Harro - What the hells been happening?? pg 13

He is coming along nice!
Give him some eyes so he can put
his 3rd leg in the peg.

Looking nice :D Make sure you take it back to that carver and show him how you went with that wood! :D :D

Very good Harro !
3 D is a hard thing but your Tang will be great for sure.

Benjamin.

Wow! your tikis are cool!!!!
too bad your australian :) :D :P

PS: Diablo that looks like the back of the kiosko/bar that is right outside our bedroom window... :lol:

Cheers,
Harro.

Funny I saw your pic and it reminded me of my view (when I looked up) I had when i carved 2 tangs in the back of a bar in Barcelona. buena suerte amigo!

Hey thanks Hewey, Benjamin, Diablo, Robin, Bowana, Seek, Tane ( :D ) ... my hatred of giving up (along with you guys' support) has buoyed me to plough on!!

And also to Ben for your earlier comment and continued support and inspiration around here - we've been missing ya these past days!! No point showing any more pics of our place here as the balcony and the view of the huge ugly wall are the highlights :lol:. And even with the doors shut I still manage to get sawdust all through the place after a few hours making noise and having fun with the tools... lucky my other half doesn't mind too much... or maybe it is because she knows this tiki is for her birthday coming up soon??

Here's some progress shots. It's amazing what a pair of eyes can do!! Took me a while to get that wonkyness out of the body though... I suppose the plus side of this hard wood is that it has held the detail of the eyes fairly well. Having trouble cleaning out the deep corners though - just don't have the right tools (of course I blame tools :D ).

Still got a ways to go yet - and my sander didn't survive the journey in my backpack so its hand-sanding all the way.... :x :x

cheers amigos and keep up all your great work - it's inspiring me!
harro.

Oh good! He didn't end up as firewood! Nice clean lines and symmetry. This one's got to be a keeper now! Interesting how quebracho changes color when exposed to air. It must be because of the buenos aires in Argentina, huh? :) What will you stain it with?

He's alive now, thanks to his eyes and his mouth you carved very well.
Hand sanding you said ? Good luck :wink:

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Man, that is a sweet carve Harro. This guy wouldn't look out of place in Rarotonga. I love all the little cracks through the head....this guy is gonna look ancient once you put a stain on him!

Sweeeeeeet :D

Thanks guys!!

Bowana and Paipo, you bring up a topic that I've been deliberating over for the last few days - what to do with the stain!?!?

As you can see from the pics on pg 3, he will eventually get a nice red "suntan" from the buenos aires here (good one Bowana :lol: !) - if I leave him untouched for a while. See this first chunk I took out when I first started:

Here's a pic of that chunk now, a couple of months later, next to the tang and on top of other pieces of quebracho whose ends have darkened:

I love the natural red, but I would like some darker shades in the corners and deep cut areas. Should I stain him now while he is fresh and yellow, or wait until he has gone all dark and then apply the stain? Does stain act like a varnish in that it protects the wood from ageing? In that case I would have to wait... I also have no idea what kind of stains and varnishes they sell here, that's going to be an interesting journey of lost translations!!

Would love to hear your thoughts. Yes Paipo I'd love to get the ancient look to him.

cheers.

Bravo Harro! his looking great, you are going to make marcela very happy whit him :) !

Great Tangaroa, I like the proportions. I would let him colour naturally, maybe a light coat of wax, but it would be ashame to hide the woods beautiful natural colour.

Very nice and crisp Harro...and symmetrical. :) This wood is really beautiful...Will it eventually weather like the outside of that log? I like the richness of that red.

Those are good questions about the stain, Harro. I'd like to know about that stuff too. Staining and finishing is the one thing I have the most issues with. I really like the red color the Quebracho has. (gotta be from the buenos aires!). Maybe if you put a wash with a dark stain that would fill in the carved out parts like an antiquing and some kind of clear satin finish over it to preserve the color?

Nice tang. Clean lines.Sharp.GROG like.

Cheers Cheeky, Bowana, Robin, Clarita and Grog - thanks for stopping by!

Robin I dont think it will weather as much as the outside of the other log - that is the rough outside of the log just under the bark line i think. I'm hoping it will go a shad of red similar to the ends, or like the other little piece.

Bowana yes I will probably do what you suggested, maybe just let him soak in some good airs first!

I finished the carving and sanding, and for the moment haven't done anything to him regarding stain or finish. Still trying to learn more about that stuff, and in the meantime he has been getting himself a nice tan over the last few days:

and with modesty loin-cloth :lol: :

cheers.

Excellent work HArro, now aren't you happy that you didn't throw him into the fireplace? It's also a beautiful piece of wood and looks like it may turn to the darker reddish if left alone. I am Really glad you stuck with it and finished him up.Sweet!

harro, very nice work! I dig the color.

WOW- excellent work, and really glad you stuck with it too.. The carving will be nothing but easier from here on out once you get into some softer wood!

If he were mine, I'd let it age too- that wood seems to have a natural and beautiful 'oxidation' from the pics you've seen..

NEXT!!! :wink:

~Skully

[ Edited by: Capt'n Skully 2008-02-07 11:17 ]

Dude! It looks great just like that! Don't touch it! :)

Aloha harro!!!
Sweet Tang carving!!!Excellent job harro, keep slaying the wood, Aloha , your friend, Mooney

That is choice Nice Work ! Love the color and
texture of that wood.

