Stone Carving: Q&A + Gallery... - Tiki Carving

T Tamapoutini Member Aotearoa (New Zealand) Joined: Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 1530	T Tamapoutini Posted posted on Wed, May 7, 2008 2:42 AM Kia ora Robin - A rollin' and a rockin'? A Tiki-Tour? Sounds like fun! Headed anywhere in particular..? Im sure BenZart gave you a few well aimed tips on stone carving when you guys hooked up the other day. He's in a unique position to teach this as a long-time experienced carver who is also fresh to the material. Not that you need much help now (your short-clubs are great). Like any medium, once you understand the basics its just a matter of how much time you spend at the bench and how experimentative/receptive you are with the material. Practice makes.. better! :) -- The main things Id be considering if considering a road-trip laboratory would be 'how long am I going for'? and 'how much can I prepare in advance to emliminate the need for.. certain tools?' Personally, Id slab up stone in advance (and even have designs drawn up and 'trimmed' in advance; but you may be wishing to design from inspiration from the trip itself..?), thereby doing away with the need for a trimsaw, or as you say use cutting discs in the handpiece (REALLY CAREFULLY! Those suckers can bite big-time if you lose concentration and twist the thing while youve got it embedded any more than a few mm into the stone!) The only two I really cant do without are the main grinding wheel (flat or peripheral) & the handpiece. All diamond cloth and sandpaper stages can be done by hand or if you can build a multi-adaptable unit, all the better. Ditto BenZ' roughout technique: if it works for you then it is a good tool! Of course you will somehow need to set up somewhere to sit, some sort of water-feed (bucket/gravity), and some sort of drainage (do it outside?). All the usuals: earmuffs, goggles, lighting (preferably), and something to power it all up! Again safely! quote: 'I notice that you both have some larger areas of negative space/indents. Like on your Manaia Paipo, and in some of the mouths on your pieces Tama...almost vertical transitions to flatter spaces with some depth. I am curious as to how you smooth these areas...I haven't figured that out yet. Even with the worn burs they don't get smooth enough and I can't get diamond cloth in there. I believe I've mentioned that our diamond cloth is not nearly as flexible as yours...it has a sort of plastic coating on the back that makes it difficult to wrap on a mandrel, or fold.' Its true it can be very difficult to get in and clean up in some of the very finest corners and/or deepest areas. The plastic backing on that diamond cloth sounds like a hindrance, as you have identified. The stuff I use can be rolled/curled into a cone shape (using 1 x 1" square approx..) with a firm point that can be worked into almost anything a burr can create. Sometimes its a matter of holding your breath and 'pinching' the cloth a little to give it stiffness. If any given area is carved well/smooth enough (rubbing-sticks eh Paip?), it really only needs 6-8 well-aimed passes of the diamonds to do the job. With wet/dry sandpaper I fold a 1.5 x 1.5" square in half & half again, and find this also gives the necessary rigidity for the task and similarly curl/roll it up in order to plunge the depths.. (wha..? oh sorry.. :blush: ahem). Keep changing the 'blunt' paper frequently; again it wears out in only 2-3 passes so keep it movin'! Re: Hongia burrs - I plan on placing an order myself soon & will talk to Mr Man just to clarify whether or not we are actually dealing with the genuine article, and if so if he's happy for me to re-post the catalogue. Howzat? And just because I say you cant do without them, doesnt mean you cant do without them. Did you ever heard the one about the guy who carved a full-sized maripi/sharktooth flesh-knife, with just a handpiece??!! Paipo tells it better.. :wink: Hope this helps in some way. Have a good trip! Take photos! Tama :)

Kia ora Robin - A rollin' and a rockin'? A Tiki-Tour? Sounds like fun! Headed anywhere in particular..?
*Im sure BenZart gave you a few well aimed tips on stone carving when you guys hooked up the other day. He's in a unique position to teach this as a long-time experienced carver who is also fresh to the material. Not that you need much help now (your short-clubs are great). Like any medium, once you understand the basics its just a matter of how much time you spend at the bench and how experimentative/receptive you are with the material. Practice makes.. better! :)

*The main things Id be considering if considering a road-trip laboratory would be 'how long am I going for'? and 'how much can I prepare in advance to emliminate the need for.. certain tools?'

Personally, Id slab up stone in advance (and even have designs drawn up and 'trimmed' in advance; but you may be wishing to design from inspiration from the trip itself..?), thereby doing away with the need for a trimsaw, or as you say use cutting discs in the handpiece (REALLY CAREFULLY! Those suckers can bite big-time if you lose concentration and twist the thing while youve got it embedded any more than a few mm into the stone!)

The only two I really cant do without** are the main grinding wheel (flat or peripheral) & the handpiece. All diamond cloth and sandpaper stages can be done by hand or if you can build a multi-adaptable unit, all the better. Ditto BenZ' roughout technique: if it works for you then it is a good tool!

Of course you will somehow need to set up somewhere to sit, some sort of water-feed (bucket/gravity), and some sort of drainage (do it outside?). All the usuals: earmuffs, goggles, lighting (preferably), and something to power it all up! Again safely!

quote: 'I notice that you both have some larger areas of negative space/indents. Like on your Manaia Paipo, and in some of the mouths on your pieces Tama...almost vertical transitions to flatter spaces with some depth. I am curious as to how you smooth these areas...I haven't figured that out yet. Even with the worn burs they don't get smooth enough and I can't get diamond cloth in there. I believe I've mentioned that our diamond cloth is not nearly as flexible as yours...it has a sort of plastic coating on the back that makes it difficult to wrap on a mandrel, or fold.'

Its true it can be very difficult to get in and clean up in some of the very finest corners and/or deepest areas. The plastic backing on that diamond cloth sounds like a hindrance, as you have identified. The stuff I use can be rolled/curled into a cone shape (using 1 x 1" square approx..) with a firm point that can be worked into almost anything a burr can create. Sometimes its a matter of holding your breath and 'pinching' the cloth a little to give it stiffness. If any given area is carved well/smooth enough (rubbing-sticks eh Paip?), it really only needs 6-8 well-aimed passes of the diamonds to do the job.
With wet/dry sandpaper I fold a 1.5 x 1.5" square in half & half again, and find this also gives the necessary rigidity for the task and similarly curl/roll it up in order to plunge the depths.. (wha..? oh sorry.. :blush: ahem). Keep changing the 'blunt' paper frequently; again it wears out in only 2-3 passes so keep it movin'!

Re: Hongia burrs - I plan on placing an order myself soon & will talk to Mr Man just to clarify whether or not we are actually dealing with the genuine article, and if so if he's happy for me to re-post the catalogue. Howzat?

**And just because I say you cant do without them, doesnt mean you cant do without them. Did you ever heard the one about the guy who carved a full-sized maripi/sharktooth flesh-knife, with just a handpiece??!! Paipo tells it better.. :wink:

Hope this helps in some way. Have a good trip! Take photos!

Tama :)

Post #378655 by Tamapoutini on Wed, May 7, 2008 2:42 AM