Aloha Theater and Tiki Bar!

Last fall I had the idea to build a home theater and then decorate it with Oceanic Art. By accident I found a vintage tiki bar so I added a tiki bar room next to the theater. I found two tikis from an antique store in San Diego. One of them looks similar to the tiki on page 205 in "The Book of Tiki." The book says the one in the picture is from the Hanalei Hotel in Sand Diego.

This is what my tiki looks like:

At the base of the two tikis the name "Kapu Tiki" is wood burned.

I am looking for any information on the origin of the two tikis. The antique store said they acquired the tikis at an estate sale. They think they are from the 1960s or 70s since the other items in the sale were from that era.

Thanks!

[ Edited by: MaukaHale 2017-03-20 18:46 ]

[ Edited by MaukaHale on 2022-03-24 15:46:18 ]

The tikis that you purchased are carved on Siargao Island in the Philippines by The Kapu Tiki Co. I think the company started around 1999.

Got Greyhounds? Viva Kate!

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2012-05-15 22:06 ]

Thanks for the heads up.

I went to the kapu tiki website and then to http://www.secretspotsurfshop.com. It was at this website you can see the ones for sale.

I now know what kind of wood their made of, cocowood. The ones for sale are all different than the ones I have.

Here is the other tiki:

Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lookin good

The second Tiki is also copied from the Book of Tiki. Can you find it? :)

You have me stumped on that one. There are some similarities with the tiki on page 112 but only with the forehead and eyes.

Grand Tikis and your bar is looking awesome!!!

On 2012-05-17 04:35, MaukaHale wrote:
You have me stumped on that one. There are some similarities with the tiki on page 112 but only with the forehead and eyes.

Page 226, the black one in the middle, from the Playa Del Polynesian Village apartments. :)

Looks great. Cool idea :).

On 2012-05-18 12:43, bigbrotiki wrote:

Page 226, the black one in the middle, from the Playa Del Polynesian Village apartments. :)

Thank's for pointing that out. I don't think I would have found it. The one I have is almost exactly like the one in the picture,

Here is another picture:

On 2012-05-15 22:56, MaukaHale wrote:

I'm in love with this sign.

Very Very nice, wonder how the Boss would like it if I slowly migrated the Tiki out of the bar and into the theater room?

your crown molding is top notch!

Here's where you can get one:

http://www.madasigns.com/tiki/

I am looking for information about the bar that I acquired. It was purchased at a consignment furniture store that sells furniture from model homes for residential home builders. I was there because my wife was looking for a couch. It was in the back of the store and had been marked down three different times and said "Final Mark Down." I couldn't pass it up.

I think its vintage because most of the contemporary bars I have seen usually have shelves in the back. This one is made of oak and has cabinets in the back.

It looks like its had some fairly good use in the past. Someone added a lock for the liquor cabinet and the cutting board has a lot of use as well.

Any information on who may have made this would be welcomed. My thoughts are that someone had it custom made.

In the ceiling there's a pocket created by the wall and air duct. I had the idea to hang something in this area and came up with the idea of blow fish.

I then decided that these guys need some lights and replaced them with these guys:

When I first started this project I thought the center piece would be this Maori Canoe. Since it's in the room with the theater screen the lights are low and you can't see it.

I purchased a low voltage track light to see what it looks like and what a difference.

I'm even thinking of lighting some of the other wall hangings.

Right now all the electric is temporary and I plan on fishing the wires so everything will be hard wired. I want to put bamboo on the ceiling but I'm not sure how to handle that if I want to use can lights with spotlights. For those of you that have done this what are your suggestions for putting spotlights in the ceiling? Do I need to stay with track lights or is there a way to use can lights that are embedded in the ceiling and still cover the ceiling with bamboo?

Canned lights are not Tiki.

what about canned laugh tracks?

Wow, two cheap shots in a row! Thanks for the support.

I don't know that I can offer any great advice, but I think the can lights would probably be easier to conceal with bamboo, matting, or general tiki bric-a-brac. Don't you think?

You have some very nice pieces so far (the canoe is outstanding) that deserve to be highlighted. Keep striving towards your vision!

Thank you for your suggestion. I'm really limited on what I can do with the ceiling. This is an older home and like other homes the ceiling in the basement is only 7' 3" high. I really can't hang very much except near the walls. If you look at the glass float light you'll see that it's in corner and above an end table.

MarkMyWords used spotlights in his "Walls of Voodoo." He has the same look in a ceiling that I am looking for using reed fencing.

That is a beautiful bar - it does look like it has some age. The drawer pulls would be the easiest way to date it. My gut feeling is 1960s custom home bar.

gabbahey

So here is an idea, Take 2 inch half round bamboo, insert (LED, low heat output) Rope lights inside the rounds
mount them light side to the ceiling and 1 to 2 inches away from the ceiling.

You got Tiki strip lighting & you can use larger rounds if you wanted.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2012-06-02 17:36 ]

You may have something there.

I'm not looking for lighting for the room but low voltage spotlights to accent certain items on the wall. Walt Disney hid these spotlights in bamboo in the Enchanted Tiki Room:

----------------------------

It would have to be fabricated but worth looking into - Thanks!

lots o fun stuff

nicely done....i like the fact that it's more open than a lot of the bars i see on here...more room for people to mingle when it's in use..