Very nice Harro. I'm in love with that wood...beautiful. Congratulations on overcoming the obstacles to this carving in a foreign land.

that looks gorgeous :D Very nice my freind!

Awesome carving and color. Congrats. Two semi-opposable thumbs up.

[ Edited by: grog 2008-02-07 21:45 ]

Great carving, beautiful wood!!

On 2008-02-07 07:57, harro wrote:...and with modesty loin-cloth :lol: :

At first glance I thought someone had tipped our little friend a dollar!

Perfect work, harro. I'm simply loving this Tang. The color is wonderful and te design you carved stick perfectly with the wood. It seems you've made an amazing work of sanding because the grain spring beautifully.

Benjamin.

...So where's the new one? :)

ahh Clarita, thanks for bumping this and kicking my ass into gear!! :)

Firstly, belated thanks to all that dropped in and said g'day to the little tang after he was finished - Benzart, Tiki Kaimuki, Capt'n Skully, Bowana, Mooney, Seek, Robin, Hewey, Grog, FBM, Benella, Hodadhank - really appreciate it. He's not really finished yet though, as I still havent put any wax or varnish on him yet - he's still getting a bit redder by the day though.

So I have started another one for Clarita, in a piece of fresno wood (kinda like pine i think) that she ever so kindly found for me. After the quebracho its like carving butter!! Haven't made much progress so far but here's how it looks. It's kinda based on the head of the Hanalei hotel tiki.

Yay! is looking great!! stop complaining and carve, you! I'm Happy! :)

Mate youve got a great eye for this :D

That's already a fine looking piece, Harro! Fresno is Ash wood ( I looked it up in my Spanish Dictionary!). Clarita will be getting a very cool gift from you!

More than mighty fine beginning there Harro. Hard to believe you're doing this in another land...now that's commitment! Clarita's pretty lucky to have this to look forward to...

Aloha harro!!!What you got going on my friend the lines look pretty sweeeeeet looking for some more my friend.Aloha , Mooney

great pieces, Harro! that tang came out with a wonderfully classic feel to him. and the new guy is shaping up awesome!

harro your carving just gets better and better keep up the good work my friend

Top shelf ! Any update ? :wink:

Benjamin.

Hi Clarita - this guy is taking some time to pop out of his fresno skin, but when he does he will be looking forward to living with you in your little bamboo hideaway!

Thanks Hewey - whats news back home? I hear Shag is coming back down to Outre soon?

Bowana - thanks for doing the homework on this wood!! Can I come to you every time I get lost in translation here? (just about every day).

Thanks Robin, how's the jade pieces going?

Mooney - thanks mate, I love your lonos and all the different projects you have going, I just wished you'd post more pics!

Greentikipat - thanks for stopping by! your paintings are wicked.

Marcus - mate, where you been?!?! we all want to know and see some more tasty pics from you!! Any news from brisbane way?

Thanks Benella - i'm looking forward to seeing your guy finished too!

Here's some progress pics:

still a bit of work to do yet!

cheers,
harro.

Man I love that Lono! Looks great, I might have to do a similar one now!

Wow, you're really making progress. He's really coming out of there. This wood seems like it's easier to work than the last guy. Jade pieces are coming along.

Wow nice, he looks great! Nice classic look.
How tall is he its hard to tell?

Hi Clarita - this guy is taking some time to pop out of his fresno skin, but when he does he will be looking forward to living with you in your little bamboo hideaway!

:D!! He is looking so cool! this is going to make me an official tiki girl a think, and my bamboo hideaway a Tiki bamboo hideaway, I 'm so happy i can't explain it in words!!
Thanks SO much my friend!!!

gracias Clarita!!! :)

Cheers Seeksurf, he's just a wee fella, about 23cm high (or 9 inches for you guys)

Thanks Surfintiki, but he's more like a Ku than a Lono i think!??

Yeah Robin, it seems like they always take ages but then as soon as you make some eyes it suddenly appears to being going somewhere!! The eyes are the turning point i think!

I've finished the carving now I think, so now have to start the sanding - all by hand too :(

On 2008-04-03 15:21, harro wrote:
Bowana - thanks for doing the homework on this wood!! Can I come to you every time I get lost in translation here? (just about every day).

Si, claro! (Sure!) I am no expert though. Get yourself a Spanish dictionary and a book on verb conjugations. Soon you'll know enough to be as dangerous with it as I am. Yikes!

Your carving is great. Kona Style has always been my favorite. Looking forward to seeing how you stain it.

Che!

Man, you've got some skilled chops going on there. Sweet carves harro!

Gracias Bowana y Paipo!

So, I take it most folks here, at least at one time or another, have been a bit overwhelmed in the "Stain and Finishing" aisle of your local hardware store. It can be a bit hard do distinguish the differences in colours/shades/finishes/qualities etc, let alone decide which to take the plunge and purchase.

Well take that feeling and multiply it by 100 when you can't really understand anything written on the tins! :lol: After a half hour of scouring the backs of tins, looking at all the little sample bits of wood on the displays (meanwhile rapidly expanding my spanish hardware vocabulary), I chose a stain and a varnish that hopefully will be adequate for this tiki and a couple of others too.

The stain was a concentrate that had to be mixed with the varnish and turps (havent done it like that before!). Here's a pic after the first coat of stain:

I wiped it off the high areas as I went, and plan to put a few more coats of stain to try and get some deep colouring in the recesses.

Thanks for looking.

By the way, turps is aguarrás in spanish - word of the day!