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Seagoat's pieces *update 5/12/14-new swordfish bill p.5 |
big daddy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2008
Posts: 325
From: houston
|  Posted: 2009-02-25 12:16 pm Permalink
well done seagoat. tiki vampire? really like it.
bd
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tikisbytyler
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 16, 2008
Posts: 190
From: Neptune Beach, Florida
| Posted: 2009-02-25 2:00 pm Permalink
Very cool, Seagoat!
lotta character there. Big expression. How tall are these pieces?
You'll get tons of advice on here - take watcha like - leave watcha don't.
My two cents on finish:
always stain first
Go darker than you think you should at least once
I always prefer to use a rag when I can, brushes leave uneven results
really fine surfaces seem to carry more personality with hand rubbed oil finishes than poly or lacquer.
porous wood takes more finishing products.
I cheat and coat them with deck sealer first to save some expense on the oil based finishes I like.
You've got a really unique style, man.
Can't wait to see more.
Tyler
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2009-02-25 2:58 pm Permalink
I like the natural look you have going here.
The finish is always a head scratcher with me.
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Aweulekuula
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Feb 11, 2009
Posts: 94 | Posted: 2009-02-25 6:40 pm Permalink
Oh my God!
Okay, the Moai was already cool, and the eucalytpus seems to be an awesome medium for you. But the composition and energy in the vampire tiki blows me away completely. I mean, you get a sense that this guy will actually leap out at you at any moment.
Aloha!
Marcus
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laojia
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 04, 2009
Posts: 938
From: Metz Lorraine France
| Posted: 2009-02-25 10:13 pm Permalink
certainly, from here I can hear his scream  !!!
Quote:
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On 2009-02-25 10:22, seagoat wrote:
I ended up first giving it a couple coats of General Finishes satin top coat and then a blend of Minwax Natural and Puritan Pine. I did multiple layers in a couple areas to try to darken it a little more. The Puritan Pine is what I used on the Moai with no top coat. I didn't want it to be that dark so I did the blend. Turned out alright I guess. I almost think I should have done the stain first with the Natural and then put the top coat on later. Oh well, this is what it is. On to something else.
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Every time stain (water or alcohol) before coat, wax or oil finished.Be careful to the correlation between stains and top coat, sometimes it's surprising, does not hesitate to make test.Don't forget a little sanding with 400 or 600 grits between every layer of finishing, varnishes, top coat or oil, for "break" the pores of the wood that is get up.
I hope you understand what I mean in my poor english...
continue good work,your carve biting!!! 
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2009-02-26 3:01 pm Permalink
Wow, I'm up to two pages. ha ha.
Thanks for the comments and feedback everyone. Still learning this stuff so it always helps.
Big T - No problem. Hope it helps on what or what not to do. Think I'll stain first next time.
BD - Not sure if I'd consider it a vampire. As mentioned before, it is based on a graphic from a t-shirt I bought ages ago. Didn't turn out exactly the same but oh well.
seeks - Well, it can't be too hard considering how killer your pieces turn out.
Tyler - The moai is probably around 7" and the face is around 8-8.5". Thanks for the finishing tips. So what oil finishes do you recommend?
Marcus - Well, the eucalyptus is what I just happen to have on hand due to some local tree trimming a while back.  Figured it would be good to start on and experiment with and if things go decently then maybe move on to some larger pieces. Then again, I already have problems figuring out where to keep them and work on them in a one bedroom apt.
laojia - I'm pretty sure I understand. Thanks for the tips.
So I have three other branch pieces that are taller and larger diameter than these first two. I may try a marq or a tang next. I also have some other projects in mind with other stuff (more swordfish bills) so I don't know how soon I'll get to them. Thanks again everyone.
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2009-10-14 11:33 am Permalink
Hey everyone, well another small update here. I had a random piece of driftwood that I ended up making into a wine bottle holder. This is a piece that I cut off in the process and held onto to do something with later.
To me, it looked kind of Moai, so I went with that and tried to bring it out. Here is one mid point photo;
Done carving, and after some sanding;
and with a finishing coat;
After looking at these head on photos I realized it is a little hard to see some of it so here is one with a bit of a bottom angle and one of a 3/4 profile.
So it's not much but a little something I decided to do with some scrap wood. Still need to get to the eucalyptus and swordfish bills someday.
Thanks for looking.
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BIG tiki scott
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 18, 2009
Posts: 373
From: lehigh acres florida
| Posted: 2009-10-14 7:57 pm Permalink
seagoat!!! aloha! very cool stuff! luvin that tiki/face you just did ! its three d man! and the sword fish bill is the bomb! cheers! big tiki scott.
[ This Message was edited by: BIG tiki scott 2009-10-14 19:57 ]
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Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10364
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2009-10-15 03:22 am Permalink
Excellent stuf here seagote, the Swordfish bill is Sick and the last maori face is really Cool to . love the subtle look. Thanks for posting.
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2009-10-19 10:12 am Permalink
Thanks B.T. Scott and Benzart. Need to keep working on these things and get better at it. Until next time.
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-24 1:26 pm Permalink
Hey everyone, finally finished another piece. Well, almost finished. Figured I'd post some photos and do a bit of a write up again. This is a Tangaroa done out of another one of those eucalyptus branches. I tried looking at a bunch of different pictures of these and figure out what to do so hopefully I didn't step on any toes for style or anything, just trying to figure out how to do this.
So this is the first one I started with chisels. This piece was a little to big to only use the dremel with, so I thought I'd try chisels. It wasn't easy, somewhat due to my lack of equipment and workspace, but it was fun to work on and figure out. At a certain point I felt if I went any further with chisels I would mess something up and switched back to the dremel for starting to work on the detail. I used different burrs and cutters for the shaping and cutting and some diamond tip to start sanding/smoothing out.
Here are some small photos of the process and a few larger ones of the more finished piece. After all of the sanding, I did one coat of stain on it. You might be able to see a small sun/star 'tattoo' around the navel, and some zig-zag 'tattoo' around the eyes. They are not very deep so the stain didn't darken it as much as I wanted. Now I'm trying to decide if I should re-carve those a little deeper and re-stain the area, but I'm worried about messing it up. Or I'm thinking of maybe just putting a faint line of black paint in those lines and then putting a coat of poly on the whole thing.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it. Always being critical of my own work, I think the legs are ok, I should have made the shoulders a little farther back and the forearms/hands a little bigger, and maybe made the ears a little bigger. Since I'm trying to learn from doing this, what would you more experienced/experts on here do differently/better? Any thoughts on the 'tattoos', carve deeper or a little paint?
Thanks for looking again.
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2010-03-24 8:57 pm Permalink
I'm also very critical of my own work. I think this sucker looks great.
id be proud of him and i think you are. Do what you must but i would call
it done.
Take what you learned and go at another one.
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tikigodz
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 12, 2009
Posts: 439 | Posted: 2010-03-25 7:36 pm Permalink
seek is right never continue when you dont konow
Ive killed more pieces because I couldnt stop!
it looks great!
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-29 1:03 pm Permalink
Seeksurf and Tikigodz - Thanks for the feedback. I decided to give it another coat of stain because some areas dried faster/more than others, so I did another to even it out. Still haven't decided if I'll add a touch of paint to the 'tattoos', I'll wait and see how the latest round of staining evens out. Thanks again guys.
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seagoat
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Dec 28, 2007
Posts: 192
From: Long Beach, CA
| Posted: 2010-03-30 2:41 pm Permalink
I did a quick test with MS Paint by filling in the 'tattoo' with a faint black line to maybe get a better idea of how it would look if I actually paint it. I think I may paint it in but still deciding. Thoughts??
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