Chopping Chain Saws

Archive for the ‘Carvings’ Category

Ice harvesters extract more than 6 million pounds of blue ice from O’Grady Pound for the ice-art competition.

One of the largest tourist attractions in Fairbanks, Alaska is the World Ice Art festival. This winter festival draws approximately 20,000 spectators each year.

Ice harvesters extract more than 6 million pounds of blue ice from O’Grady Pound for the ice-art competition. After the ice has been delivered, sculptors begin creating their beautiful works of art.

The ice competition is divided into two classes, single-block classic, and multi-block classic. In the single-block classic competition, the sculpting teams are usually made up of two artists who attack a 5 x8 x 3-foot block of ice. Using chainsaws, ice chippers, blades, picks, and sculpting tools, the artists have only 2 ½ days to complete their masterpiece.

In the multi-block classic competition, the four member teams receive 12 blocks of 4 x4 x3 foot blocks of ice and have only 5 ½ days to complete their work of art. Many sculptors stay up all night working on their design, and dealing with the extreme cold, breaking saw chains, to create a work of art out of ice.

Each year, many of the sculptors return just so they have the pleasure of working with the medium. Once the teams finish the sculpture, lighting crews transform the sculpture with light and the winners are chosen by a jury of local artist, there are two categories one for realistic and one for abstract.

The history of chainsaw art is rather young when you compare it to other “Fork Art” forms.

When I was younger, I loved to visit my aunt and uncle in Vermont. I always loved going with them to the fall festivals. My fondest memory was watching a man use a chainsaw to carve a bass leaping out of the water, from a tree stump. I must have stood there for over an hour as he maneuvered the chainsaw in ways I’d never seen my uncle use his. The history of chainsaw art is rather young when you compare it to other “Fork Art” forms. In the 1950s, artists Ray Murphy and Ken Kaiser were probably the first to gain fame from this art form. By the 1960s and 70s newer artist began experimenting and refining the art form. These artists included Brenda Hubbard, Judy McVay, Don Colp, Susan Miller to name a few. By the 1980s, chainsaw carving had finally become a recognized form of art.

Today there is the United Chainsaw Carvers Guild, which has members worldwide. They strive to promote the art of chainsaw carving and support publications that promote the enjoyment and skills of chainsaw carvers for the mutual benefit of everyone. To find out more please visit their website at: http://www.uccg.org/

Once there you can view a list of their members’ websites. Chainsaw carving is truly an art form that released beautiful creations that have been locked inside the wood.

Chainsaws are very dangerous pieces of equipment to work with and even more when you are using them to carve.

For one reason you will be using the chain saw in ways that it was not intended to be used. However, chainsaw carving can be a very enjoyable and profitable hobby. For anyone who is truly interested in learning this wonderful art form, should locate a chainsaw carving school where they can learn who to create beautiful carvings safely.

You can find several schools through the Internet, with some beginner classes lasting as little as 3 to 4 weeks, while other that may be offered through local colleges may last a semester. Depending on the class you take, you will either have to purchase your own tools or your equipment will supplied for you.

For chainsaw carving, you’ll require two chainsaws.

* One chainsaw you’ll use for all of the major cuts
* while the second, small chainsaw will be used to cut details.

When deciding between gas and electric powered chainsaws, electric chainsaws have several advantages over gas powered ones. The main advantages being they require less maintenance and repair. However, electric chainsaws are not as powerful as the gas powered and they don’t cut as fast or as smooth. Because your chainsaws will determine your success, they will be your most important purchase. A chainsaw carver I spoke with, told me that she literally went through 8 different chainsaws before she found ones that were easy for her to work with as well as comfortable and reliable.

When carving with your chainsaw, make sure you wear personally protective equipment including a hard hat, safety glasses or goggles, ear plugs or muffs, leather or Kevlar gloves, Kevlar chaps, sturdy steel toed boots. It is important to keep in mind that chainsaws are dangerous and can kill you.

Even tough the chainsaw will be your primary tool; you will use other tools for fine detailing and finishing work, such as chisels, grinder, wood rasp, and sand paper. Not all of your projects will require each and every tool; some project will require additional tools such as rotary tools.

The most popular rotary tool is the Dremel, which is the perfect tool for very fine detailing of your carving project. The Dremel also has a large variety of bits, which can be used for everything from sanding to cutting to shaping.

The next important phase of chainsaw carving is choosing the wood. You have to choose the wood carefully, if it has too many cracks, then your project may deteriorate as you work on it. The same is true if there is any rot in the wood. If you do not position the rot carefully in the piece, then it can interfere with the details you want in your project. Many artist, draw out their projects first, so that they can use the sketch to helps them plan how to best utilize the wood. This gives them a map or pattern so that they can correctly position their cuts so that they will be affected by the wood defects.

When choosing a piece of wood, keep in mind that the size of your finished project depends on the size of your raw material. Always allow yourself extra wood. Remember, its always simpler to remove wood, than it is to glue it back.

Nature is not perfect. For this reason, you will always have some defects in the wood. They can add to the beauty of your project or be the worst thing to ever happen to a project.

Chainsaw woodcarving is a beautiful art form. Online you can find several schools, which teach this wonderful skill. You can also find several quality websites of retailers who offer quality wood working tools. While online, don’t forget to order your personal protective equipment, including a hard hat, safety glasses or goggles, ear plugs or muffs, leather or Kevlar gloves, Kevlar chaps, sturdy steel toed boots.