Gman vs Wild - Page 1; Kotiate Warrior 183; BoatMan 184; Gman Lizard Dance 190; Screamer 193

Loki - where ya bean mang? Thanks for the compliment. The owner came and picked him up today. I think he liked him. I'm gonna take a short break here to do a few things with Rita when she gets back from Philly and before she moves back up for the next 4 years. I'll be down for about 2 weeks, but then I'll be back on the tall Maori I started.

JohnnyP - Hopefully it will look good over his hut. I'll post pics when I get them. He said the hut should be completed in about 2 months. Thanks again for the shark tooth club. It's one of my favorite possessions right now!!!

Benz - Nope, nothing fancy here, just basic stuff - down and dirty.....you know the drill! Chainsaw + Grinder + Foredom = BIRD!

Hewey - !!!???!!! %^&$#@!!

Sam - Hey man, howzitt? I agree, huger is mo betta!

8FT - I hear ya, I'm an animal lover too, but I'm also a very serious meat hunter. It's all necessary with human encroachment and proper management. I'm having wild pork tonight :) I love wild pork.....and they don't belong here. A tasty invasive species is a great thing!

So, I thought you guys might like to see the before and after shots of this great blue heron. So here they are.....you cans see how busted up this log was....and it was infested with ants. Ouch! For what it was, I am happy with the outcome.

Before:

After:

-Gman

Fantastic use of that hunk o' log! Love it.

Thanks Surfin! More later..........

-Gman

All I can say is EXCELLENT!!

hey man that requires some skill to make that bird out of that log. it must been pretty difficult the log looked a little roughed up. i just want to say good job and good luck on all future carvings.

Benz - Thanks man. I try. I'll post pics of him up on the hut when I get them.

Tiki Duddy - Thanks to you too. As a carver I am always working with oddities of the wood to bring a piece out of a log. I generally see what I want to carve in the wood before I start - that's why I pick a particular log. When you have a client who commissions a certain carving AND provides the log, you need to be able to see what he sees and make what he wants no matter what the log throws at you. It's a whole different gig than working and modifying your project as you go; commissions need to be what was ordered and delivered as expected.

Well, I'm back from my trip to the Mayan Jungle and I have returned with some beautiful carvings. I may post some pics of them here later. I was working on two Maori pieces for my own collection before I left and they still have a long way to go. I also took another commission before I left and came home to a request for another tiki. So, I'm going to be a busy boy. I'm off all week and I'll have four carvings working so I'll try to post pics as I can. It also looks like we have a Tropical Storm heading straight for Club Greg (my house) so I need to go and get at it.

It's nice to be back, and MAN, did you all stop by Conga's thread and see the finale of his huge PNG carving? If not, head over that way and leave him a note. That is one beautiful piece. Way to go Conga!!!!

-Gman

Hey folks,

Here are few pics of a 20" bluegill (brim) panfish for Traveler's great blue heron carving. The beak on the bird is triangular in cross section, and Traveler will trim the triangular hole in the fish to match nicely with the beak. So, this fish should slide over the beak and appear as though the bird has just speared it. I know it isn't "tiki", but it is going on a hut......

...and a little Hei-tiki to work on while it's raining outside.....

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-06-11 16:04 ]

iT'S EASY TO SEE THAT GMAN 'KNOWS FISH.' NICE CARVING...IT WILL BE A GREAT ADDITION TO THE
HERON....IT'S CERTAINLY 'TIKI' ENOUGH FOR ME.

That is sooooo cool! Great job on the fish, I'm sure you're wonderful heron will enjoy it. :)

Hey guys,

Traveler came and picked up his fish for the heron today. I can't wait to see pics of it all put together. He's constructing the hut on his dock now and will be incorporating the heron post into the structure. It should look kool.

It rained hard here all day, thanks to T.S. Alberto. I'm off all week, and I putted around the garage today and started tinkering with a Maori pendant. It's coming along but needs a ton of sanding. For this one, I used my 1" bar and a chain with all the safety links ground off. While carving, I held it with my toes. :)

-Gman

Is that why you are missing 4 toes?? I Really need one of those chainsaws, 1" bar = Cool!
I Love your new guy, even if he does have a little toejam mixed in.

Hey, that looks familiar...

Nice work buddy

I used my 1" bar and a chain with all the safety links ground off. While carving, I held it with my toes.

Now I know what I've been doing wrong all this time!!!!!!
Sweet little nug of a Maori there, G.

Very nice. Can't wait to see it with the finish on. :)

Benz - yep, toe-jam also works to keep the nose sprocket lubed - extends your bar-life :). Thanks

BK - You've seen one of these before?

Hewey - Thanks man!

Surf-n-Turf - Yeah man, you don't know what you've been missing....

Fink - Thanks, more pics below...

Hey all,

I worked on the small Marakihau today. I cut his ab inlays and did some sanding and staining. He's not done yet, but I thought I would post a pic tonight. I'll take better pics tomorrow in the sun. Here it is so far.....

-Gman

very nice Pendant GMan...I marvel at the great stuff that you...Basement...Finkdaddy...our
buddy Kaha..BenZart....and some others do on a small scale. I have to go BIG just cuz I can't
see little. Now go make something big again.

Looks great. The eyes really make it stand out. Need the pictures of it in the daylight. I'm with Ben, I got to get one of those itty bitty chainsaws.
JP

It's beautiful Gman!

NICE! verrrrry slick. What'd ya use for the eyes? I'd love to see a close up that, I know they're hard to photo, because they reflect.

great work, gman. i love the maori style.

Hey all,

Thanks for the kind words on my Marakihau. I haven't carved small since the early nineties, and it was kinda fun - although I didn't use my hook much and relied on my Foredom and rotary handpiece/burrs. I'll be back to the hook and nanna (reverse hook) blades soon and will be able to get back to the detail that I once lived for while carving birds. I just need to find a way to compensate for my bum left arm and hand. All in time.

BenzArt came by my shop today and brought me a present of a bag full of awesome pieces of exotic woods to work on. He brought zebra, walnut, lace, rose ebony, makore, eira, mahogany, chadua, curly maple, and ton of other stuff I can't name. I have enough chunks here to make an army of little guys. I'm looking forward to breaking out my old bird decoy carving knives and getting busy. Look for some crazy Gman pendants in the future. Ben also gave me a great lesson in sharpening my hook knife blades; that's always been a problem for me. Thanks Benz.

If you haven't spent any time with Ben, you all need to try. He is just the nicest person ever and he has a depth of carving knowledge like no one I have ever met. Each time we speak I become a better carver. All of us here at carving TC are really blessed to have him among our ranks. Thanks again Ben, and I'll see you again soon.

Also, here is a pic of the pendant showing the abalone eyes and the aged finish better. I chose two abalone pieces with mirror-image pupil swirls in them to try to match them up. I will likely use the hook knife to put some nice details on him now.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-06-17 16:16 ]

Sweet, looks nice. You were lucky to have ben visit.

JP

Thanks GMAN, but it was I who had the great time at your home. Thanks for making me feel so welcome!.

Gman, your skillz are really showing brah! I'm still blown away with your cedar Maori boyz but now with you chizlin' bitty workz the curves and flowing lines are killer dude!! You're carving with wwaaaay too much fun! Better check the rail for leaks, braddah...cause with poor shop ventilation, you'll have one serious headache after your vision quest!

Keep up the great workz!!!

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Benz - You are very welcome. You are welcome here at my home anytime.

JohnnyP - Thanks for the comment. I'll have the wild boar feast ready just after 6:30. See ya then.

T. Jones - thanks for stopping by. Here's an updated pic of the Marakihau pendant. I keep picking at it. I'm not sure if it is done yet.....maybe just a little more...and a little more....

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-06-18 18:02 ]

We had JohnnyP and Mrs. P over for dinner last night. Dems some cool cats. We feasted on wild boar, pineapple, and exotic hot peppers.....the food of the gods! Hopefully they will be joining the Florida carving crowd soon. Good luck JohnnyP!

-Gman

Go Johnny GO!
You too GMAN!. Just finish this last guy already, he looks Cool.

Looking good man! Thats a sweet little tiki - nice work. Looking forward to seeing more little guys :)

Hey all,

Still no more progress on the last big Maori with the kicked back elbow. I started tinkering with another Marakihau/Taniwha, but really didn't get far. I decided the other one is done. I spent most of the day doing metal fabrication work on the sandrail for some upcoming races/rides. I get into lows when my wife is gone where carving or painting for the business is a real chore. It looks like we'll be pulling another four years apart. We'll see what happens. I have several commissions waiting, so I better get after it. Maybe I can get something going over the long 4th of July weekend. Here's a pic of some pendants and a club. Benz put the killer inlays in my Hei-Tiki (thanks man), the club is a JohnnyP piece, and the bone piece (on the right) is one of Dave's. The new Marakihau is on the left, and it is a bit larger than the others.

