Buzzy's work: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

I'm really diggin that background. The Pink makes the tikis really POP!

( last week i was in a metal box with no open windows. only a fan to blow
106 degree air on me. I here ya on werkin in the heat! You need one of those
Florida Chiki Shade Huts! Git' buildin boy :)

Hey Buzzy - you need one of these:

Holmes Tower Fan, 25 bucks at the SuperTarget on Balboa.

Most of the sunsets this last week looked like this:

A couple looked like this:

I did the vending to the tourists thing a couple times. Here's about ten days ago:

I'm using the small, no frills set up still:

I started a tiki while I was there

I brought it home and did some more work on it...

finished it up...

and then stained it:

I spent a couple tedious days sanding out this drum:

I stained it dark just to see what a dark drum would look like:

Here it is ater a couple coats of oil:

I just put another coat on

I also cleaned out the inside of the big drum. I got a nice smooth transition down the whole thing

After the hollowing out, the only thing left is the upper part. To do that, I first needed to make a stencil. I did a rough sketch first

And then I tweaked it a bit to make the final stencil and traced it on the drum:

that's it.

On 2009-07-18 09:36, Cammo wrote:
Hey Buzzy - you need one of these:Holmes Tower Fan,

I ended up going nocturnal for a couple days instead.

On 2009-07-15 08:04, RevBambooBen wrote:
I'm really diggin that background. The Pink makes the tikis really POP!

The same magic camera that puts red in my sunsets puts pink in my wall color.

On 2009-07-15 04:07, Benzart wrote:
Love to see the progress reports, your drums are going to be internationally Famous, Watch!

Keepin my fingers crossed on that one!

Anyone from another country know that I'm making drums yet?
If so, let me know...
Buzzy Out!

I've been to mexico...

I like the dark stain on the drum - it's cool - looks like a piece of furniture!

hey buzzy- the drum is really shaping up. diggin it. love waqtcdhing it come to like.
mahalo!
tony

This drum is all ready to have a nice new hide stretched over it:

I'm probably going to change my mind and put a cow hide on it. I've been talking to some drum maker dudes about the goat and I still have more reservations about using goat than cow.

It turned out really nice so far. I spent way too much time sanding it

I originally made this one for me as a beater to see how much abuse these things could withstand, but it turned out too good to try and break into little pieces

I never end up keeping anything for myself. I always sell the best stuff. Lately, I've had a real hard time parting with some of the stuff I've made.

On 2009-07-28 14:57, martini kings wrote:
hey buzzy- the drum is really shaping up. diggin it. love waqtcdhing it come to like.
mahalo!
tony

hey Tony! I have the lettering done now. Here's some progress of that

And how it looks now:

Now I just have to do the rotisserie drying method for a few days before I sand and stain it.

Yesterday I got one of those fool notions in my head that I just ran with. No reason to do or try it other than to just see if I could. It was going to be real tough to do, but I wanted the challenge.
A few weeks ago Tahitiki posted a link on the carving forum of a bunch of videos of some guy making a Pahu. Like the one on the lower left of this picture:

It's a lot simpler to do than the ones I've been working on lately. It's just a tube with some holes in the side.
I knew I could make a drum like this, the question was how fast could I make it. I figured I get it done in a day. My best time estimations would put me having it hollowed out at 8pm last night and bringing it in the garage to do the rim. At 3:45, I was 45 minutes behind schedule and getting real tired. I got the thing hollowed out way faster than i thought and had it all done by 8pm.

For the full commentary on yesterday's adventure, clickhere

Here's the cliff notes version:

Log:

Cleaned log getting squared:

Soon to be drum:

Stencil made, lines drawn

First cuts made

Tops of arches fancied up:

Bottom of arches fancied up

Hollowing:

Hollowed:

Windowed:

Top squared:

Rim done:

All done

I just need to sand it and figure out how to do drum lashing.

On 2009-07-27 05:53, 4WDtiki wrote:
I've been to mexico...

It's funny how the smell lingers...

