Basement Kahuna -New Maori Bone Pendant 3/04

"Here come da four to da treee to da one..C.T. Diablo 'gettin it done....."

Increadable BK! That turned out awesome!

Hey BK, I took the time to goe thru all these pages. It is amazing what you have accomplished in the last years. I love your sense of detail and great feeling for the polynesian culture. Hope to get the chance to interview you one day about it. Keep up also the charming combat poses. :)

I'm amazed.
Are you selling this maori taiaha on ebay ? Do you already have a buyer ??

Really excellent work

[ Edited by: virani 2005-12-02 03:30 ]

Thanks, Virani and Mogambo...I PM'ed you both..

Some Polynesian fishtrap shades that I make...

Looking good, braddah.
Make sure you make some time to visit here... and bring me a present.
You're rocking.

The fish traps are cool!

But I want to see the finished Tripod-a-roa in tha top pic there. I'm getting ready to start carving one of those.

Thanks for posting.
E

I like the fish trap shades. I see you are using bamboo. In one of your early posts I saw a few in the background and from the detail of the photo I thought they looked like "regular" wood. Have you made any with wood? Any success? Tips?

Thanks
JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2005-12-22 11:25 ]

Here is a piece of bone jewelry I carved for Tallaluna for our anniversary. It's a Maori Teko Teko, Lakes area style. It measures about 2 inches. The inlays are very special...they are made of very precious abalone-that was gathered and cut by Eli Hedley! Bambooben sent me a portion of a small amount he found in his mom's attic. It polishes up beautifully.. The tiki mana is very strong in this stuff. I wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't given Eli himself credit for the beautiful abalone, so I gave a dual billing where my signature normally is... Aloha!

Doggone BK, I didn't know you went into the jewelry realm. I'm not surprised though. Damn nice piece! The mana makes it treasure.

Aloha bruddah BK!
Your work is Pono brah! Im really impressed with your weaponry & fine detail carving. Just awesome! Maybe we work out a trade one day on da kine? Id love to own a piece of your art and Im sure one of my Tiki makau would fit perfectly around your neck brah! Let me know anytime! I also make da kine Hawaiian weapons so if you want a nice shark tooth club or maybe a knuckle duster let me know!
Again, stellar work brah!

Malama Pono!

Here is a Kini Kini I just completed...close relative of the Cula Cula (but with no crossguard and less geometric) and named in many different forms, from the stretched spadelike blade such as the one seen here to the ray shaped club as I and recently Tikimecula have carved. I like this one...stylized fish, birds, and ocean waves...lots of eye candy. This one is already sold, but I'll be doing another couple of clubs (actually 3 Salis!) as soon as I'm done with a tiki I'm about to start.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2006-01-04 10:19 ]

Your clubs are always great! Every one gets better than the last!
Thanks
JP

Outstanding! Makes my palms hurt just looking at it!

Excellent Club, BK! Diggin the Palm work!

BK, I Love this KiniKini club. Lots'a fine detail for sure. Excellent work on that. Excellent Bone piece too. Once you get used to carving the bone, they will be Dynamite.
Nice to have you back carving!

Hey, all...the palm work is a joy...the chip carving part is work! The first side takes the longest on these. Once you have one side "mapped", the other goes much faster. Fijian carving is so eye-intensive...the peeps hurt more than the fingers after a club like this...at least if you're 35 and four glasses prescriptions into life like me. Thanks for the comps. Props to all for the new renaissance around here..all the work is looking good.

The detail is amazaing BK. You are truly a master.

The lazy carver in me would take over. NICE BK !

Awesome detail makes my fingertips ache just looking at it.

Amazing work Bk as always.

Aloha bruddah BK!
Great work as always cuz! Is there any kine Polynesian style you cant do? Absolutely amazing brah. Cant wiat to see what becomes of the materials I sent you!

Keep up the good work brah!

Malama Pono!

It's 'gettin there..Thanks, Kaha, for the material...the spirit of Aloha (and the mad skill) is strong, strong, strong in you..I owe you one, big time!