Wow, I really like this room! Lots of space and really nicely planned out.

[ Edited by: MaukaHale 2012-06-13 11:09 ]

Your home bar is fantastic. I love the way that you are highlighting art pieces. It isn't jammed with everything tiki. You have all kinds of cool art, different textures, nice wall colors. It is classy looking and well thought out! I totally love it!

On 2012-06-13 16:09, mymotiki wrote:
Your home bar is fantastic. I love the way that you are highlighting art pieces. It isn't jammed with everything tiki. You have all kinds of cool art, different textures, nice wall colors. It is classy looking and well thought out! I totally love it!

Thank you.

Last October I attended Monkeyman's Router Carving Day. I went with the intention to learn how to carve trim by making a sign. After seeing the "South Pacific Room," I was inspired to do other things as well. The first one was the discovery of the Tapa Cloth - Fish Trap Light, Monkeyman taught a workshop in 2007 on how to build these. By going back to the topic thread I saw the "step-by-step" process. This was the light I was looking for to go over the free standing tiki bar.

Here are pictures of my light being made. I really like it when everyone on TC shows how they do things.

I still need to glue on the tapa cloth. I'm waiting until I put a big piece on the wall. The remnants will be used for the light and a few other projects. Here is the tapa cloth I am working with:

The wood laying on the tapa is going to be the trim that will outline the wall. The reason its doesn't start at the edge is because I'm trying to hide some worm damage to the cloth that has been repaired but still shows. The cloth is going to cover the wall that the Maori Half Hull Canoe is on. The canoe will be over the worm holes.

I've decided that the trim will be based on the carving that's on the gunwale of the canoe that was designed by Leroy Schmaltz at Oceanic Arts. There are different patterns he uses so I will just use two of them and alternate them.

I learned to copy the pattern with carbon paper from Monkeyman

It was confusing to use lines to indicate where to carve so my patterns are reversed. I carve in the space between the lines.

This is just a test piece of wood to decide how the finished trim will look.

Leroy bevals the edges on some of the pieces of trim he makes so I thought I would see how it looks.

I tried different stains but the one that looked closest to the canoe was a gel stain. I think Leroy paints a lot of his carvings.

This is how it looks now so I just need to get the trim done. I'll post more pictures as the project progresses.

"People are like islands. You have to get close to them to know what they are about."
~ Adam Troy

[ Edited by: MaukaHale 2013-03-17 10:14 ]

Nice work. Thanks, for the in-progress pics.

Thanks for the step by step photos. I find them so interesting and educational. :)

Would you mind linking to the thread with the step by step on the fish trap lights? I've been wanting to make one for some time.
Thanks!

On 2013-03-17 07:10, Hale Tiki wrote:
Would you mind linking to the thread with the step by step on the fish trap lights? I've been wanting to make one for some time.
Thanks!

Its not really a step-by-step thread. I was able to see how they were made by the photographs. There is a complete parts list. I was only able to find the 9" wooden rings at Michael's. I had to order the 6" from Amazon.com. The lamp parts were found at ACE Hardware.

2007 Lamp Day May 26th-Vista, CA

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=24080&forum=17&start=0

I missed that thread. Thanks man. Did you end up using the entire 3x4 sheet of tapa? I've got some, but it's all allocated to other lamps. I'll have to order more.

Where can one get tapa? I love the lamps that many of you are creating but don't live anywhere near OA.

Hale Tiki: I'm not using the Fijian Tapa for the light. I'm am using remnants from the Tonga Tapa in the picture above.

Lori: For me, Oceanic Arts has turned out to be the best place to get Tapa. Maybe others on this list have other sources. Two years ago a picked up a piece of Figian Tapa, at Oceanic Arts, for about $55 dollars. In 2007 I think Monkeyman said the tapa they used cost $45. From what I have learned Tapa is not as available as it used to be. For about a year I tracked the prices on Ebay. For most tapas the prices on Ebay are higher than Oceanic Arts prices. The nice thing about OC is that if you don't live in the area they will ship just about anything anywhere. You can order a catalog from them by sending $10.

http://www.oceanicarts.net/

That is some nice woodworking there. Good job!

Thanks MaukaHale!

I didn't realize Oceanic Arts shipped across the country.

Great stuff in the works...

Thanks for showing...

Jon

Here's a progress report:

I have the tapa cut and temporarily hanging while I finish the trim. So far I have about 16' of the top cut with the sides still needing to be routed. This puts me at about half of what I need.

Its taking longer to carve the tops since I decided I didn't want round corners on the inside angel cuts

I'm carving each inside angle, by hand, with a "V" parting tool.

The fish trap light also needs a design change. I thought the Tonga Tapa would look good on the light and match the tapa on the wall. With external lighting the tapa looks good.

When the light is lighted on the inside it doesn't look that good.

I am looking for a piece of Masai (also called Fijian Tapa) for the light. I think that's what Monkeyman used for his lights.

I'll post more pictures when I get further along.

Stuff's looking good. You just better hope Bamboo Ben doesn't see your walls and ceiling or he's going to spank you.

Grog, you're right! I do have a plan for the ceiling.

Wow.... you really copied that lamp well from the images in that thread.

Its pretty much dead on.

John, You are teaching the next lamp day LOL.

Monkeyman, you are the Zen Master! You are the one that enlightens us.

The Tapa Cloth with your molding is bad ass.