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Tiki Central / Tiki Carving

My first carvings

Pages: 1 13 replies

Y
Yubaba posted on Sat, Oct 9, 2010 2:13 PM

Bumbling efforts to try and create something worthy to be called "Tiki"



This one I have been working on, on and off, for about 3 years, my twins have been sucking up my free time



This one I started on 3 weeks ago

I'm looking for a good way to finish them, I have had really bad experiences with varnish
Any pointers are greatly appreciated

P

Very nice carvings! I love the deep cuts and character that each one has!

M
McTiki posted on Sat, Oct 9, 2010 3:14 PM

Beautiful designs! Excellent!

Welcome to TC!

4

They're all worthy. Great first showing!

D

Bumbling efforts?!?! Those look GREAT!

Y

It's when I finish them that everything goes downhill..
I use classic varnish, but it always turns wobbly and splotchy,
no matter how many times I sand it again over and over.
Maybe they're too big to make it work
Should I switch to shellac, oil or just wax them?
I really have no clue whatsoever

A

Excellent carving! I can't help on the finishing...I'm still struggling with that myself. can't wait to see more.

B

Excellent stuff Yubaba, I see you are about Precision and tight detail, Makes for super carvings.
For finishing, I like to start with a couple coats of a sealer such as Shellac, sanded between coats, then for the smaller pieces I Love the Wipe on Poly from Minwax or any other maker depending on which big box store you shop, They All work. The key for me is to lay on THIN coats and to Sand between Every coat, 220 then 380 or so for the last coats, just don't sand the last coat.
Try it you will like it.
The sanding between coats helps the piece NOT to look like it was dunked into a vat of finish and hung out to dry. The finish is the step you want to not slack on because it can turn a great carving into a piece of crap.
Hope this helps.

L

Hey! Welcome on TC neighbour!
Where do you come from in Belgium? I'm not so far from the south border...

Your tiki carving shows plenty of skill and knowledge, both in the drawing in the cup .... and the etched pattern: WOW!!!!
You still have treasures in reserve?

For the finishing of your Tiki follow the advice on the guy above, it is a Sensei carver.

Keep posting!

J.

Y

Thanks for all the great replies!

Benzart, thank you for the advice, time to start experimenting with shellac. The wipe on poly, I have no clue what that might be, by poly you mean polyurethane, right?

To my french neighbour, I'm from Antwerp, so precisely the opposite side of the country, but Belgium is not that big to begin with..
I don't really have any spare spieces lying around, because everytime I "finish" one, it's gone the next day

I don't want to sound irritating by calling them bumbling attempts, but I never really understand it if people say Wow, do they really mean it or just don't want to hurt my feelings.
I'm just someone who doesn't know when to really quit and call it good, because it's never the perfect picture I had in my head

G
GROG posted on Mon, Oct 11, 2010 1:55 AM

Nice! Very clean. GROG like.

Yes! very strong and bold tikis.

P

Nice!

Y

Two new small tiki's,
tried to finish them the way Benzart advised.

Pages: 1 13 replies