 |
Aaron’s New Akua (Done!) |
rodeotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 21, 2004
Posts: 1513
From: calgary
|  Posted: 2004-09-13 8:00 pm Permalink
I talked to a buddy who does tile work, they use a wet saw and just nibble away at the tile till they get the desired shape, or you can score the tile and use a set of nibbler pliers to get the shape
Hope this helps ya out.
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-13 11:52 pm Permalink
PROBLEM SOLVED.
++++++++++++++++++++
Thanks Kono, Octane, & Rodeotiki.
The diamond dremel bits were indeed cheapies. I've been learning over & over - Don't buy cheap tools. I thought about getting yet another dremel bit, but did a little research on the internet & went to Lowe's to look at tile nibblers, tile files, and the manual tile cutters. Then I noticed a sign on the wall - "Tile Cutting 25 cents per cut". This immediately caught my attention, and I started talking with the Tile Dept. clerk, Eric. This guy was super cool & told me just to bring in the tile & he'd figure it out. So I went home, grabbed the tile, traced the pattern with a grease pencil real quick & brought them back to Lowe's. Eric ran these on the saw & shaved the edges just about the same way that Rodeotiki described it above. These saws are pretty cool. You can actually run your hand along the blade while it's running at full RPM without losing digits. It kind of freaked me out when Eric started cutting the tile "freestyle" while holding the piece in his two bare hands. About an hour later this is what I had:
Help often comes where you expect it least. Thanks a lot Eric! And thanks to you guys for all of the suggestions. Now on to the next hurdle....
_________________
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-16 9:36 pm Permalink
MORE GOOD INFO…
ON 2-TONE STAINING
++++++++++++++++++++
Here’s some info that Tikifreak Gary was kind enough send me in a PM.
Quote:
|
On 2004-09-09 12:02, tikifreak wrote:
I usually airbrush a black line between the two colors to separate the two. Not sure if your using paint on yours or not, but that's what I do sometimes. I do not put two stains beside each other because of the bleeding....I separate them totally apart from different areas such as stain the nose and the lips or the lips and the eyes....
There is really no way to keep it from bleeding that I have found. the wood is too pourous and will always bleed some, even under tape edges. Good luck.....
Tiki "G."
|
|
THANKS TIKI-G!
++++++++++++++++++++
ON EYES & INLAY
Here's a great post where "Professor" Benzart gave me some tips on eye's, inlay, and varnishing:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=10907&forum=7&6
THANKS BENZ!
_________________
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
[ This Message was edited by: Aaron's Akua on 2004-10-30 17:13 ]
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-27 1:15 pm Permalink
Just an update here. Work on this tiki is going excruciatingly slow for me, but I have made some progress. I’m tackling the tile inlay for the eyes and ears. I’ve been getting some carving done in ½ hour increments on my lunch break at the park near my work. It’s a nice way to take a break. I also get a couple of hours carving in at home each weekend. Once I finish the inlay for the ears, I just need to sand & smooth the whole thing up, do the staining, glue the tile in, and varnish. I’m in the home stretch now, which for me means about another month & I’ll be done. Here’s some pics from this weekend’s work:
I lay out the tile to position it.
Then pencil in the outline for the carving.
Same thing for the eyes, then cut in a shallow inlay section and set them in to see how it looks.
Deepened the outline with the Dremel tungsten carbide bit.
Cleaned it up with the pneumatic die grinder & a cone grinder bit.
And, whallah… we have eyeballs! I will clean & round these up a bit, but you get the basic idea. All of the other surfaces need some similar treatment to clean them up also.
TO BE CONTINUED…
_________________
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
[ This Message was edited by: Aaron's Akua on 2004-09-27 13:22 ]
|
rodeotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 21, 2004
Posts: 1513
From: calgary
| Posted: 2004-09-27 5:50 pm Permalink
That looks great, Glad to hear you are able to find some time to carve.
Thanks for the progress shots. How big is that guy? What type of finish do you plan to apply?
Keep us posted
_________________
|
Sam Gambino
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 02, 2003
Posts: 2197
From: www.samgambino.com
| Posted: 2004-09-28 08:55 am Permalink
Looking very fine, AA. Cool tiki!
www.samgambino.com
|
Chongolio
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2002
Posts: 2765
From: The Coast of Kauai
| Posted: 2004-09-28 9:10 pm Permalink
That tiki is coming along nicely and sure to be a nice piece of eye candy when finished. You definately get an A+ for stick-to-it-ness.
Chongolio
_________________
-- I believe that our Heavenly Father invented the monkey because he was disappointed in man."
... Mark Twain
Come explore www.lost-isle.com
[ This Message was edited by: Chongolio on 2004-09-29 20:56 ]
|
Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2004-09-29 6:23 pm Permalink
Aaron, glad to see the progress on this guy. Seems like I have been away forever, but I haven't. I'm back so you can finish him up.
_________________
FACEBOOK
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-09-29 9:27 pm Permalink
Rodeotiki aka Collin,
It's not that bad, I just love to whine about my busy schedule. Actually this habit of carving at the park on my lunch break is pretty enjoyable. Everybody must wonder when I get back to the office with wood chips & sawdust all over my slacks! But I can't think of a better way to get your mind off work and focus on something totally different (True confessions of a tiki addict.. I could quit anytime... No, really!!!).
