Ben est là's stuff: 03/24 Creative Chimps' masterpiece in Paris !

That Marquesan will be stunning i'm sure.
Great commitment on the toggle, it will make the moai even more unique.

Hi and Thanks Grapa, these words keep me going !
Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Hi Benjamin!

Toggle for the moai with head of birdmen! :o Original idea! I'm curious to see him finished...

Maybe this rotten birch marquesan is not really lost...

In any case the line is very pure and the coloured strips make a very graphic design.
Also I see the kotiate work in progress... :P

A bientôt.

J.

Nice nice nice! Im getting excited this big guy has the
classic look you are getting so good at.

What do you mean do you think he is rotten?
My Alder wood is similar the the Birch. Benz told me the streaking
in mine is fungus.

Marquesan style is getting to be your specialty, Benjamin. Really nice work on this big guy! I agree that the stripe markings look good.

On 2009-06-11 01:14, benella wrote:
Bowana: Send that picture !

Ha ha! Just kidding! :lol:

That's me on the left, and my traveling buddy John on the right. After backpacking for 9 weeks all over Europe, I really needed a haircut!
C'est la vie!

Bowie

Almost looks like ambrosia or spalted? Can't wait to see it finished. Should be a very interesting piece. Good luck.

Nice classic lines indeed! Your birch looks like stuff around here! It's a good hardwood though, and holds up a long time. If you want to tame those lines a bit, maybe some darker stain, will cut down the high contrasts.

Laojia: Thanks for the toggle and for the Marquesan boy. I think I will let him natural after having put a fw coats of "xylophene", the stripes are not so bad after all :lol:
10 days before the D-day meeting :)
Kotiate ? Where ? :lol: Yes you're right, a lot of 10 000 hours to spend on it :) but thanks to you and your blades, I saved 5000 hour !

Seek: Thanks my friend. You're right, this guy's not rotten this crappy things are just fungus (or fungi ?) because of the long time I took to debark this silver wood. What do you think about methods to kill those enemies ? Coats of something and tikis in a bag ?

Bowie: Thanks for the words. WOW that haircut, I didn't recognize you ! Was it in the 80's ? This picture seems quite old, that indicates you need to come again to see how different it is now :)

Tikilizard: Thanks. I do not know about ambrosia or spalted but this wood is really soft sometimes and when the
chisels are not sharp enough, this leads to disaster :)

Surfin: Thanks for the words and for the advice, I think I'll let him natural with that "stripped" look but will put some coats of "I don't know what" to prevent from "completely lost piece :)

Mahalos,

Benjamin.

Ben I'm not sure? we need Benz in here. I think the fungi and wood are one.
When the log drys out the fungi dies.

Thanks Seek, I think you're right about drying wood/killing fungi, I'll ask Benz who certainly knows what to do.
Thanks,

Benjamin.

Hi Benjamin,
it´s good to see you busy as usual. I just finished scrolling through your entire thread again and really enjoyed it(again :) ).

I love the texture of this piece.
In Germany we call this "gestockte Birke" which means something like 'stacked/spalted birch', I suppose. I would not worry much about it, that´s not going to destroy the wood. Just let it dry right and put some sealing on it. Oil or something. I mean after finishing it.
I know some guys who use stacked/spalted wood for veneer works. It looks kinda cool. Beech tends to do so,too.

Keep them coming.
tok-tok

[ Edited by: tok-tok 2009-06-19 04:41 ]

On 2009-06-17 01:21, benella wrote:
Was it in the 80's ?

1989!!

Aloha Ben! Your really carvin some Sweet stuff my friend!!!,Keep it up,Aloha, Mooney

Excellent piece Ben. That fungi thing when it happens to wood is called "Spaulting" and it makes the wood all the more desirable from a beauty stand point. Every wood "Spaults differently with different colors and the process is actually the natural break-down of the wood caused by fungus. It happens to all wood left to nature, part of the amazing "nature taking care of itself" thing.

When you are finished carving the piece, just give it a few coats of a good finish. I like to use a few coats of clear shellac followed by a few coats of Lacquer, sanding between all the coats. That should stop or at least slow down the fungus and protect the wood from much further damage.
Hope this helps.

"Spaulting" was the word, I was searching for. Not translation for that into german. Thanks Benzart.

BUMP!
No excuse now you have a work bench! :P

Thanks to Tok tok, Bowana, Mooney, Benz and Laojia ! A bit too late it seems :)

Now that I have a beautiful bench, here I go:

Basswood from my friend Laojia:

More to come !

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Beautiful bench Benne, I'm Envious again, Seems that happens a Lot these days. Looks like an Excellent start on the piece of Basswood too.

Hey Benella, great to see you starting something new!

Ben Your "Rotten" Marq is really getting some fine details. I know how difficult that wood is to cut into with the "spaulting", or fungus filled spaces, which is where the beautiful colored striping comes from..

The colored lines are usually soft while the surrounding wood is usually hard. The spaulting is actually natures way of cleaning up. A tree dies and immediately is attacked by bugs, beetles, wasps and other creatures, who open the way foe the fungus spores to come in and do the real work of disintegrating the tree from the inside out. This process goes through many stages and most of them have the wood very usable and beautiful. It's the final stages where the wood gets very soft and finally breaks down and rots away. Some parts of the tree are in more advanced stages of rotting as you can see by the too soft rotting spots.