-Gman

Hey GMAN, nice tikis. I didn't realise you were a pendant maker too. I really Iike the marakihau, it's one of the more uncommon designs here in NZ. It's a bit more sinuous and animated than a standard hei-tiki. What books are you guys using for reference for your Maori pieces?

Gman and Mrs. Gman are the really cools katz! Food was awesome! Wild boar and pineapple, scrumptious-- the native island kings never ate as well.

Gman's carvings show well in his photo's but look even better in person!

JP

Gus, I had a bit of catching up to do since my last post.
Sandrail beatings, minatures, T-shirts.....

my head's spinning!

Great stuff!

I officially suck for not getting you those tap handle ferrules.
Now that you're doing rainy day minatures you could probably use 'em.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the bumps gents. I've been around, watching, and carving a bit, but I haven't been doing tiki stuff until today.

Art! Nice to see ya back around. Yep, always lots goin' on! Saturday was a boar hunting day, Sunday was a sleeping day, and today and tomorrow were supposed to be sandrail days, but my plans changed and I wound up home covered in sawdust. Happy happy!

I pulled my big Maori out and put him up on the bench today. The weather turned on me and we had a bad electrical storm. I took these pics and headed inside for cover. If it lets up a bit I'll go back out and continue working. Here's what he looks like now.....all hand carved, except the parts that I did with my toes :lol:

-Gman

Ok everybody, GMAN has raised the bar, he is now officially carving with his toes! :lol: Next time you do that we want to see pics.

Great stuff, as always. I love your redwood stuff. The wood give your carvings so much depth and personality. Very nice!

Finkdaddy - thanks for checking in. I was able to get out and do a little chisel work after the rain. I took some pics for you showing my toe technique. Toe-carving takes some practice, and it's not for everyone, but you can get a lot done if you are multi-tasking with your hands. I was actually making a pulled-pork BBQ dinner with my hands while I was carving the facial features on the Maori with my toes. Give it a go...but you should wear a filleting or kevlar sock on your off foot until you get the hang of it. Also, be careful of tools with rotating power. While toe carving with my angle grinder today, I nearly twisted my ankle.

-Gman

Gman ---you rock!!!!

Nice work on the carving too.

GMAM, you're still holdin' out on us, because I Know you are carving with the chainsaw with your hands while your feet are busy with the chizzels, Or is it BPBuzzy who does that?
Nice to see you pull this guy out again!

Rodeo - :)

Benz - Yep, I use the saw too, but only with the 1" bar. The 14" or 16" bar is too tough to handle while toe carving.

But seriously, I need to make some more progress on this guy and finish up several other carvings here this week. I got a bit behind here. I hope to get this guy to the point where I can work on him in the garage at night and get him looking respectable. I'm starting to think about where to go with his moko and I have some cool ideas. I also have a real special pendant to do, so I will be focusing on that until I get it right. I'll post pics when I have something worth showing.

-Gman

You are a friggin nutcase! That's why we all look up to you.
JP

You're a clown man! :)

Nice work as always. Stop playing with that sandrail and get some carving man (or at least play with the sandrail with your hands, and carve with your feet at the same time).

alright GMan....can you carve with your hands behind your back too? Nice work here...
and since you have several things to finish up...does that mean we're gonna finally see
another "GMan Chainsaw" carving? Your Maori carvings always have their own distinct
look....go GMAN.

That's what I'm talkin' about! Where can I go to find Kevlar socks?

Finkdaddy - here's a link to kevlar socks....

http://www.rangerjoes.com/kevlar-socks-p-1269.html?manufacturers_id=44

-Gman

Hey all,

I spent the afternoon working on the Maori and grinding and painting some new welds on the sandrail. Happy Happy! Here are a few pics of the Maori.

Thanks for looking,

Gman

GMAN, you have the coolest stuff in your garage! The Maori is looking awsome, and thanks for the sock link. You learn something new everyday. :wink:

On 2006-07-04 14:47, finkdaddy wrote:
GMAN, you have the coolest stuff in your garage!

I have seen his garage, and yes he has the most coolest stuff.

Great job on the Moari, I've been missing your postings.

JP

wow man that is looking good! i like the red in the face alot.