surf soul tiki

Kickin ars as usual bro

Man oh Man those are some damn fine tikis sir!
Love the Rockabilly tiki

thanks guys...

so this is the rough draw on an 8 1/2 foot Marq I'm doin' for a customer...

top half:

bottom half:

what I made yesterday...

what I'm working on today...

Like the Rum-Tiki Jeff.

thank you sir.

and here's the headdress comin' along...

Liking those 8 footers.

thanks bro...

so, ok... this dude is done...

Very cool, love the difference in the wood.

I'm really enjoying the work in red cedar you've been doing.

"kind mouse" charity event...

carved this one & donated it for a raffle...

what I feel like when I visit Benz.. lol...

today's tiki...

skinny mod.

[ Edited by: pjc5150 2013-11-12 14:54 ]

Outstanding work as always!

GGGGs
That's slick.

thanks guys... :)

today I dove into this headdress...

Did the dog drink that Rum?

Your a Madman, dont know how you crank em out so fast.

lol, yeah Andy, that is Dinky, and she pretty much follows me to wherever it is I'm working, and then finds a place to sleep... that's ma bebe, "shop dog", and surf soul tiki mascot... dogs rule... although some weirdos like Will prefer the company of lizards... lol... :D

And hey bro, I hope you're plannin' on comin' back to the Hukilau this year & bringin' stuff...

so yeah, here's a new project... commished by a guy who's like a regional sales director over at Corona Beer... nice dude, said he saw one like this at a hotel on the wall, and wanted something like it...

Benz hooked me up with this slab like a year ago & now I'm finally putting it to good use... never done a piece like this before, so I'm kinda nervous cuttin' it.... and wow, this mahogany is hard as shit... lol..

^ not bad rough cut considering I did it with a big-ass echo 600 tree saw, and then a quick cleanup with the angle (just so I didn't have to look at a bunch of ugly tool marks).... my new makita electric is in between blades at the moment, and I have to special order them since there's nowhere local that carries 'em... what a pain in the ass...

lol...

oh yeah, and here's a little something else goin' on in the carport...

basically just an in-process rough repro of a tiki that was at the mai kai back in '62...

Wow that picture of Mai Kai is one of the best I have seen. Can you post progress pictures of the Mai Kai piece. It is an interesting project.

ok, this one is coming along nicely...

and this is without a doubt the most beautiful piece of wood I've ever cut into...

looking good Jeff, how are liking carving Mahogany? I've never seen it with spalting before, looks cool...

yeah, but one thing I'm kinda realizing is that with all the different types of mahongany, saying that you're "carving mahohany" is a little like saying "I'm driving a ford".... (could be an escort, could be a shelby..)

I had a piece of Honduran mahogany & wasn't crazy about it... it was brittle & extremely chippy, and wasn't anything that great about how it looked... it was very mediocre all the way around & to be honest I found myself very disappointed with that whole experience (I was like "THIS is what all the fuss is about???") but THIS stuff is absolutely dreamy... I just love it...

The difference may have been that the imported stuff was dried (possibly kiln dried). Carving wet wood is MUCH easier than dried wood.

good point Tom....

and here it is done....

customer very happy...

Beautiful work.

That hook turned out great! You guys must have some massive Bull Reds over your way :wink:
It looks easy to crack...handle with care...

On 2013-11-20 08:07, pjc5150 wrote:
yeah, but one thing I'm kinda realizing is that with all the different types of mahongany, saying that you're "carving mahohany" is a little like saying "I'm driving a ford".... (could be an escort, could be a shelby..)

I know what you mean, I've been carving one piece and it's all good and then the next one will be really chippy and the grain's all over the place.

All the stuff I've carved up to date has been kiln dried, maybe I need to try 'wet' wood...not too much fresh Mahogany available in these parts though.

Nice finish on the hook btw.

wow, you've been carving the kiln-dried shit?

if you're ever down here I'll take you to the sawmill and get you a fresh wet piece of cypress... you'll think you died & went to heaven...

a little quickie snook... was originally a commissioned piece but just started cracking too much so I started a different piece for her. this one is a bit rougher than the other fish, which makes him perfect for front porch duty...

Nice fishy, they're fun aren't they?

yes, they are. :)

so yeah, I started chiselin' this dude today...

oh yeah, here's what started out as a "repro" piece of a mai kai tiki from 1962, but I was drunk when I started it, so the details are kinda off... lol...

so now it is the "drunken mai kai tribute" piece....

no one's perfect... :)

[ Edited by: pjc5150 2013-11-23 10:46 ]

mango root cluster that just came out of the ground a month or so ago...

a nice piece of drifty I sanded & poly'ed...

Hey man, it's been a while. I'm diggin all your new work. Stuff looks wicked nice.

That big hook you did is sweet.

thanks bro... I'm gonna make a couple more of 'em I think.. well, when my hammerin' arm heals anyway... lol..

so yeah, here's another piece of drifty I finished yesterday... "the tangle"

what I'm hammerin' on today,...

I like that.
It's starting out a lil different.

finished & out the door...

what I made today...

cedar box commissioned by the nice peeps at Balvenie Scotch...

still gotta square it up. finish it, etc...

and yes, I did, in fact, negotiate some booze into the deal.

Trading tiki for whiskey is an evolutionary essential. Always enjoy your work Jeff!

thanks Cy...

and the Balvenie box is done & delivered...