On 2009-07-27 08:44, TheBigT wrote:
I like the dark stain on the drum - it's cool - looks like a piece of furniture!

Feels like furniture. It passed the "genie's bottle test" also. That's where I check the finishing by rubbing my hands vigorously over the whole surface to make sure there are no places where I can get splinters from it. If I do not get any splinters, it's finished! Splinters=more sanding.

I may be able to do four days worth of work in one day, but I only work one day out of every five. That's why I'm always at least a couple days behind.
Buzzy Out!

palm hollow bay sun
splinters palm stretched skin
buzzy BANG! drum

The drums are excellent....
You could lash it similar to the Bougaraboo drum...
Its kind of a West African style conga.

You've done a great job on those drums....
I might have to commission one from you. :)
If you're interested???

hey buzzy,
aloha from the new jersey shore-
on vacation but havin fun checkin in and seeing the progress. lettering looks killer. great job!.
talk soon.
tony

Hey buzzy, your drums are looking frickin cool man!!
How can I get my hands on one of them fine beauty's??
Cheers! Notch

[ Edited by: NOTCH 2009-07-31 08:15 ]

I missed the sunset last night because I had to work, but I did get the William D. Evans as it came into port:

We were on the North Lawn yesterday because there was a big wedding on South Lawn.I like the view from the South Lawn better. More action down there.

This was my setup:

I worked on a small Hawaiian Pahu because I didn't feel like hauling a big log down there

It has a little different pattern than the one I did a couple days ago. This is a super duper dense log. It's like carving a rock. It's going to suck hollowing it out. I'm a little more than half way done with the pedastal part right now.

It's about 12.5" tall and 7" in diameter. Here it is next to the one day drum, which is now sanded on the outside:

I should finish the little one today, no problem.

On 2009-07-29 17:21, TravelingJones wrote:
palm hollow bay sun
splinters palm stretched skin
buzzy BANG! drum

That's a great summary of All 209 pages of this thread, in Haiku form even!

On 2009-07-29 20:21, Meheadhunter wrote:

You could lash it similar to the Bougaraboo drum...

You've done a great job on those drums....
I might have to commission one from you. :)
If you're interested???

I'm knocking a couple quick ones to try the lashing on right now. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rim part, as far as lacing and reinforcing it goes. I've been looking at a lot of drums lately, trying to figure out what I'm going to do. The discovery is the fun part or me...
Definitely interested but I have a pretty big "to do" list of commissions that I've been putting off until August 1, which I believe is tomorrow. :o Gasp! Wow time flies! I took a couple months off of hired work this summer and it looks like my free carving vacation is over(Somehow the Martini Kings drum snuck its way in there!) I have two drums, a fake drum, and at least a couple months worth of tikis for a couple of jobs that I have to start on now. I'll probably have time to sneak in a couple side projects in between all that, so let me know what you're interested in and I may find some reason to bump it up in line.

On 2009-07-30 05:54, martini kings wrote:
on vacation but havin fun checkin in and seeing the progress. lettering looks killer. great job!.

Thanks Tony! I can't wait for you to see it. It's pretty impressive in person. It's BIG! I bet it will sound like thunder...

On 2009-07-30 09:27, NOTCH wrote:
Hey buzzy, your drums are looking frickin cool man!!
How can I get my hands on one of them fine beauty's??
Cheers! Notch

Yo Notch! I'll be bringing maybe 4 to Oasis. Whatever I have done by then is going with me. With the exception of the Martini Kings drum, nothing that I'm doing right now is spoken for, so if you like any that I'm doing now, let me know. Oherwise, I got a list of things to do before I can do a lot of drums again.

The quest for the perfect drum:
Right now on the drums I'm making, I'm trying to do some quicker ones for experimetation purposes. I'm trying to make drum that not only looks superior, but sounds superior as well. It's fun because there are a lot of variables to play with. It will be a never ending journey, I'm sure...

I was thinking back over the last year( my calendar year begins and ends on Tiki Oasis weekend) and I've only carved about 9 tikis in all that time. It's been all furniture and drums. And those damn Brady Idols!

