TikiMango's Carvings- P31, Bone Hawaiian Tapa Hook

Very cool! Love the bone tiki and the Dog pic!

Good stuff TM, what did you use to apply the ink on the ring?

MooneyTiki, thanks a lot, I am finding that sometimes the shape and flow of the lines finds itself.

LLT, I get my inspiration from creative savants like yourself.

TikiG, I probably won't do a "Matai" pendant, but I was thinking about making him something that will standout at the local dog park. I just have to find a material that doesn't taste so yummy to dogs.

el Stingray, thank you for checking out my stuff all the way from Norway.

Seeksurf, thanks. I had fun doing the little Marq. My dog was very confused, he still doesn't know what a camera is.

Surfintiki, I carved the shapes of the rongorongo with a 3/32 round burr, it was the smallest I had. Then I used a 00 paintbrush to lay some permanent India ink into the lines. I wasn't too worried about "overspray" since I had everything buffed and polished before I laid the ink. I figured a less porous surface would be less chance for the ink to find an unwanted home. What little ink found its way beyond the yard was easily taken care of with some 1000 grit paper.

Well Done Mister Tiki Mango, Well done. Meeting you was really great, too bad you could not stop by this trip, definitely plan a get together soon.
Love your new stuff from the new inspiration.Cheers

Still powering through this creative bump from Hukilau. I'm sure I'll stop at some point. Right? Right? Today's offering is another hook and a patu with a tiki or manaia figure (not sure what to call it).

So I am trying to keep to two pieces of bone a day. I am not sure why I am trying that, but that's the plan and I'm sticking to it.

This hook was deceivingly complicated for me. I wanted to try a two-tone piece that I've seen online. I used a tea stain as that's all I had handy. After staining it I masked areas I wanted to keep the stain and sanded everything else to remove the stain. The tea still got into areas that I didn't want it to go, and I couldn't remove all of it. I also doubt I'll add that smaller barb on the inside of the loop again... what a pain, but I really wanted those two points to be very close to each other.

So this patu or war club was fun to do, but doing the relief to the rest of the piece was a major time sink. As you can tell, I still didn't get everything smooth, but it looks a little better to the naked eye. For some reason though, my patu looks like a kidney bean on a stick. :(

Wow Mango, you are a bone master.
Love all the different stuff you do with it.
The marquesan is great and the tea stained hook is stunning.
Mahalo,
Pat

My bone work could definitely be referred to as experimental today. I wanted to create a whale tail, and something along the theme of Surf City.

I think I have managed to bring the scale of my pendants down a shade. I think I'll leave the monster pendants to others for now. I like the big pieces, but I think smaller is better.

My whale tail, a bit different that the rest, and maybe not looking like a tail any longer. I had a few comments at Hukilau that all my stuff was very masculine, so this is my attempt at something girlie.

I call this one the Surfer's Lava Cross. The black area is suppose to look like lava, and is stained in permanent and waterproof India ink.

Pupule Tiki!

[ Edited by: TikiMango 2009-06-18 09:45 ]

Surfers' Lava Cross?!!? TO DIE FOR!

Dig it!

I looked at scroll saws yesterday, I think one might be in my future soon. That should help to reduce the smell associated with the bone carving since I'll be able to reduce my time spent on the bench grinder. Priced one at Harbor Freight for $70 and a Skill brand saw at Lowe's for $115 (on sale now 15% off that). I think I'd rather have the brand name one for a few dollars more.

Two more pieces completed today.

I used a 1-3/4" hole saw for this. I would have liked to have seen 2 whole inches, but I just didn't have the area available on the bone I had. This is a take on the Manaia figure, but just the hand, the three fingers symbolize Birth, Life and Death while the outer circle is the Circle of Life.

I finally got the hook overlapping the leg as I had originally envisioned. Took enough tries, but now I know that when I pick angle to cut, go even steeper because that isn't steep enough. The different planes of this make it a useless hook, but I think adds some subtle visual interest.

