Tiki Roscoe's first attempt

Hi all!! Just wanted to share my efforts with you...actually, it is a team effort with the lovely Tiki Daisy. I got into this after buying a 39 inch palm tree carving (face only). It is awesome!! But we wanted to try it out for ourselves. It's a great way to spend time together and put a personal touch on the backyard. I was able to get my hands on a few palm logs so we thought we would give it a try. I was told the log I'm carving on is a date palm. It is 55 inches long and HEAVY!! My other logs are as big or bigger (one is 7 foot). I skinned it with an electric chainsaw and made the cuts with an angle grinder. I'm thinking I need to take more skin off of it? It is way to heavy for me to stand up just for the sake of taking photos, but I've taken a few to give you an idea where I'm at. We'll keep you updated with our progress.

Carve DEEPER!!!

That's what I was thinking. Once you carve deep enough to get through the fiberous dark layer, you will be pleasently suprised at how the carving will look.

The first palm-carving lesson I had was Aloha Station telling me to remove that whole outer layer.
(Remember that Tom, at Benzart's house?)

Your design is looking good, though, so keep going and show lots of pics! :)

TR,
Looks great for your first. My first attempt (about a yr ago) was similar and I'll never forget Jungle Trader's first post to me "Go Deep, drgoat, Go deep". Take Aloha's advice, he's a pro, his work is fantastic. Happy Carving!

Thanks for the input! Deeper we will go....I'm going to take the chainsaw to it again to remove more of the out layer then we'll get carving again. More pics to come.

Welcome aboard TR! Have fun carving and don't forget to sharing your work!

J.

Welcome brother. Nice log and nice first carve.
Stick around here and you will be carving like a pro.

I had a few minutes and went a bit deeper. Here's where I stand. I'm liking it more....

very cool!

you say you are using just an angle grinder for your cuts? what kind of wheel do you have on there?

I have a 4" angle grinder but no "cutting" wheels yet, just the standard grinding wheel that came with it and a few sanding wheels.

i also have a 16" chainsaw that i have yet to fire up but i think i'd rather start with the angle grinder. :)

See, he's looking better already!
Basically, you want to do "addition by subtraction". Figure out the stuff that's tiki and subtract all the rest. I know that sounds to simplistic, but that's really what you are doing.
The more negative space you remove the more positive space you're creating.
Keep it up and don't stop! :)

King, I'm not sure what the wheel is called. I picked it up at harbor freight. It's solid and very abrasive. Doesn't put a good finish on the wood but will definitely take out some wood. I ended up using my chainsaw to make the cuts deeper. I also for the first time used hand chisels I bought from Sears (craftsman). I have no idea if they are any good but I can tell you without a doubt they were much better than some old rusty chisels I had laying around. It's immediately obvious how important it is maintain a sharp edge. Amazing how much can be done in a short time with a sharp chisel....plus the finish was much crisper.

Hopefully we'll have some carving time this weekend. I can't wait to burn it.

More pics to come