Speaking of Brady idols, of to the PO!
Buzzy Out!

On 2009-07-29 17:21, TravelingJones wrote:
palm hollow bay sun
splinters palm stretched skin
buzzy BANG! drum

Couple more syllables and you'd have a great haiku!

Maybe we need a thread for haikus about Buzzy! :lol:

On 2009-07-29 16:19, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
This drum is all ready to have a nice new hide stretched over it:

Man Buzzy, this one came out really awesome. Look at that. NICE!

awesome stuff as usual buzzy! you should try carving some bongos next

Buzzy, you are a Wild man with these drums, it's obvious you carve to a different beat, but wuah ever it is, just keep on doing it.

I came indoors a couple days ago to do most of the work on the little pahu

After I did all 32 cut outs, i started to hollow it out. I started on the top:

Then after I get to a depth of at least half way in the log, I turn it over and make another hole to try and meet it. For this I use the 1" 90 degree parting tool.

It gets softer the closer to the center and the deeper you go. (That's what she said!) Now I'm a little more than 1" deep with only 4 small cuts.

A second pass bisecting the first cuts I made and I'm 2.5 -3" in already in just a couple minutes.
A few more cuts like that with the same tool and I'm in 4-5" wiith just a couple more to go

Then I smooth out the sides and try to make room for another star pattern cut in the deepest center

About two inches more and I break through to the other hole.

Now it gets real easy to finish the hollowing

I made the cut outs deeper than needed so when I hollowed it they would open up

The source I used for this one left the bottom portion like this, but I'm going to fancy it up a bit like the bigger one

I did the rim next:

And here it is next to the bigger one

I was looking at some of these for sale lately on line and holy s#!^ they're a lot of money!

Some more in process pictures for Tony:
We're in the very critical drying and curing stage now. It has to be constantly monitored and checked to ensure that it dries evenly. To do this, I set up a shade to keep the sun off the outside of it so it doesn't dry too quickly and split

I lean it so that the sun shines on the whole of the inside:

About every half hour I rotate it 90-180 degrees. Should only be about 4-5 more days of this. Meanwhile, I'll start sanding it and adding the last few details to it.

On 2009-08-02 06:13, Benzart wrote:
Buzzy, you are a Wild man with these drums, it's obvious you carve to a different beat, but wuah ever it is, just keep on doing it.

Yo Bennie! thanks for stopping by. I'm going to head out in a little bit and see if I can't track down the new issue of Tiki mag. I can't wait to check your Featured Carver section. I'm glad you made it based upon your impressive carving skills and long time contributions to this tiki scene. I hear the guy in the next issue only made it because he's so handsome and good looking. :roll: At least you will maintain the mags credibility until the next issue comes out, this winter.
About the drums: the different beat I'm carving to is all the questions I have in my head about what would happen if I did this or that to it. How is it going to sound, feel, play, and last? As long as I don't know the answer, I need to find it out. That's what drives me: Having questions and finding their answers.

On 2009-08-01 16:33, tikithomas08 wrote:
awesome stuff as usual buzzy! you should try carving some bongos next

There have been some discussions in the past about bongos...I kind of have an idea I might want to try. Right now I'm doing a couple smaller test drums to see how thet sound. If I can get a good sound out of a small drum, then the next step is bongos.

On 2009-07-31 12:39, TheBigT wrote:
Man Buzzy, this one came out really awesome. Look at that. NICE!

Thanks BT! I'll probably have the head on it by Wednesday. I hope it sounds as good as it looks.

On 2009-07-31 11:31, 4WDtiki wrote:
Maybe we need a thread for haikus about Buzzy! :lol:

If I wasn't still behind on delivering the prize from last year's sunset contest, I'd turn it into a contest. I'll keep that in mind, however...

Buzzy Out!

cool buzzy. thanks 4 the update.
lots o fun!
tony

*you should try carving some bongos next... *

Aren't bongos basically two pahus connected with a 2x4 nailed between 'em?

