Tips for Carving Large Logs

I know, I need to finish the small projects I have started...

But I want to one day do some big stuff. Get a 2.5 foot diamter or more log and carve a Ku of proportions that small children will fear it.

Getting the log, not a problem.

Getting the log to the garage to dry and start... hmm.

So, if we assume this project may take a long time, like all my others...

A) Is it best to put the log in its place and carve it in place or to carve it on the ground (in the garage) and then move it into its final place?
B) The guys around here who carve bears and stuff gave me good advice on how to install it to last, i.e. not rot too fast. I got that part. They say put the piece on plumbing pipes. That gives space for air to get under it and dry it out. Water is not your problem. Water that does not get dried up ever is your problem.

So, if we look at that frst question, that's my issue. If I put it on its base first and carve in place, okay. Rolling it there is easy. Standing it up, not so sure.

If I carve it in the garage, I figure we do the island way and get a bunch of guys and ropes or straps and we all pick it up by way of the straps under it and carry it to its place. Then hopefully we all right it together.

What's the thoughts here on this? On righting a very heavy piece without a crane or some such?

I would carve it on the ground/garage. If you place it on concrete. you can use dowels under the log to move it from location to location (think like an Egyptian). Brute strength isn't going to work on a several hundred pound log. Lifting it can be accomplished with wenches and jacks. If you have one - use an engine lift to raise it/move it. It may not be the "native" way to do it, but your chiropractor will thank you for using modern equipment.

Look at Will Carve's thread - he just got done carving 2 huge logs. He had a pretty cool system of rails set up for moving the log while he carved it. He even lifted both of them into place by himself.

When I first started making tikis I went out to the yard waste dump with my buddy Scott and found a big piece of date palm...probably 2 1/2 ft thick x 5 1/2 ft high. Freshly cut, wet as hell. It was WAY heavy (like 300 or 400 lbs) but he & I were able to load it up into the back of my old 4 runner & get it back to his place (barely). Just thinking about it makes my back hurt. My rig was bottoming out the whole ride home. I use a trailer now for hauling big logs around. But when using a pickup truck, I put the log in the middle of the bed, brace it with other logs, and the strap it down good so it can't move an inch. You get a several hundred pound log smashing and thrashing back and forth in the back of your pickup, and by the time you make it to your destination you may be driving a flatbed!

My advice is to plan on moving it when you have a lot of your buddies over! Buy a case of beer, put on a surf guitar cd & your best hawaiian shirt, and start inviting some dudes over for the big tiki (moving) party! (the "moving" part is silent, thus the parenthesis)

And yeah, get it a little off the ground. Rolling it around on big dowel-rods is definitely a good idea.

Tim my boy. A cherry picker a buddy and a chain are going to be a big help. I have done this many a time. Tiki Tony and I used to hustle logs together years ago and we would roll it on progressively thicker log stumps to ramp it up then just heave ho it. Now I am all about my forklift. Getting old ya know. email me pics when you get going.

I am not too worried about moving it around in the garage, etc. From there to the back yard where it will live will be tougher. No room for machines and no nice concrete to go over. Plus, at that point, it will be carved, so, it is not a smooth cylinder and I don't want to damage it.

Sounds like I should plan to carve in the garage, and be sure it is on top of dowels when it is in there to move it. Check.

It will be delivered to the driveway on a crane and layed down where I want. Makes life easier.

At least when carved it will have dried out for some more time and it will have shed a lot of wood.

One more question while you are here. I love the aged look of the tikis at the City of Refuge. Obviously, put a carving outside and it turns gray. Anyone have a reason NOT to do that? Just let nature have it? I don't mean rotting, but graying...

I'd spar the hell out of it if you're putting it outside. That's a lot of work just to let the elements beat it up. But maybe it's different where you live. I did a pretty nice piece for a buddy last year & he put it outside, and it looks like crap now. Kinda makes me sad when I see it. Another year or 2 & it'll probably just start falling to pieces.

That's what I want them to look like. Those guys are on the shore in Hawaii. I am in TN. Not sure how it will manage if I just set them out with no protection. I know they will gray just like any other wood that is exposed.

Tim, if you're carving Pine, it will take on an aged appearance like that, faster still if it is in direct sunlight all the time. I use an light brown interior stain once a year and it eventually ends up looking like the Isle of Refuge tikis after a while. Don't worry about sealing it or anything... in your climate and mine, a Pine log isn't going to go anywhere soon. Just keep it off the wet ground and you'll be fine. Mine sit on 14" round patio blocks. Good luck, post updates!

I've read lot of good advice here... Here's my part

To move a big log I've stolen some ideas from the ancient civilizations in the mediterranean. In the old days, they built wooden sled species to transport large stones cut. The stone was firmly fixed on the sled and the sled reducing the friction power load. It works for the log, but also for the finished Tiki

Here is a picture of the beast, nearly two feets in diameter for six long, which was hidden behind a shed in a garden. We pulled over 50 yards with straps to be on a hard part and able to charge in the van. I still have the sled, the reserve once the sculpture is finished

An other pics, sorry for the size... Simple method to raise a log, some friends and wood shims. From a certain diameter, if the cut is made well, the log is itself due to its weight (in hard floor).

For this vintage gray color .... I like that! It's been a while since I said that I must leave a tiki rough carved in my garden for a winter or two, just to see the weather to do the sanding and finishing...