Grand Poobah's Oasis Update

so cool!!

Nice tiki, Nice finish and the wood is Gorgeous, is it Eucalyptus?

Thanks Nomolos and as always Benzart. I believe, although not entirely sure, the wood is actually hemlock. I had a neighbor try and identify it. I can spot oak, pine and maple, but after that I am not too good

Very nice! Love It. You have it down.

I have been lurking but have really bogged down with remodeling the kitchen. Before I got underway I actually sold one more of my previous tikis and was asked to make two more. I worked on these most of the winter. One is made of maple. I have had to take what I can get my hands on. I sure am not a fan of this maple. Here he is.

The next guy was made out of oak. Oak was acutally easier than the maple. I haven't been too happy with my hands on previous tikis as they seem like an afterthought. I made sure I focused on this guys hands before I did anything else. I have lost my my usb cable to my good camera. Hopefully I will be able to find as these pictures aren't all that clear.



after a haircut and a shave

I am working on a six foot poplar log currently. It seems much easier. Anyone aware of any pratfalls in dealing with poplar? Any feedback would be appreciate.

Thanks

Hell ya! man you keep getting better on each one. Looks Great!

The hands on that are outstanding. You put a lot of work into them and it shows. You da man.

Fantastic progress!

Thanks Seeksurf, SDShirtman, and Nomolos. Now that my kitchen is done I have had some more free time. Here is the latest. His one hand will hold a small candle (battery operated) while the other will hold a tiki torch. (solar powered) I hope to finish the few details and sand him down tomorrow.

Very Nice.

YES! Tikis in Pennsylvannia!!!! We're taking over the WORLD!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
(born from PA) 8)

Thanks drastic! Surfintiki it seems like we are the only two tiki(ers)? from PA. We got a got a lot of territory to cover (especially if you're in Mass) Just tell me you're an Iggles fan and not a Stillers fan

Wow, nice work. You have some serious sculpting skills!

On 2009-09-07 05:08, Grand Poobah wrote:
Here is the Marquesan tiki all finished. I added some tattoos as well.

Ditto what Big T said.
I am considering doing some tatoos on an upcoming carve. If you care to share your technique, I'd be interested. Those are beautifully done.

Yhanks Big T and Amate. I would be more than happy to share; however I hope the master carvers don't banish me to the woodpile. I really did try to carve these out and then apply stain but I wasn't patient enough. I also make kids chairs and customize them by painting, or draw names pictures etc. on top of the wood. I applied this idea. In this case I ended using a fine sharpie marker (I know, most of you are cringing!) to apply after the stain and then covered with spar urethane

I Love the idea of texturing those deep areas which might not stain the same, Anytime you have an area you can't clean up for any reason, add a textured surface and peeps will love it since it makes it special!

Thanks Benart! I really appreciate your reponse as for once I can say I actually intended to do that! I have been wringing my hands over trying to maintain a consistant finish throughout the carving. I have been trying to pull out the grain, but find it hard to do everywhere. (I have been talking with Lake Tiki and he and a few others have given some good advice) I thought by changing the texture it might make it easier on the sanding, and your eye towards another feature.

Happy Holidays!

It has been awhile as things have been a bit busy around my household. My wife and I have been busy driving our kids everywhere. I actually have a night off so I thought I would post a few pics.


here are the two I had in previous posts but finally finished in the summer.

I then finally finished this one for our own yard.

he then made it to the deck

here he is at night.

I am making one currently as a Christmas present.

he is the good looking one on the left!

I am almost finished. I have to put some spar urethane on him. It has been so cold up here (20 degrees) that the spar has trouble drying. My wife thinks I may need to bring in the house if I am able to have him ready for Christmas. I am hoping it will warm up as I don't want to that. Anyway thanks for looking and Merry Christmas.

Hey, I just went through your whole thread and your work is progressing beautifully. The hands really jump out to me - I'm jealous. It's one thing I'm working on getting a "handle" on myself. Nice work on the detail on your latest piece! Inspirational! Keep up the good work.

Shoots,

Metalhead

awesome work man.

I love the finish on that porch piece. VERY cool.

Hey, thanks guys.

metal The hands usually, beleive it or not, take the longest to finish. I usually start with them first. If I wait to complete them towards the end I have found that I start to run out of patience and rush them.

WOW, SICK Details, Love the Teeth, Fingers and Toes!!

On 2010-12-18 14:20, Benzart wrote:
WOW, SICK Details, Love the Teeth, Fingers and Toes!!

DITTO!!!! All of the above and the finish. I love your style. Just beautiful!

What kind of wood are you using?

Your work on the hands is incredible... And your style very distinctive, very nice collec of tiki on your yard!

J.

