Chainsaw Carving – Carving with the Chainsaw

A special way of shaping wood with a machine is chainsaw carving. Originally from the USA, chainsaw carving has now also become a form of sculpture in its own right here in Germany. So there are also courses and symposia in many places. 

What demands does Chainsaw Carving place on chainsaws?

Not all chainsaws are suitable for Chainsaw Carving: It is important that machine and bar are light  handy and well manageable. Unlike chainsaws for forestry work in the forest, the cutting performance is not the main focus of a carving saw. Rather, the chainsaw, guidebar and chain should be well matched to each other and to the work to be done.

If the saw is too powerfully motorised, it is possible that there will be increased wear on the guidebar and chain. Powerful chainsaws usually have a higher weight. They are not easy to guide, especially for very detailed and delicate work. In addition, over-powering can also create dangerous situations.

The chainsaw

The chainsaw should be as light and handy as possible for chainsaw carving, so it is also possible to work comfortably with the machines over a longer period of time. It is therefore advisable to use special carving chainsaws. At bildhau you will find chainsaws from the Japanese manufacturer ECHO. These carving saws have a low weight, perfect handling and very good balance. This also makes them very popular in the Chainsaw Carving scene– the machines are suitable for the professional carver, but can also be used very well in the hobby area.

In principle, it is of course also possible to equip an existing chainsaw with a carving bar (please pay attention to the type of mount!) and an appropriate chain and thus convert it. However, it is important to ensure a good balance between the length of the guidebar and the power of the chainsaw!

The carving guidebar

There are many different names for the bar of your chainsaw: Chainsaw bar, Carving bar, Carving bar, Carving bar.

It is important to have a short and narrow sword when chainsaw carving: this makes it very easy to guide the machine accurately and allows you to carve out even the smallest details in the best possible way. A blade tip that is as narrow as possible also ensures that the chainsaw has as low a tendency to kickback as possible, which not only makes work more comfortable and precise, but also much safer.

For Chainsaw Carving, the carving blades from CANNON have proven very successful, which you can get at bildhau with the ECHO chainsaws. Because of their design, the carving blades already have a low kickback tendency.

The radius of the blade tip of the carving blades you find at bildhau is 2 cm (the term for this format is "dime") and has an even lower kickback tendency than the so-called "quarter" tips with a radius of 2.5 cm.

The saw chain

Since carving chainsaws do not focus on cutting performance, small chains can be used. In the carving sector, chains with a 1/4 inch pitch are common. They aremore precise than chains with, for example, a 3/8 inch pitch. The chain pitch describes the distance between the rivet bolts. It is measured from centre to centre.

Another variable of saw chains is the chain width (width of the drive links, useful width of the guidebar) and is e.g. 1.1 mm or 1.3 mm for carving chains.

The third variable is the number of drive links.

The relationship between bar length and chainsaw power

To prevent unnecessary wear and tear, but also to make working with the chainsaw safer and more comfortable, it is important to make sure that the length of the bar and the power of the chainsaw have a sensible relationship: For example, if you want to work with a 45 cm sword, it does not make sense to install it on a 1.5 hp chainsaw, as the machine is too weak for it. On the other hand, it can be very dangerous if you install a very short guidebar on a high-powered machine – it has far too much power!

Saw chain sharpening

Like all woodworking tools, saw chains need to be as optimally sharp as possible for comfortable, clean and accurate work. Saw chains can be sharpened relatively easily by hand with a chain saw file. It is essential to pay attention to the sharpening angle. A sharpening grid placed on the guidebar with magnets can help.

Further processing of the chainsaw sculpture

The sculptures formed with the chainsaw can of course be further processed, e.g. with ARBORTECH- or SABURRTOOTH woodworking tools for the angle grinders, the bending shaft or other routing machines.  If you prefer a sanded surface, the first steps can also be done very well and quickly with sanding fans and drill or straight grinder.

Workplace safety

Even though carving chainsaws are small and handy, working with a chainsaw is fundamentally dangerous and can lead to serious injury if you are careless or inexperienced. If you have never worked with a chainsaw before, please get professional instruction on how to use the machine.

Please also ensure safety at work by wearing appropriate protective clothing: cut-protection trousers, head protection/helmet, hearing protection, safety or cut-protection shoes, cut-protection jacket if necessary and cut protection gloves.