Speaking of bone, I have found that there only seems to be two different suppliers at the pet stores (at least here in FL), Red Barn and Just Bones. Having used both, I would recommend Just Bones over the Red Barn brand. The Red Barn bones seem to be very porous and have this dusty white coating all over them. So by the time you sand down through all the honeycombed bone, you only have a very thin piece to work with (if anything). The Just Bones usually have a thicker wall, less honeycombing and just seem to be a better quality overall.

Each day, one or even two master piece! You'll never stop carving, per example for lunch or sleeping! :lol:

In any case your creativity never sleeping! 20 pieces, all beautifull in the first month where you started bone carving! :o :o

The whale tail and two manaia are my favorite.

Continue good carving!

J.

Loajia, thanks! No worries, I do sleep and eat. I sleep at my work bench, and consume bone dust, which I hear is high in calcium.

The humidity is sky high today, and hot. 97f with 53% humidity equals a heat index of 114f! As I was sanding these pieces, the dust was turning to glue and balling up on me. It was really hard to finish these guys. Below you'll notice I had my first broken piece. I don't have a scroll saw, so I have to plunge holes with a burr, then play "connect the dots" to make a cut line. I guess I had my tool speed too low, the burr chattered and the Koru snapped. What a waste of a nice piece of bone!

So a little collection of stuff that I mostly finished off today. A Hei Matau, Hei Tiki and Koru. The Koru was a real challenge, the shape is so simplistic, but very difficult to keep the lines curved and sweeping. I have a sheet of paua inlay coming, and I hope to finish the Hei Tiki's eyes with that.

Question: What is used to adhere the inlay to the base material?

cool work, congrats!

Cool stuff Mango, you are SO Ahead of where you should be for only carving a few weeks.! come on down and I'[ll show you the best glue for the eyes. Aw hell, any kind of Superglue will work fine.
You all recovered from Hukilau? PM me your phone # and I'll call you soon, meanwhile keep doing what you're doing, it's Looking Great!

Sell one of those buggers and buy the $99 Delta scroll saw.

....and mail me that patu, hei-tiki, and manaia........

I will make a donation to your scroll saw fund for that patu if interested....

-G

http://www.oceanandislandarts.blogspot.com/

[ Edited by: GMAN 2009-06-26 06:59 ]

Very nice Work .

Dude, you are killin' it! Good job.

You are on Fire!! I am loving all of your work!!

Clarita, thanks for the compliments. I love your tiki candles and the bamboo drums.

Benzart, I am fully recovered now from Hukilau... I think. Compliments from you really mean something to me, thank you! Super Glue it is, as soon as the inlay material gets here I'll give it a shot.

GMAN, I'm glad you like the patu. It was fun to do. The scroll saw is definitely at the top of my purchase list.

Tyger Jymmy, thank dude!

GROG, I don't have to kill it, the deed's already been done. Still waiting on some Flintstone's Apatosaurus bones from you. Thanks.

Spermy, thanks for checking in. I'd trade all the bones in the world to have a cool bamboo pad like yours.

I think I finally reached a burn-out stage, took it real easy this week. I'll probably get back into the swing of things after the weekend. All I did this week is a Hawaiian style hei matau and started something for a friend. He's got nothing but Octopi and Squid tattoos all over and wanted a Squid pendant. I told him I'd give it a try.

What I imagine a "Hawaiian style" hook looks like.

Not tiki, but I'm posting here anyways. This little guy is about 75% complete I think, maybe less. I wasn't going to attempt all 10 tentacles, but did want to get those feeder arms and the water jet in the design.

Love the lava! Great stuff!

May Tikis fire forever burn!

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2009-06-26 16:28 ]

[ Edited by: el Stingray 2009-06-26 16:28 ]

I like the squid. Tiki or not - keep posting everything!!!

It's ocean art! It's all good!
Good luck with the Pau sheet...very cracky/crumbly.

On 2009-06-26 18:23, AlohaStation wrote:
I like the squid. Tiki or not - keep posting everything!!!

Ditto!