Buzzy your work is looking great as usual, hopefully I can see it in person at the Oasis if I can make it there on Sunday.

Cool!
Hey kids!
Free Tiki
for whoever wants to row out there at midnight!

I don't think Buzzy will be posting for a while. He told me he's going into "Tasmanian Devil" mode until Oasis, meaning if you actually see him most of his arms and legs will be blurred swishes that little scaps of paper and dust form a swirling vortex around, with chisels sticking out once in a while, and wood chips exploding out from the center.

He's now like a 24-hour human wood chipper set on "High", no pun intended.

Yesterday's Sunset:

On 2009-08-06 07:08, Cammo wrote:
I don't think Buzzy will be posting for a while. He told me he's going into "Tasmanian Devil" mode until Oasis...

I've been in Tasmanian Devil mode working on these damn Scrubs and Brady Idols. This weeks production run:

This has turned into a whole new business for me this summer. I've found that when you offer a quality product at a reasonable price and provide wonderful customer service, you tend to move a lot of units.
Tasmanian devil mode looks like me sitting at my computer writing the the following lines: "Yes I still have them available. They are $ each. My paypal is..." Then I Tas Devil into my truck and try not to go postal while waiting in the post office line a few days a week.

Between the Scrubs and Brady production runs, I did some some finishing detail work on the little Pahu:

I've been staring at the Martini kings drum for a few weeks now and yesterday I decided that the lettering needed to "pop" more. I went about deepening the background. It definitely gave it the pop it needed. It creates better shadows now
One side of the drum:


The other side:


I have two letters to do today that I ran out of daylight on yesterday. After that, two rings of details to carve on the top and and bottom of the bell and I'm done.( That tiki in the background is Pat's, and it's his first commission. He had a little run in with the draw knife last week but got back up on the horse after he fell and is right back at it. Someday Pat will make a carving thread and show all the work he's done this summer.)

I also did the initial work on the rim:

from here I'll finish it by hand so it's done right. If the Martini Kings don't want this drum, I think I can still change the letters to say "Martin L. King", and try to sell it to an public school in the disadvantaged part of town. They're flush with federal funds, these days.

In very special other news:

It's Kiva's Birthday today! 15 years old, full of tumors and cancer, but she's still rolling on!
We will celebrate by going to the Weinerschnitzel drive thru where I will order her her own $3- 2 chili dog/chili fries meal.
Long live Kiva!

Buzzy Out!

[ Edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2009-08-06 11:29 ]

On 2009-08-06 11:26, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
This has turned into a whole new business for me this summer. I've found that when you offer a quality product at a reasonable price and provide wonderful customer service, you tend to move a lot of units.

For some reason I thought this would end with something like, "..people still don't buy." Glad it's working out for ya.

If the Martini Kings don't want this drum, I think I can still change the letters to say "Martin L. King", and try to sell it to an public school in the disadvantaged part of town. They're flush with federal funds, these days.

Uh, I think they're gonna like the drum. :wink:

HB, Kiva! 15?! Woosh!

Happy Birthday Kiva!!!!

Drums are looking sharp, Buzzmeister.

[ Edited by: GROG 2009-08-06 11:42 ]

Cool drum Buzz,see you at Oasis!

Happy Birthday K!!!!!
Kick Ass work Buzzz.
Hope to see you guys soon.
-johnny b

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-08-06 15:54 ]

Drums are lookin' sweet Buzz.

hey buzzy,
yea ! the lettering is really poppin now. good call. luv it!
tony

A couple sunsets:

I spent the last few days working on the Martini King's drum. Here it is right after I carved in the last of the details:

Then I spent two straight days just sanding it. Here it is right before sunset yesterday. I still had about two more hours of last minute sanding to do at this point

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I made the sides square. the arms and ears break out of the flat plane and keep the original arc of the log. It makes for a real neat corner/edge detail

And now, here it is stained!:



I'll oil it all up tomorrow. I'm also going to do a little hide shopping.

