2. In the 1950's, chainsaw carving has first
gained popularity when artist Ray Murphy
grabbed his father's chainsaw to carved out
his brother’s name on a piece of wood.
Murphy had continue this same type of work
carving names on a wooden belt buckles
while his customers wearing it.
3. In 1961, Ken Kaiser created the Trail of
Tall Tales, commissioned by the Trees of
Mystery. This is a set of 50 wooden
sculptures and became a tourists attraction
in Northern California until today.
4. Although chainsaw carving can be a fun
hobby or for a living, it is a difficult and
dangerous task to wield a motorized tool,
removing wood to reveal an image of
beauty emerging from the trunk of a tree.
5. Perhaps more than any other artistic form of
sculpting, safety gear is very important for
this art form. Standard equipment includes
strong gloves, eye protection, a hard hat,
ear protection and steel-toed boots.
6. Often the artist will choose a piece of soft
wood of suitable size and mark it ahead of
time to aid in the process of cutting. While
most of the cutting is done using chainsaws,
it is not uncommon for items like a grinder
or sanders to be used for rough spots,
texturing and other fine detail.
7. More classic sculpting tools, most notably
the hammer and chisel, are occasionally
used to form smaller grooves that a
traditional chainsaw would be incapable of
forming.
8. Instead of using more traditional
instruments for sections of a carving that
would otherwise be impossible, some
woodworkers have developed specialized
blades and chains engineered specifically to
be used for this task. A standard chainsaw
has a long, rounded end and usually uses a
toothed chain similar to a bicycle chain.
9. The specialized carving chainsaws,
however, are often designed to produce a
much sharper point at the end in order to
make deeper pivots in the wood. A
smaller, finer chain is often used to allow
even more control over the work.
10. Growing in popularity since the 1950s, as
what mentioned above, additional mediums
for carving have also been introduced and
also this art form has expanded far beyond
adorable wooden bear cub sculptures and
rustic carved signs.
11. Aside from the United States, chain saw art
can also be found around the globe such as
Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, and
Japan. These days, there are more than
1,000 bonafide carvers in the United States
who are enjoying this art form.
www.chainsawcarving.com
