Totem Pole-a Christmas project

[MotorSeven]

Disclaimer:
{The following is not intended to offend those that are actual "artists" with talent. Any resemblence to "art" is just a welcome lucky accident.} I'm ok with a "crude primitive neanderthal" evaluation........

So the wife & i decided to tone down a little & agreed to give each other something hand made for Christmas. She is in Manitoba with her family, so i have some time on my hands. Thinking "big" i started scouting for a sycamore to carve up for a totem( i like the way it carves & weathers). I spent half a day riding around on my property looking at trees. For some reason i could not bring myself to cut down a living tree. It just didn't seem right in the spirit of carving "spirits".
I finally spotted a big Syc soaking in the creek, hooked the tractor to it & drug it over to the shop. I bought a MS170 awhile back & put a dime tip GB carving bar on it, so it was time to actually use it. I decided to mix native american & tropical, so it will be a "Indian/Tiki Totem". I cut the tree down from a crooked 28' to a straight-er 16'.

Syc tree-

I started at the top with the Phoenix/Thunderbird-

Then a unknown mythical critter-

And a Tiki-

Thr weather was awesome today for a change & i have two more Spirits to carve. Then will be detail work, clean-up the cuts, seal & paint. I am still pondering how to stand the thing up where it will be stable & safe. I'll keep y'all posted.

RD

 

[jmurray]

good job

That is an awesome gift she will enjoy forever. Good carving! If you have no artistic talent that is one talented saw

:greenchainsaw:

 

[Rookie1]

Very very cool. You are a modest man. About all I could do with that log is make firewood. Great job.

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks, but i equate my stuff to pumpkin carving. There are alot here on the forum that are "true" artists & my hat's off to them because i couldn't turn out stuff like theirs even if i had a .45 held to my head. Anyway, i am happy that i can acheive the more primitive look........

RD

 

[carvinmark]

She's going to love it. Great pics. How did you like that dime tip?

 

[MotorSeven]

Speak of the (talented)Devil.........:wave:

I like it alot, i can do almost as much with it as the mini grinder with the Lancelot. When i get all the spirits carved i will go back over it all with the Lance and the grinder/sander. Man, the 170 went thru 3 tanks of gas doing those 3 faces. Do you shut yours off, or let it idle?
Funny thing, she has been begging for a screened-in porch, so she thinks that is what i am up to...........

More rain today, so i hope to get back on it tomorrow.

RD

 

[carvinmark]

I will shut mine off if I need to step back and think for a moment, it's good to give yourself a rest too. It's amazing what a saw can do, you just got to want to. Looking good.

 

[MotorSeven]

Update:

I got the other two figures carved, did some detail work with the mini and the grinder w/sanding disc. While i had the pole face down, i just had to come up with something to take up all that blank space. Since the tree came out of our creek, i thought a creek down the length would do. Here it is painted in and some things i came up with for the back of the Phoenix that were getting painted by my daughter & a friend:

And this is the way i think i can anchor it to the cement pad. I dug a 3' hole, cut up an old brick fork off a fork lift, re-welded it straight, the added some scrap to help hold it in the crete. I drilled the base of the tree, then drove the fork up about 3'. Tomorrow i will fill the hole with crete, then lower assembly into it. I have my fingers crossed that this will work, if it doesn't i'll have to punt & try again. I'll get some pic's tomorrow after it is all painted & the "raising".

RD

 

[crowboy]

Great project and yes those little saws suck those little tanks dry pretty quick . If you want to simplify painting those grooves, use spraypaint, let it dry, then zip over it with the angle grinder or belt sander. Make sure its really dry though or the sawdust will stick to the paint.Mount that pole with a gap underneath to stop moisture from the ground. It will rot fast otherwise.

 

[MotorSeven]

Yes, the ground contact would be a problem. Horsing around an 800-1000 lb log & standing it up is going to be fun!

Applied paint today & since i had help we brushed it on. I will go over it with a sander once its up since the wife gets home tonight, so we are rushing. I will wait until it has air dries completly before sealing.

the Wolf(or alligator, or ram, or....)

Tiki

 

[MotorSeven]

Tiki 2

Critter

 

[MotorSeven]

It's UP!

We had quite a time even with hydraulics. 4 bags of crete & some big rocks for a base. Kinda gouged the eye of one of the tiki's so i'll have to repair that later. I'll leave the tractor forks chained to it for a couple of days until the crete sets, then add a tapered base of another bag to force the water away. I don't know how the natives got these things up unless they called their neighbors for help.
All with 2 hours to spare before i have to go to the airport to pick up my wife...............Happy New Year!

RD

 

[Metals406]

A trick we builders use to help stop moisture wicking through contact with concrete, is to discretely cut roofing felt, a few layers thick, and place it under the log. Logs tend to wick the most through the end grain.

You did a great job!! Looks awesome!

 

[MotorSeven]

Good idea Metal, i may be able to slip some in there when i finish the base.

 

[larman]

that is realy neat good work larry

 

[Scots Climber]

Excellent work, very nice

 

[scattergun13]

That's impressive, she'll love it. I did one like that once and it came out looking just like a 1/2 rick of 20" firewood.:hmm3grin2orange: