rutwyler's first carve.... ever

so i've been lurking for about a year now, and i don't think i've posted anything yet.... can't remember. for about year now i've been tiki-fying our back yard. last week i finally scored my first palm log. it was approx. 8 ft long so i cut it into 3 sections of 3ft, 3 ft and 2 ft. i have no experience with this media and feel like i have no idea what i'm doing. but it's wicked fun, and actually feels really cool to cut into a log. i love it. obviously this is rough due to inexperience and where it stands in the whole carving process. anyway, this is what i've got so far........... be gentle......
ian

somehow he got lopsided. not real happy about that. so far i have limited tools. a set of cheapy chisels from harbor freight. i think i payed 12 bucks for. i've gotten good at sharpening those. but i'm kinda mystified as to how you sharpen a convex gouge..... bittersweetly i'm moving from the L.A. area to south western new hampshire next month. so no more palm logs for me. however i will have chainsaws, and a forest. and forestry runs in my veins. so what new england tree is easiest to carve? is birch to hard?

Hey rutwyler, he's coming along great! Since u have a chainsaw I'm sure you can fix the bottom to make him stand straight. As far as New England trees, I have no clue. :(

But good luck with the move!

nice start on the log. if it's your first - nice! new england huh? well you'll definitely have plenty of maple up there and i hear surfing might be fun but i'd check with lake surfer, surfintiki and seeksurf on the cold weather surfing attire. if you got a chainsaw and a forest, dude you're set. that 8ft log will seem like a toothpick to some of the pieces you can put out. the only thing to stop you will be transport. good luck on the move and can't wait to see the finished product.

bd

Nice Job

Hi, some documentation for sharpening:

http://www.tormek.com/en/handbook/pdf/hb10en_100-102_svs50_carving_gouges.pdf

video in french
http://www.tormek.com/fr/jigs/svd180/svd180_high.php

Even if you have not the machine the principles of sharpening stay same.
And the whitewoods are good to carve...

j.

This is a great first carve! Yes just take the saw and finish
him on the base.

I hear you on the fills good to play with wood and tools.

for lopsided i was actually refering to the hands. one wound up beeing blockier and with more relief. the only saw i currently have, to address the bottom, is a Japanese finish saw. it's what i cut the log up with.... yeah.... it took like 3 hrs to cut up.... but i had lots of free time.

Oh also thanks for the positivity. I think I could benefit from some constructive crit. though it may still be too early in the process. And Big Daddy, rutwyler doesn't surf. i know beyond a shadow of a doubt i would get attacked by a shark. then i could check off, Wild Animal Attack, from my to do list. So that leaves me with wake boarding and snow boarding. I have been riding sideways on snow since 87..... and I have yet to see a mountian shark...

Great job! The body is looking really good! I'm not sure about the hands, they look pretty good in the picture, but it could be that it just needs to be made smaller all around, or sometimes they just need to be rounded off more. A lot of people will also make the hands different so it's not as noticeable. :)

The way you rounded off the body and got a lot of different depths and dimensions is really great. Work some of that into the head and you'll have a great tiki!

so here's some more progress. it's starting to dry out and cracks are forming. almost done!

i'm really enjoying this process. taking my time though. this is the first totally subtractive process i think i've ever done. i want to ovoid going "hawg wild" and accidentally removing too much material. i also want some real chisels, and a lancelot grinding blade. is 220 grit sand paper about as fine as i need to get?

he's looking pretty good there rutwyler. see you still haven't fixed your "leaning tower of pisa" problem. for me sanding is up to the piece. i've done a couple that needed sanding and more than a few that i just left as is with chisel marks and scrapes. it really is all up to you.

bd

Looking good! Just nail that stick on there, stain it, and act like it was intentional. :lol:

Looking Great!