A Brief History Of Chainsaw Carving

Of course, the history of the chainsaw as a "tree felling machine" really starts

about 100 years later in 1929, when a useful piece of portable sawing equipment for woods workers and lumberjacks was created.

It would appear that the art of machine carving got its start through visual demonstrations from men like Ray Murphy and Ken Kaiser. In 1953, Murphy grabbed one of his father's chainsaws and carved out his brother's name on a piece of wood. He so perfected his skill with this machine that he could eventually carve a customer's name on a wooden belt buckle while the customer was actually wearing it. He is also reported to have carved the entire alphabet onto the side of a school pencil. Kaiser drew attention to this new art form in 1961 by carving 50 huge Paul Bunyan-related pieces in his "Trail of Tall Tales" exhibition, a now familiar and popular tourist attraction in northern California.

During the 1960s and 1970s, more and more experimentation with wood carving was done, but in the 1980s, the work of Art Moe at the Lumberjack World Championships was nationally broadcast, and suddenly there was a rapid increase in attention to this hobby. Saw companies began hosting chainsaw carving contests. The first book was written about the subject, and a Chainsaw Carvers' guild was established, complete with a newspaper, The Cutting Edge.

The 1990s brought Internet exposure and suddenly the whole world was fascinated by chainsaws and wood carving. From the United States, interest spread to the United Kingdom, to Japan, to Germany ,to Australia and even Africa. Today there may be as many as 1,000 bona fide carvers in the United States alone. Both men and women enjoy this challenging art form.

The two requirements necessary for success with chainsaw carvings are a mastery of the use of the chainsaw and a love of wood. Today's machines are much lighter to handle and specially designed with chainsaw blades or "guide bars" with very small noses for detailed carving. The chains are also modified through reducing the length of the teeth. Not only does this help with controlled cutting, but it also prevents a dangerous and unpredictable kick-back when using the tip. Once the skills and techniques are mastered, the only limitation is one's imagination, and from the vast assortment of themes and projects undertaken so far, there appears to be no shortage of that, either.

by: Christine Harrell

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