Thanks 5150, Benzart you have kind words as always, Amate the wood for this latest tiki is maple. He is actually the second half of a log I used on an earlier tiki. Maple seems to check out a lot more and has been more of a pain to carve. I didn't want to waste the log and as it turned out parts of this maple had spalted which left a really unique type of grain on his left arm.

Thanks laojia and amate about the comments regarding my style. I have really liked and tried to use so many ideas that I have seen from all of you, but have struggled to develop my own ideas as well.

This last guy turned out to be a present for my mom and dad. They have a pool with a waterfall. I wanted to make them a unique Christmas present. I thought I might add a fish to bottom of the pole but struggled to find one. I thought a shoe (flipflop) might be funnier anyway. My uncle (we were all very fond of him)has just recently passed so I thought I would also dedicate it to him. The present went over very well.

if you look closely, you can see an olive in the glass

Thanks for looking

This work is just amazing. I hope that one day my carvings can come out half as good as these. The Tiki with the torch in his hand is my favourite.

[ Edited by: Screamin-Jay 2011-01-10 19:38 ]

Just now saw this and looking forward to the pictures coming back up. NICE!!!!!

Nice chops!

Love the colors you've got going with your work!

And I echo the sentiments of the others... your detail work on the hands and the feet is sweet!

Bravo on tackling the Maple, that's some hard wood to carve.

Nice landscaping too, did you create the waterfall?

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2011-01-11 22:38 ]

Thanks VampiressRn, you don't happen to work for DR. Acula? I will repost them soon. Lake Surfer, I did make the waterfall. I actually am planning to make a larger one in another part of the yard but I have to put on the breaks for a couple of years as my boys need a bit of space to run around (they don't like tropical jungles)

I finally got around to bringing in my camera to work. I am a teacher. I have shared some of my pictures with my kids. The class has always wanted me to bring one in. I decided to actually make one to keep in school. I hope to keep adding a little more each year. Some kids like to pat his head for good luck on a test.

Nice! I think you've just added to the pantheon of tiki gods. Could this be the god of Pop Quizzes? :lol:

Damn that's beautiful. We both carve hardwoods but your style really makes the grain pop!

Thanks amate: I really sanded this one a lot to pop out the grain.

Big T: I am not too sure how many of my students will be worshiping the god of pop quizes, although they might connvert should I suddenly spring a test on them!

hey, that looks great!! nice job, the stain (s) look great keep going! scott tikibad

[no...LOL]

I love how you bring out the different grains and add textures to your work. It adds so much depth and personality to your Tikis. NICE JOB!!!

Wow! check it out! Love how you left the wood grain for us to enjoy.

Thanks Vampiress, tikibad and seeksurf. I thought I would repost some of the lost pics. This was the tiki that I made for parents as a christmas present. I will put in their backyard in the spring. In the meantime it is resting in my in laws living room (they told me they might decide to keep it!)

here is a new guy I am working on. He will end up as a matching bookend for a similar one I made last summer. I intend to put each one on each side of the steps. It has been pretty cold lately. Today I got a nice break as it went into the 40's! (yippeekiyaa) I was able to get a lot more done. I will post the pics when I get the chance.

have a good week

Excellent stuff and getting better with each one! You Excel in the fine details and the hard woods you are using make that much easier for you.

The Maple is one of the Great carving woods for that reason and the Cherry is the,THE,Premier Carving wood for a carver who wants tight, fine detail, where the wood must be stable and hold the detail. It sands Super well and takes the most Excellent finish.

The soft woods are easy in some ways but you cannot get the kind of detail that you can with the hard woods
HappyHaPPYhAPPY

Well done. Look @ the detail coming out! Looking Good.

NICE TIKIS A+

[ Edited by: Tikidude21 2011-02-19 06:53 ]

NICE TIKI'S from brooks and wesley also thanks for the extra recess.

Thanks seeksurf. As always Ben you have nice things to say. Maple may sure be a great carving wood but I have found it to be the most challenging. Here are some recent pics.

I have been sanding the heck out of him lately, and again, and again. The grain is beginning to come out. I only get a 1/2 hour here or there these days.

[ Edited by: Grand Poobah 2011-02-23 18:53 ]

Right On! I'm jealous you have something to sand on. I need to find
me a piece of wood.

uuugh...the sanding. it never ends doesnt it.....i understand just having a little here and there when it comes to time. good job poobah.

It has been awhile. The weather seems to be turning a corner up here and I was looking forward to getting outside this weekend. I got whacked with some kind of bug. I was hoping to finish off staining my recent carve but it was not to be. Here are some pics since my last post.

trying to do scales again

I thought I might burn the skirt to bring out the grain.

Thanks for looking

G.P. Mine if I ask how you got that coral look on this carving.Thanks mud.

Great work and details Grand Poobah!
Especially on the different textured area, very well done! Very expressive!

J.