DIY Tiki Wall Art
This month my blogger friends and I decided to do a Wall Art Challenge, so I teamed up with my good friends from Bernzomatic to create an AWESOME DIY Tiki Wall Art creation. If you’ve been following along recently you know that I have a couple of new loves… power carving and Shou Sugi Ban and those loves are how I came up with the Tiki idea. I also thought Shou Sugi Ban would be the perfect finish on a power carved piece of wood to really highlight the textures and grain. So let me show you how I did it.
This post is sponsored by Bernzomatic. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. For more information on my affiliate programs see my disclosures page.
Step 1:
First step was to find the right pieces of wood. For this step I dug into my never ending scrap pile and found an old piece of 1/2” plywood and the bottom section of an old door that I used for a previous project. The grain on this piece of wood was old-growth… old-growth mean that the wood is from trees that were old. Most of the wood you buy at the hardware store today is cultivated quickly and therefore is not as dense and is not as strong and rots easier.
The wood on the right is older and therefore tighter and denser grain.
Once I had the pieces picked I trimmed them down to a size that I thought would work well for this project. Your tiki can be whatever size you want, but mine ended up being roughly…
Backer: 18”W x 27”L and Tiki: 6”W x 25”L.
Step 2:
Layout/draw your tiki design. For the design I looked all over the web for inspiration and some of the tikis were scary or had special meaning. I wanted mine to be fun and simple, so I made up my own design based off bits and pieces for several different ones. And once I had that I drew it on my piece of wood. I did this mostly to help me keep my proportions and know where the center of my piece was. It was a rough guide and I didn’t end up following it exactly.
Left side is a practice piece. Right side was my actual layout for starting point.
Step 3:
Carve your tiki. I am still new to power carving and not an expert by any means, but it is really fun and the possibilities are endless with what you can make. So if I can do this, you can too! I ended up only using three (3) carving burrs for this entire piece. Two that I have used before and 1 new one. I started with a Saburrtooth 1/4” shank 1/2” sphere burr in green (coarse grit) to cut in all my initial layout lines and to really remove the material faster in the sections that were needing to be shallower. Since this burr has a 1/4” shank I used my Makita die grinder with it. Then next I switched to a smaller Saburrtooth 1/8” shank 1/4” sphere burr in green (coarse grit). This burr allowed me to go deeper without making the lines wider. Then lastly I used a Saburrtooth 1/8” flame 1/4” burr in green (coarse grit) to finesse and round over the edges and create more of a taper between the shallow and deeper sections. With the 1/8” shank bits I used my Ryobi Rotary Tool for the first time.
This is after my initial passes with the 1/4” Shank 1/2” Sphere Burr.
Here I am cleaning up some of the edges with the 1/8” Shank 1/4” flame burr.
Oh… and then my last step in carving was to go back with the smaller sphere burr and add some texture to the top (hair), neck area (like a lea) and around the waist area. The sphere creates a hammer dimpled effect that I really like… if you haven’t seen my last post and like that look, check out how I power carved the effect onto an entire bench here…Power Carved Textured Storage Bench.
Step 4:
Shou Sugi Ban. Since I was making this wall art piece for outside I knew the best way to protect is was to burn it or Shou Sugi Ban it. I have used this technique on a few other projects… if you would like more information on Shou Sugi Ban or inspiration check these projects out:
But I also wanted to Shou Sugi Ban it because I thought it would give the tiki art a very cool look and highlight the carved texture and features of the piece. And I was right! I burned the entire piece once using my Bernzomatic TS8000 High Heat Torch and Map Gas and then used a wire brush to remove the soot and the help give a raised grain look by removing some of the softer parts of the wood. Then I burnt it again and brushed it again. I did that a total of three times.
It was crazy because on the side of the board that was older growth you can tell that the wood is definitely more dense because you don’t get the raised grain as much as you do on the other side.
Step 5:
Cut out backer panel. In order to get my curve consistent on both sides I laid out three points and drilled screws into the board. Then I curved a piece of bender board around the screws and traced the line it created. If you don’t know what bender board is, it is a generally used for making concrete forms and is made from 1/4” thick mdf. I like to use it for a faux skinny modern shiplap because it comes in 8’ length and is 3 3/4” wide. Then I used my jigsaw the cut out the shape and cleaned up the edges with a sander.
I forgot to take pictures of this step, but I do have a YouTube video of the process coming out and will update it here when available.
Step 6:
Finishing. I applied a generous coat of General Finishes Outdoor Oil on the tiki portion and then dug into my paint closet and pulled out a color I haven’t used in a while….. ORANGE… oh how I have miss it… and painted the backer with it.
Step 7:
Last step was just to attach the two pieces. The easiest way I found to do this was to clamp the tiki where you wanted it on the backer and then flip it over and secure with screws on the backside of the backer.
Then add your favorite hanging hardware and viola…. you created yourself an AWESOME DIY Tiki Wall Art!
Awesome Oscar approved!
I hope you loved this project just as much as I did and if you did, please a comment below. And if you end up making yourself a DIY Tiki Wall Art, I would love to see it! Please share it using the hashtag #BuildingAwesome.
And if you are in need of more wall art inspiration check out these AWESOME wall art projects from some of my friends:
Addicted 2 DIY - Abstract Wooden Wall Art
My Repurposed Life - Wooden Letter Board
Ugly Duckling House - Modern Quilt Textile Hanger
Anika’s DIY Life - DIY Wood Wire Wall Art
Joyful Derivatives - DIY Macrame Plant Hanger Wall Hanging
At Charlotte’s House - How To Painting Wall Art
Ellison Made - DIY Hand Routed Sign
Thanks for following my journey, happy building and have an AWESOME day!
Sadie
