First carving attempts of a newbie

Well after lurking the depths of TC and seeing the vast collection of carving/sculpting talent - I have decided to jump in the water and try my hand at carving tiki...

......I like it!

(the back story) I found some Mexican Palm logs that a guy was trying to dump and, being a newb, I said sure I'll take'm! Hauled them home and stared at them for a month or so before I got brave enough to dig in.. Keep in mind I was all over this forum seeing the outstanding collection of work/talent and was feeling pretty insecure. Anyways, I traded tools for chisels and went for it. I did these by hand, including stripping them. I have to say I am hooked. What a zen kind of experience feeling a razor sharp chisel move through the fibers of a palm log :) As I carved away I soon realized that these gems were rotting from the inside out! So I decided to try and save the first little guy by hollowing him out.. also entirely by hand.. I started a second log and after cutting some deep lines I actually saw, and heard, it spit! Broke out the chain saw and cut out a section from the back and hollowed out the soft stringy rotting insides. this stopped the spitting. At this point I used the back piece to carve a mask.. So please feel free to share any advice.. I'm currently working on a third tiki and would appreciate you collective wizdom :D

... holds the plant so he doesn't feel so empty inside :D

Used a torch for color..

This is the guy that lost his back... Tiki #3, still gonna finish him

I'm learning a lot both from TC and hands on... most important lesson-keep your chisels razor sharp!

Nice work, especially like the first one. Must've been a ton of work to hollow him out like that

Welcome,

woaw, the first one...can't wait to see more.
I also started making tiki recently and for sure they should put a warning on tiki central about the addiction that it creates :wink:
About the mask, I liked it better before torch, but hey that's just my opinion :)
Good luck with the third one.
Take Care

Christophe

On 2012-05-27 23:21, Badd Tiki wrote:
Nice work, especially like the first one. Must've been a ton of work to hollow him out like that

yeah it was but it just helped me to better understand the tools... I also figured out that some long chisels for deep work would be a good investment :D

Thanks for the complement Badd Tiki !

On 2012-05-27 23:39, Cljha wrote:
Welcome,

woaw, the first one...can't wait to see more.
I also started making tiki recently and for sure they should put a warning on tiki central about the addiction that it creates :wink:
About the mask, I liked it better before torch, but hey that's just my opinion :)
Good luck with the third one.
Take Care

Christophe

LOL.. thanks Christophe... I like it better that way too.. I like seeing the tools marks. But on the plus side somebody has already claimed ownership and it will have a new home tomorrow :)

You are already producing some nice work. Keep carving!

You're hooked.

You have a talent for carving.

good stuff, like the planter!

Your tikis look amazing like your style and the hollow tiki looks cool as a planter and when it was empty.

Very nice carvings. Welcome to TC fellow addicted one.

Mahalo

McTiki

Thanks for all the kinds comments! It is an addiction and it also saved my life. I am so stoked to be in a place with such a concentrated and diverse collection of talent and inspiration.. .. I was going to start doing this some time back but then gave up before I started after I saw the high level skill on TC...... then I ran across Crazy Al's work.... I felt like buying chisels just throw them into the ocean hahha!

Howzits and Mahalos

[ Edited by: anchorfish 2012-05-29 11:00 ]

[ Edited by: anchorfish 2012-06-11 18:47 ]

dude, that is an EXCELLENT first effort...

kudos!!!

Howzits!.... here are some progress pics of Tiki 3... again, I am totally open to any and ALL advice or tips you guys might want to offer.

I'm not sure if it's the Spanish palm wood or the fact that it was so old that makes it so inconsistent when carving.... or if it's just me being a newb :roll: Some areas are crazy brittle while other spots cut clean and smooth. My other frustration is that I can't go as deep as I would like too..

As you can see I made some changes from the first pic I posted. I'm still roughing it in and just starting to model it here and there. I still have a long ways to go but over all I'm digging where its heading :)

Just starting to remove material to define the mouth more before laying out and the starting the teeth.

This is the back section I mentioned earlier. That piece became the mask I posted.

I'll post the rest when he's completed. Mahalo!

Coming along great! Only your 3rd tiki?? wow. Nice work. Can't help you with palm. I've never carved any. The one you're carving sounds about as finicky as the pine i usually carve.

Aaarrgh... I decided I should put something on Tiki number 1 (Learning Tiki) to preserve him from the elements... I thought "hey, Thompson's Water Seal would be sweet". Maybe it would have been if it wasn't tinted with a Honey maple color! Not being all that bright, I figured maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.... WRONG! It looked like something out of a Martha Stuart french tiki motif! Panic ensued. Several beers later I opened a can of Mahogany stain and went back over it before it before it dryed.

I went ahead and torched the inside.

He actually doesn't look that bad now. I'm hoping weather and salt air will add more character as time goes on.

Learning Tiki has taught me much today.. like read the freak'n labels :D

Ha! He said Martha Stewart...

Turned out nice enough and he's well preserved for 7 yrs!

Keep em coming

Mahalo

McTiki

Sorry T.C. for not keeping up.. life hit the fan. However!, I picked up the chisels and decided to get back into it with this really odd palm log. It was really stringy and fairly fresh as it was still wet.. I'll be walking on by it if I see that log type again. I think its a queen or a royal... but I have no real clue as I wouldn't know one from the other yet. Anyhow, this quick carve helped me clear my head :)

This next one is the fifth piece I've carved now. I decided to carve one for our annual family Christmas party gift exchange this year. Turned out to be a huge hit! I had a great time carving while the party was going on... and never did I have to get my own beer :D (I may start carving at parties more often)

I realize it's not traditional tiki style but I wanted to do something a little more edgy for the party. And carving this guy at the party with everybody watching and pointing and offering design suggestion and all the while bring me beautiful brown ales to keep me happily carving away really forced me to push myself further. Great fun!

This is my niece, she beat out 3 others in the gift exchange to win it.

The ride back to the Carving Cabana for final cuts and finish then my wife and I will be taking it back up to my niece's place in a few weeks.

I'll post the final pics when this guy is completed in a few weeks.. I just wanted to post this update because it had been way too long since my last one... and again as always thanks ahead for the tips and comments.

Nice to be back. Cheers!

Hi Guys, my name is Paul, I live in the UK, about an hours drive south of London. A while back I was left some woodworking tools from my late Grandad, he was a carpenter by trade. So a lovely big box of tools sitting in my shed for a few years doing nothing and then just recently I came across some pictures of Tiki carvings, I thought to myself they look really cool, why don't I have a go at carving a Tiki myself, I've got some wood lying about. So I set to and these are the results, had loads of fun doing them and really seemed a nice relaxing hobby. The couple I have made are of course no where near the standards of the amazing work on this forum, but I think I have the bug and going to go for number 3 over this weekend, weather is going to be good :wink:

So this is Number 1

And number 2

So that's my first 2 Tiki's done, they are both carved out of Oak. Really pleased I've found this forum, a great resource for all that's Tiki.
Have a nice weekend people
Paul :)

Yah, outstanding work. I like it. :)

Hi, thank you very much for your kind comment :wink:
So this is today's work, my first Moai, again good fun carving and am pretty pleased with the end result.

Keep on carving :wink:

Paul, you need to start your own thread!