Saw advice

[Black feather]

I have not attempted any carving but have 30 years experience with saws. I’m looking into getting started. I am looking at what saws(s) and setup would be best to get going. I will most likely stick with Stihl because of local support. I have an old 250 that I really don’t use but runs great. It’s the smallest saw I have and appears to accept dime tip carving bars and 1/4” chains. I could convert it or I’ve also looked into the battery saws like the 160 that comes with 1/4” but I don’t see any “carving” bars for them. Either will be used occasionally as a infrequent hobby. Which route would be better or is there a 3rd option that would be more practical?

 

[The Lorax]

Have you looked into electric carving?Arbortech make a lot of attachments that can pretty much duplicate what a chainsaw will do without fuel.

 

[TNshag]

I started with a Stihl 210 that I picked up for little to nothing. Then ordered a dime tip kit to go on it. But I was swapping things back and forth quite a bit so I ended up buying a dedicated 170 to keep the carving bar setup on. Then use a pico bar and chain on the 210 for smaller blocking out. I use my work (logging) saws...Stihl MS460’s and a Husqvarna 562xp...for big blocking out. I honestly use the carving setup the least of any of them during a carve. It’s just for detail work for the most part.

 

[Black feather]

Thank you for the feedback. I have bigger saws to do the majority of the blocking. I do however want something for the detail work. Maybe I should get a dedicated smaller saw for this.


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[TNshag]

You could absolutely use your 250 with the carving bar. It’s about the same weight as the 210 I use but everything else about your 250 should be far superior. You could just buy the kit for it to try it out. That’s kinda what I did...once I figured out that I enjoyed carving I bought the 170 to use as a dedicated carver to keep from swapping out sprockets, drums, bearings every time I wanted to use the carving bar.