If you get a piece of wood in the right stage, where the colors are most beautiful, and you dry it out and seal it then the rotting process is slowed down to a crawl. This is why the spaulted wood is so rare, to catch that beauty is a hit and miss kind of thing, open the log too early and there is no color, too late and there is no usable wood.

Another fun fact about spaulting is that it seems every type of tree has it's own peculiar type of fungus and it makes colors unique to that wood or spore so that on any given kind of wood the colors will be pretty much the same and the next kind of tree has its ow color and so on so that you can actually expect each tree to look a certain way .
So you have certainly added to natures beauty on this carving and it will be unique and yours forever.

Hope this helps to understand about those odd colors we all see in a rotting piece of wood.?

Did "Ceaser" ever get his stuff? :)

Looking good! Nice to see him on that nice work bench. :)

A new Bench!! Good for you! I have an old 4x4 with a notch and some crusty concrete and my fred flintstone feet to hold up the logs!! Good for you my friend! Can't wait to see you latest carving,keep slayin the wood,Aloha, Mooney

BUMP!!!

I know you've lot of things to share... :wink:

Aloha,

Update today !

old small Marquesan Tiki out of basswood who crossed the path of my Carving Jack a few days ago:

A bit of work on the waist and shoulder:

Benzart: Yep, that bench is perfect, it helps me a lot because I used to hold the piece in my hand when I carved and now it stands on the bench and I have 2 hands for the surgeries !

The Big T: Hey boy, happy to have you here, it seems your pieces are going better and better.

Benzart: Thanks once again for the informations. This guy is drying nicely on my balcony and will be operated soon !

Seek: Thanks bro' , hope to see another of your amazing carvings soon.

Mooney: Thanks Mooney, you da man with your new stuff, I fell in love with the stratocaster.

Laojia: Thanks for the words my friend and thanks for all the motivation you send so often.

Mahalo,

Bennno.

Looking good! It appears that you have several pieces you are working on simultaneously?

Hi Big T, You're right, I'm working on several pieces simulteanously: I've begun a first piece then I don't know what to do with it and I begin another one and another one and... And now I've got a lot to finish !
Thanks for the words, hope to see another update from you very soon.

B.

Now he's got eyes :

Mahalo,

B.

Almost over already!!!! :o

Well done Bennno!!! :D :D :D

J.

Hey thanks bro', now he's got a mouth (that is better to speak ! ) pix tomorrow :wink:

B.

With the mouth, almost finished, needs thousand hours of sanding !

Mahalo,

B.

NICE. Very cool. I like how the back is flat at the top and then his butt/legs poke out. Very cool looking design. :wink:

thanks Big T, I'm happy you like him. I plan to sand him to give him a "mirror looking".

Bennno.

Great style on this one! I love the fact that he doesn't have feet.

Very mid-century modern approach to this one. I like it a lot for that reason.

Awesome form!

How tall is it?

On 2009-10-07 12:39, benella wrote:
needs thousand hours of sanding !

Get busy, Bennnnnnnnnno! :)

Looking good, mon ami!

Bowwwwwwwwwwie

Great classic stylings on this guy, Benjamin!

Good luck on the sanding!

I take the easy way out with the textured surface! :wink:

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2009-10-07 22:56 ]

On 2009-10-07 12:39, benella wrote:

Nice lines! I like it!

J.

WOW, thanks for the words !

I've been busy according to Bowie's advices :lol: :

Sanded and waxed.

Tiki Mango: Thanks for the words, the footless tiki is the one I like too, there're a lot in Tahiti !

TikiG: Thanks, happy to have you here, it's been a while since your last update :)

4WDtiki: Thank you for the words, this guy is 13 cm/ 5,11 inches tall.

Bowie: Sanding's over ! Awesome stuff you've done with Squid :wink:

Lake: Thanks, happy to have you there, been loving all your new works.

Laojia: Thanks and thanks and thanks for your advices, dude !

Mahalo,

B.

Wow, that was fast. :lol: you've been busy. I do love this style. How tall is he?

Hi Big T, thanks, I sanded all nights long ! :lol:
Seriously, he's 5,11 inches tall or 13 cm.

B.

I sanded all nights long ! :lol:

Who would dare doubt!!! :lol: :P

J.

Excellent finish on this guy Benny, of course wwe expected nothing Less! All that sanding IS no fun but it's SO Nice to watch that mirror finish happen before your eyes Hey. Whats next, I Know you have a few more there near done?

:)

Salut Ben,

super finish of your Marq
very cool lines

hope to see some more stuff soon

bonne soiree
AKUAE

MINE!!!!!!!!!

Looking perfect! that bench laojia made you has given you super power!

Aloha,

new pictures of a new old piece:

All sanded, waxed and polished:

The toggle out of acacia:

Laojia: Hey bro', you know that nobody can verify !

Benz: Thanks, how did you know there were another one to come ??? The next one is still in my brain... :lol:

Akuae: Hi and thanks my friend, when will you update your thread ?

Grog: YOURS ! :)

Clarita: Thanks, Laojia's work is outstanding, I swear !

Mahalo,

Bennno.

Hey Ben,

i know my friend, i know
hard times since my last update
love also you pendant moai -- great colors
chirio