i'm not sure i have the right type of torch ( just a standard old propane torch) i didn't know how dark to get it, and it seemed to be splatchy, and un even. so in the end i re-sanded it a little and just stained him. i will keep trying that aging technique i'm sure the more i try it the better it will come out.

well there he is, not the best. he is 18 inches tall and 6 inches in diameter

[ Edited by: Octane on 2003-08-06 20:17 ]

Octane... I couldn't get the propane torch to work well on the pine mailbox tiki either... ended up just staining that too in a dark walnut color... still have to post final pics yet... nice moai... very original rendering!