BK,
Now that is Fantastic! Nuff said..

Where does one get bone like that from. What part of what animal is it?

Aside from the walrus piece in the middle those are the flat sides of the thighbone of a cow. You can buy it for carving online, or if you want just visit a Petsmart and they should have a basket of them. It is a great material..the Maori carving collectives use it now as whale is protected worldwide..polishes smooth and is consistent throughout. Like carving soap but twenty times harder.

Aloha again Cuz!
Just sent you a PM brah...What can I say, youre bone carvings are Pono and thats all there is to say about da kine! Im so stoked at how proficient youve become with da bone brah! To answer Teakey question, the walrus bone I sent you comes from the skull of the walrus. Theres a big bony plate in between the tusks thats around 3" thick. So my bruddah who travels to Alaska & russia all the time, slabs it up for me at around 1/4" thickness. Great stuff to carve, eh brah?

You have to be careful of the bone you get from pet stores though...Usually they boil or sterilize the bone which permanently sets the oils from the marrow into the bone making it too soft and it wont carve well or hold detail nicely. Best beef bone to carve is fresh bone you clean & prepare for yourself. Boiling the bone actually weakens the material so what most bone carvers do is prepare fresh bone themselves for their work.
Its a messy, stinky job but the finished product is free from oils and wont be waxy or chalky. You need to find the shank bones from the local meat market or supermarket. You soak da kine in a solution of hot water with a little bleach and hydrogen peroxide for about a day. Then you need to remove the marrow from the bone (which is a mess and can be pilau!). I use a metal brush and scrub and scrape the inside of the bone until it completely free of marrow. Then you return the bone to a bucket with hot water and hydrogen peroxide for about another day at which point you remove the bone and place upright for drying. If there are any oils left in the bone, they will drain down and the pieces of oil filled bone can then be easily removed. Then I leave da kine bone outside to dry or "cure" for a day or two and then you just have to slab them up and keep them in nice, cool dry place until youre ready to carve!

Just a little lesson in preparing your own bone for your work!

Hana Hou brah, cant wait to see more!

Malama Pono!

How many is this now BY, 5, 6?? lookin great.

Thank you BK and Kaha ki'i on the tips for the bone, I may give this a try, but neither of you have to worry about me taking sales away. BK your work is top shelf.
JP

Wow bk - that bone carving is so awesome! I missed your thread for a while. That happens when ya lookin after a house with no internet connection. The details is so cool. Love em

Hello Basement Kahuna, awesome job on the bones.

BK, the bone carvings are amazing. So, what tools are you using for these? Don't tell me palm chisels??? Dremel type tools maybe? The smell must be like burning chicken feathers. Amazing Maori stylings, BK! Mahalo.

I am using a combination of bot, actually...some stuff just impossible to do that small without diamond dust..looking for some dental picks, too...Thanks, all for the props..

If you like Flea markets you can always find the tools for creating anything. Have a pocket(s) full of change and don't forget to haggle

Here's a bone Marquesan piece I just finished for a long-standing Tiki Centralite.. It's a crown panel image..2 inches.

Looks very nice.

I went through your thread here and it looks like you've just about made a little bit of everything, you work with a lot of different mediums I see.

By the way, what is your favorite medium you like to work with? Bone? Wood? Something else?

Hi, Bete. Probably wood. Just because it's the old stand by and has been my happy hunting ground for years.

That's what I'm talking about.. hows that list looking?

I swear, it must be something in the southern waters that makes everybody master carvers and makes me feel so worthless.
The water down there will either make you old, or gay, or a master, creative carving son of a...send me some water. My luck I'd be old, gay and pick up a paint by numbers set.
Great work as always Basement. Did ya get the p.m. I sent ya about a month ago?

BK, I loke this one best of all, He's really sweet.

Reminds me of a Purple Jade necklace only in crisp bone. I think I like this one the best too. Just like this sort of tiki better.