Excellent b Squid there and I'm with Stingray, the Lava on the cross carve I thought at first was an inlay! Great work there. The Squid looks to be Well above Perfect and will be a Real Head-turner.
Oh, and No getting "Burned out" already, Summer is Just beginning.
When you come down to my shop I have some Real paua shell for you and I will show you the fastest way to shape and polish it too.

The Squid is AWSOME.

same from me, but with another "E"

Mango....This stuff looks fantastic !

The rumpus Room crew misses you brah !

We get big crowds up there now....20 or more on a regular basis.

Keep up he amazing work.

El Stingray, thank you. Real lava is hard to come by in Florida, so I had to improvise.

AlohaStation, Surfintiki and Savage Daddy, I appreciate the support for "non-tiki" art being posted. I agree that it all loosely ties into Polynesian and Oceanic art, with tiki being a huge percentage. If I stray too far a field (posting carved elk, rabbits, etc), please reel me back in. It's great hearing positive comments from you guys.

Benzart, looking forward to visiting with you one of these days. Now when you say "real", are you telling me the paua shell I bought on ebay isn't real? Heaven forbid such activity takes place there. :o :wink: I'm not burned-out, but I am out of bone. Time to visit the pet store again. The people behind the counter must think my dog is a beast. Thanks for your stellar comments.

Grapa-RuHa, you can spell "awesome" however you like, no need to listen to GMAN. It's not like he has a PhD in English, but do listen to him when he starts talking about the ocean and its critters. Thank you both.

Tikiyaki, I miss The Rumpus Room too. Glad you're checking out my stuff. I hope your new CD sales are through da roof!

I managed to make another set of earrings. They are 1.5" long and .75" wide. Ladies, am I on the right track with these things? Again, symmetry is a real pain in the rear.

I tried a couple of different light sources and directions to highlight everything on this guy. I'm no photographer.

I'm calling this guy mostly done, he's all polished at least. I'm still waiting for my paua inlay, and a piece will go in his eyeball socket. Contrary to some comments I received from a few locals here, I did not carve his beak. What some people are thinking is the beak is just a coiled tentacle.

I liked carving the tentacles overlapping other ones. That was fun, and gives the piece some nice motion/interest.

This signature is all Benzart's fault. Usually I just carve simple back-to-back R's (for Ray Reynolds) on my bone stuff, but this squid, I figured it needed to be a little special. Benzart, thanks for the inspiration, even though my signature is much more simpler than yours or Clarita's.

SWEET is All I can Say!

howzit! i just got around to checking out your thread. great work mango! i especially like the bone manaia. i like 'em big. keep it up cuz.

On 2009-06-26 18:23, AlohaStation wrote:
I like the squid. Tiki or not - keep posting everything!!!

I beg your pardon?

:D

OMG Ray - wow! I'm SOOOOOOOO excited that I "won" your incredible pendant in the swap! I hadn't been keeping up with anyone's threads, so I decided to check it out to see the pendant in progress. I can't believe that you so recently got into bone! Everything you are doing is incredible! If I calculated it right - the swap piece is only your 5th bone piece? I really liked the mermaid - I think the stain came out fine. I'm really digging the earrings too - very nice. The squid is great too - can't wait to see how the eye looks.

I hope you can make it to Ben's for a visit soon. It's kinda like going to mecca for a carver. There's soooo much neat stuff to see at his place - just so many ideas and tips and tricks.

Oh and I really like your signature! We miss you out here!

Mieko

Benzart, thanks again!

Kingstiedye, yea, I think I like 'em big too! Thank you.

Squid, you are the epitome of tiki... well, at least your art is! :wink:

Mieko, so glad you checked out my other stuff, and you likey. I'll be hanging with Benzart on August 1st, can't wait. I'd better put my studyin' cap on for that session. I'm missing the SoCal crowd.

All righty then... got my paua inlay in the mail, so messed around with that for awhile. Benzart, thanks for the tip on the super glue.