Here's the original sketch of the drum that I used as my working drawing:

It was designed by Squid, who provided me with that drawing. I changed the thickness of the nose because when I scaled out my working drawing, I was concerned with the width of the eye brows up where the indentation of the pedastal/bell is. With the way the grain changes, it would have made it a little weak. That's a part where the drum will be lifted and handled, so I had break off concerns there as well. To solve this problem, I made thelargest circles around the eyes and the eyebrows a little thicker. To balance it out, i also made the nose twice the width of the eyebrows. The lips and letters were also thickened a bit from the original drawing. They too were a little bit thinner than I was comfortable with. If it was a tiki I was making, I would have kept everything as close to the original as possible. Since the drum will be lifted, carried, moved, and played....many, many times, I made those changes for the durability factor.

On 2009-08-06 11:41, TheBigT wrote:
HB, Kiva! 15?! Woosh!

Oops! I checked her vet records. Kiva's now 14. Almost 100 in dog years...

On 2009-08-06 11:41, GROG wrote:

Drums are looking sharp, Buzzmeister.

Colorado says his drum is the favorite thing he now owns. I told him you liked it too, when it was yours...

On 2009-08-07 10:00, Tiki Diablo wrote:
Drums are lookin' sweet Buzz.

thanks TD! Half the battle is won. Now to get them sound good as well...

On 2009-08-06 15:52, jab tiki wrote:
Hope to see you guys soon.
-johnny b

you'll have to call in sick one of these days. zaya just cleaned the whole house. I can actually have people over without worrying they'll call social services or the health department on me.

On 2009-08-06 14:58, kustomtiki wrote:
Cool drum Buzz,see you at Oasis!

Make sure you introduce yourself to me...
Just follow the sound of drums until you find me. this is what I look like, just in case you forgot how handsome I am:

See you all there! I'll be packing up and leaving on saturday morning at 8:40. Not much time left...

Buzzy Out!

Sweet Jesus, man... my eyes...

I just stopped by to say it was nice bumping into you today, I should add I was fortunate you were fully clothed at the time.

Keep the good work coming and Happy Birthday Kiva!

Buzzy, lovin' the Martini Kings drum! Hope to hear it on an upcoming CD. You really did 'em justice.

Aaron

buzzy the drum is lookin killer. can't wait to play it friday night on stage!
mahalo!
tony

Looks like carving is a great way to get in shape.

depends on what shape you'd like to assume..

great Martini Kings Drum,Buzz!

you're waaay too hairy...

Happy b-lated Kiva!!

Lookin forward to my new Pin Up pic for the Boo head!

Hey buzzy
I hope you're bringing some copies of your newest
pin up!!!!
I need a signed copy. ......

It's for my wife.......

Really ......

:tiki: :tiki: :tiki: :tiki: :tiki: ** You know it's Tiki Oasis time again, when...** :tiki: :tiki: :tiki: :tiki: :tiki:

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D Kiva's Happy 15 Birthday!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

-AND- of course...

______________________ :o :o :o :tiki: :o :o :o ** Mr. TIKI GUY 2009** :o :o :o :tiki: :o :o :o _____________________
_

...it's the most wonderful time of the Year! :)

Happy Birthday Kiva! Nice drums there Buzzy! Are you printing some of these for a before and after training testimonial?

__________________________

Aloha, Freddie

I'll be needing a pin up pic again this year. You've started something weird collection-wise.

hey buzzy...do we get a preview of what you will have
at oasis....any drums......tikis?......

Aack!!!!!!!

Dude! You need to stop using the 45 lb mallet! You might be too cut to be a tikiguy ever again....ya know it will take years to turn that to flab and nastiness. The madness never stops. Thanks for a great laugh tonight - I really needed that.

Nice drums!

Grog well done.

OK, Where's My poster (the PS'd one of course!)
You need to use that lawnmower more often and really get in shape!

Today's lack of sun made for this sunset:

Drums update:

Yesterday I got the goat head and put it on the dark drum.