The tiki is just under two feet tall and maybe 10" diameter. I gave myself a few challenges when I planned this thing. I've gotten through the tile inlay, but the next hurdle will be the two-tone staining. I'm thinking the whole thing will be a nice deep cocoa brown, but the whites of the eyes and the teeth will be "au natural" with just a varnish finish, no stain. The trick will be in keeping the stain from bleeding across. Check a few posts back for Tikifreak's suggestions on this. I think I'll take his advice and see how it goes. IF the stain bleeds, I guess the whole thing will have to go dark brown. Octane, Polynesiac, & Benart gave me lots of great suggestions on finishing, all of which I'm going to use. Octane likes polyurethane, but is currently using varnish. I think I will follow his lead and use the marine varnish that Benzart is so fond of (Check the finish on Benzart's amazing giant Maori warrior a few posts back!).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sam,
Thanks, my friend. And also thanks for the help with the new "signature pic". I couldn't get it exactly the way that I originally wanted it, but given the limitations of using shutterfly, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chong-O,
Stick-to-it is my middle name! I may be slow as molasses, but I'm gonna be sportin' some tiki soon! Keep posted...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Prof. Benz,
Welcome back! TC just ain't the same without you. I can just see you chiselin' away, cause the tools got no power! Glad your house didn't get sucked up into the eye of Jeanne, but you may want to wait a while before you replace that fence (again). Knock on wood....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THANKS, ALL!
_________________
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
[ This Message was edited by: Aaron's Akua on 2004-09-29 23:25 ]
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-10-05 10:30 pm Permalink
Everybody’s posting new work this week, so I thought I’d join in. These pics are from last weekend.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Surefire way to remove tiki mold. Courtesy of Black & Decker!
The ultimate flat top.
Endless sanding at this stage. Currently at 60 grit. Many grits to go.
My wife sewed this handy Tiki pillow from a Levi’s pants leg filled with sand. It’s an old trick that I learned back when I was working with stone, and it keeps the surface from getting dinged while the final touches are added.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A-A
_________________
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
|
rodeotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 21, 2004
Posts: 1513
From: calgary
| Posted: 2004-10-05 10:51 pm Permalink
Looking good man! That sand bag trick is great. Now I have a use for the one that was in the back of my old truck. Keep us updated.
_________________
|
doctiki
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Feb 07, 2004
Posts: 55 | Posted: 2004-10-05 11:14 pm Permalink
Aaron's Akua that sand& pants leg is great idea, when I start on my next big carving ( just got two 20"d by 28"h date plam logs)I'll get a big piece of foam pad, to work on the patio. I use a knee pad under my small pieces now.
|
Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2004-10-06 11:15 am Permalink
Kool Idea Aaron. the big sandbag looks great. I use a small beanbag to sit my camera on when taking close-ups. same principal, just never thought of using it for carving. OK, Now lets see that Tiki FINISHED, you been goofing off too long!
_________________
FACEBOOK
|
Aaron's Akua
Grand Member (8 years)
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Posts: 1594
From: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
| Posted: 2004-10-06 1:15 pm Permalink
Thanks RT, Doctiki & Benz.
A couple of questions (I always have more):
What progressive grits do you usually use for sanding? I figured 60, then 100, and 150 for the wood (Is this overkill?). Then 220 between coats of varnish (lightly I assume).
Do you wet sand the varnish, or dry?
After the wood is sanded, before the varnish, should I hit it with the high pressure water hose to get all of the tiki dust out? Or will the water swell the wood or create some other problem?
How about after sanding varnish? Is water okay? Or is it even important to get the dust off?
And finally, some parts of the tiki will be natural (no stain) with varnish only. These are the whites of the eyes and the teeth. Will this look okay, or should I use a really light stain? Will the varnish darken the natural non-stained wood?
I'm with Octane - I hate sanding. Especially the little nooks & crannies of the face. Well, I'm off to sand some more on my lunch break. Benz, is that dedication, or what? Look for a "Finished" post in the near future (I hope)! 
Mahalo,
Aaron
_________________
"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso
|
Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10306
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2004-10-06 2:56 pm Permalink
YES, Thats dedication, I Love it.
You are OK with the grits. Your progression is the proper way but you can get away with 60, 100, then 220 if you are using a power sander. What you are doing is Scratching the surface with a series of particular sized scratches, or Grooves. The idea is to keep goung smaller and smaller in the grit or Scratch size until you can no longer notice the scratches or grooves. If you get into the 2000 range you have scratches that are so small they cannot be seen without magnification.. IF you skip grits then you are polishing only the Tops of the grooves and thay still show.. Like I can sharpen a chisel starting with 100 grit and then polish it with 1000. I will end up with a mirror finish 6100 grit set of grooves and the chisel tho looking sharp, will be very dull. So, Everyone Hates sanding, yours truly included, but you gotta do it if you want the piece to look good. All the nooks and cranneys are important too. try sanding with a magnifier over your eyes and sand until it looks good, then you will be done. NOW having said all that, for an outside tiki made from Palm, it doesn't have to be as smoothe as a table top tiki that will be touched and looked at closley all the time. It's a judgement call depending on the piece and its intended use.
Sanding between coats gets rid of surface imperfections and again it depends on the piece. The FINER the piece, the more you sand between coats. Sanding removes the Orange peel look and thins the applied finish so that it does not look 10 inches thick. For that Fine piece you don't want it to look like you poured the varnish on. I wouldn't hose off the inbetween dust. You can make a tack cloth from diluted varnish or shellack and coating a lint free rag with it and wringing it out till its damp. Use that after you blow or brush off the main dust to get it all. Usually in the finishing THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.
One more thing, Grits are better with eggs and bacon!!
_________________
[ This Message was edited by: Benzart on 2004-10-10 19:49 ]
|
|