The finishing touch on the Squid, his eye. Sort of bad lighting, but it really sparkles in direct sunlight.

I also finished up the little hei tiki's eyes as well. I didn't realize how asymmetrical they were until I did the inlay.

I did manage to finish up a new manaia, not as large as the first one. I think I'll have to keep this one for myself since he's damaged goods. As I was fitting the paua he slipped off my work surface and had a sudden impact with a concrete floor. He snapped just below his last finger but at least I didn't lose the fine tip of the matau. Super Glue to the rescue! I think I'll be getting a swath of indoor/outdoor carpet in my work area to act like a cushion to prevent future breaks. I guess I've been lucky with all my previous drops.

Nice work, Nice inlays, you loke that inlay stuff?

Benzart, that inlay is a pain! Of course I don't know what I'm doing, so that may be half of my problem. I shape the inlay with a round diamond bit and keep test-fitting it until it drops in place. If the inlay begins to look too weird, I'll adjust the hole shape it's going into. Then I place a drop of super glue on the bone and "try" to position the paua into place before it's welded to the spot. The working time of the glue seems to be about 1.3 hummingbird heartbeats (if I'm not mistaken).

I hope everyone is having a grand ole 4th of July! Days like this I tend to like to be alone, safe in my house, away from all the crazies... unless I have fireworks, then that's a totally different story! This year I didn't have any, so between grilled snacks of meat I worked on a little Honu (turtle) pendant. This guy was a design challenge mostly due to his shell. It's a blank canvas, and the options for How to approach it and What to do with it are numerous.

I think turtle beaks are the coolest.

He's my Happy Honu.

I tried to create a Hawaiian styled image on the shell, but it sort of looks a bit Marquesan.

Beautiful stuff, Mango!
Really like the image in the honu back.
You have really excelled with bone as a medium.
Actually, you seem to produce well in any medium.

Looking forward to seeing more!

Turtle is looking great Mango.
You should try some Gel Superglue that has a bit of an extended cure time. It gives us slow pokes time to position whatever it is we are working and to wipe the excess off our fingers too!

Tikisbytyler, thank you for that. I say try everything once, you never know when you'll find your calling. Did you see this? http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32936&forum=4&13

Benzart, thanks. I was thinking about the gel stuff, but didn't have it handy. It's going on the list.

This is probably my last week of bone work, as my son from Cali is flying in this coming weekend to spend a month with me. Unless he picks up the bone, I'll probably put it on the back burner until after he leaves. I might introduce him to it, just to see what he thinks about it. So I was up around 4:30am, so the day has been a long one. Good thing about that though, it gives me more time with the bone. I bought a little package of 3-ply string, tried my hand at traditional lashing. I think I failed totally, but I won't give up just yet.

I don't know how to braid, so I didn't attempt a 3-plait braid here, just the single strand for around the neck. I'm not sure how anyone learns this stuff from things on the Internet. Those diagrams are confusing as hell.

I just thought I'd contrast this hook on white. I was really glad I didn't drop this one, and I hope that pointy point will survive a long time.

I was going through my remnant/scrap pile of bone pieces-parts, and kept picking this one piece up. I'd stare at it, then put it down, only to pick it up again. I finally decided to try making an Aku Aku from it. This is my first moai ever... I get intimidated by the simplicity of the moai, as it seems really easy to make a great or terrible looking one. I hope I succeeded.

I noticed there were all these "cracks" in my chunk of bone, and it didn't look like any amount of sanding was going to get rid of them. I decided to stain this piece in a light wash of black India ink for about 15 minutes. I then hit it all over with 1000 grit sandpaper and the buffer. I think it looks like a properly aged moai, almost on the verge of looking like stone.

Hey Tiki Mango.
Your last bone has turned out to be looking really sharp. Pretty much in shape.
I also love the way you finished the moai. Kinda cool vintage look.
Excellent works, booth.