It finally dried at about noon today, and I have to say, it sounds pretty darn good. :)

I also sanded the little pahu and got it stained:

The Martini Kings drum got some fine coats of oil all over it:

While the oil was setting, I put the hide in the tub...

and after several hours of soaking, I was able to put it on:

On 2009-08-12 10:22, Benzart wrote:
You need to use that lawnmower more often and really get in shape!

If I get any better looking, they'll have to make me illegal, just for equality's sake.

On 2009-08-11 21:28, seeksurf wrote:
Nice drums!

thanks seeks!

On 2009-08-11 17:06, GMAN wrote:
The madness never stops.

So true! Speaking of crazy: How's the "dragster" doing down at the track?

On 2009-08-11 16:09, closettiki wrote:
hey buzzy...do we get a preview of what you will have
at oasis....any drums......tikis?......

I loaned all my tikis out to a party over the weekend and just got them back today. They're still in my truck. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow, but you'll probably already be on the way by then. I only have 5 tikis and 5 drums to sell at Oasis this year. Not much stuff, but it's all quality!

On 2009-08-11 07:39, TheBigT wrote:

I have a bunch of promo tshirts from some movie called rocker that say "I only drum naked!" on the front of them. I should include one with each drum purchase this weekend.

On 2009-08-11 06:49, Matt Reese wrote:
I'll be needing a pin up pic again this year. You've started something weird collection-wise.

I'll definitely be bringing pictures this year...
And it's not weird, it's Kool! All the Koolkids have one!

On 2009-08-11 02:51, HOUSE OF KU wrote:

Aloha, Freddie

Going to miss you this year Freddie... :(

On 2009-08-11 02:10, TravelingJones wrote:
...it's the most wonderful time of the Year! :)

Dammit Jonesey! Gonna miss you too... :(

On 2009-08-10 23:43, closettiki wrote:
Hey buzzy
I hope you're bringing some copies of your newest
pin up!!!!
I need a signed copy. ......

It's for my wife.......

Really ......

I think I'll have enough this year to give one to you too. Tell the wife I'll save #1 for her.

On 2009-08-10 21:25, RevBambooBen wrote:
Lookin forward to my new Pin Up pic for the Boo head!

Just wait til you see your present! Cya tomorrow!

On 2009-08-10 21:24, little lost tiki wrote:

you're waaay too hairy...

You just have a distorted view of what a real man is. I'm sure you have the makings of one somewhere underneath all that pasty flab. You should talk to your doctor. He can probably give you some hormones to take care of that lack of masculinity problem. I'm surprised the Marines couldn't make a man out of you. But in their defense, they only had a couple years to undo all the damage you did to yourself over your whole life up to that point.

On 2009-08-10 21:17, GROG wrote:
Looks like carving is a great way to get in shape.

I love that picture! Thanks GROG!

On 2009-08-10 21:16, martini kings wrote:
buzzy the drum is lookin killer. can't wait to play it friday night on stage!
mahalo!
tony

It's ready! See you Friday!

On 2009-08-10 20:57, Aaron's Akua wrote:
Buzzy, lovin' the Martini Kings drum! You really did 'em justice.
Aaron

Yo AA! I hope I made something they will cherish. It turned out well so far, in my opinion.

On 2009-08-10 20:56, hodadhank wrote:
I just stopped by to say it was nice bumping into you today, I should add I was fortunate you were fully clothed at the time.

I'm glad you didn't notice I wasn't wearing any underwear that day.

Locals: Tune into San Diego Living tomorrow morning for a live feature on Tiki Oasis.
Buzzy Out!

On 2009-08-12 22:39, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
I have a bunch of promo tshirts from some movie called rocker that say "I only drum naked!" on the front of them. I should include one with each drum purchase this weekend.

Now there's a great idea!

So now the question is: which sounds better? goat or cow? Btw, are they similarly priced?

buzzy,

once again great drums! always a pleasure to see your new items posted. can't wait to see the pin up this year though i'm more into redheads -

i keep looking at this one and my eyes have almost recovered from last years!

bd