More Nice stuff there brother, you are learning fast past learning and into doing and doing well.m The point won't break because I Know you don't want to send it to me for a fix. The Moai turned out good they are Very deceptive as you say, with very subtle cuts and shapes that are really difficult to fit all together and have come out looking right. Yours is well done so no need to worry.
C'mon down and I'll give you some fake deer sinew and show you how to braid at least My correct way. :)
Cheers

Amazing how much cool stuff you crank out.
Keep it up Mango

Tok-tok and Grapa-RuHa, thank you for the kind words and encouragement.

Benzart, I'd love to be schooled by you in the art of fake deer sinew braiding. Sounds like an Olympic sport.

On 2009-07-04 17:43, TikiMango wrote:

HOLY FriJole! You are Wailin'! (well turtlin') Awesome design.

Cool Turtle and the Moai was Excellent especially for the first one. When you come down I can show how to braid 3 strands in about 5 minutes, it's so easy you will be doing it while watching the tube.

Damn Ray, I must say I think you might have found your lot in life. You Tiki's are exceptional but the bone works are getting so good in just a short time. Very impressive :) We miss ya out here on the west coast dude....

Few days leaving and I find a full wagon of killing bone carving when I'm back!!!
You are incredible! :D

I don't know how to braid, so I didn't attempt a 3-plait braid here, just the single strand for around the neck. I'm not sure how anyone learns this stuff from things on the Internet. Those diagrams are confusing as hell.

Very sharping hook! Nice carve... For the four braid I've the same problem: not enough fingers! :x

During my vacation, I met people of NZ. The woman wearing this beauty:

She said it was carved by one of these friends. This is a very fine and very well done. I am sure you are qualified to carve this kind of thing ... (Sorry for crappy pics, take during a gig on the skirt of the lady...)
Maybe I'll try a version in wood.
This beautiful piece is a challenge, you will be tempted?

J.

After seeing your work at Hukilau. you just seem to improve on perfection.

Makes me want to try carving some bone. Keep up the incredible work.

Surfintiki, thanks for the comps!

Benzart, I think I actually can manage a 3-plait briad, it would be the 4-plait that I would have trouble with.

Hiphipahula, thank you for the kind words. Bone treats a person right as long as you treat it equally kind.

Laojia, thank for your comments. That is a great looking piece, a real challenge for sure. I'm not sre if I am ready to go there yet.

Tiki 65, sorry for not remembering who you actually are from Hukilau. If you caught me at the right time I was lucid and sober, but it was rare. Thank you for the compliments. Grab some bone and go for it.

So... I've had my 6 year old son (Clark) visiting me in Florida from Los Angeles. During Week One we've hit the beach a few times, spent 11hrs at Walt Disney World, and I've tried to get him interested in other things I did was I was his age. I think he really enjoyed walking down a few blocks to 7-11 to grab a Slurpee. I told him the trick is to drink it all before we get back home before it melts, without getting brain-freeze. He failed.

Then he was bugging me to make a tiki. I knew he didn't have a clue as to how involved a tiki can be, but I humored him. We sketched out a few designs, but in the end he kept changing his mind, so all the designs flew out the window. He basically told me what the eyes, nose, and mouth should look like, and I did my best to interpret his ideas while giving him a whack at using chisels and a mallet. Luckily we had some constant shade under our Mango tree, but it was still hot. So I present my first tiki collaboration, dubbed by my son Whatever Tiki.

We sketched a design on the palm log, but it changed slightly. I think the 18oz mallet was a bit too much for him.

I told him he could just push the chisel if its sharp enough, you just can't take as much off. He seemed to like this. Check out that look of concentration on his face.

He was having a hard time getting a good angle on the chisel, I told him, "Sometimes you just have to climb on top of the tiki and show it who's boss."

He wanted to sit on the tiki all day as our dog Matai chilled in the chips.

Clark exhibiting and exerting some carver mana into his first tiki.

Not too shabby for his first tiki... of course I had to help out here and there. I might let him try some finish sanding on it, and maybe even some stain if he's up to it.

that is just a wonderful way to spend with your kid. got some great bone pieces there too. great work - the both of you.

bd