Beginnig chainsaw carving
Mike, I'm going to put my two cents worth in here.Yeah, the carving step by steps are great, but I personally had a hard time following the progression on a lot of them.They are great for referencing, but untill I saw someone making the actual cuts with a saw,I really had a hard time putting it all together.
Now , after a few years as a hobby carver,I am going to suggest this:
Baileys (one of this sites sponsors) has a few videos and dvds specifically on chainsaw carving. I would suggest getting a dvd, simply because you can easily stop or reverse the cutting techniques step by step.They also carry two excellent reference books by Jamie Doren/Dorean .
At one time Jamie had talked about making a dvd to compliment his books,but I'm not sure if he ever followed through with it, he is a very busy and talented young man.He owns a studio in Abrahms,Wisconsin and another in Germany.His website is
www.chainsawsculptures.com Note the difference in the spelling. It is a different website.!
Another thing that helps me to visualise how something should take shape is by buying a simple inexpensive figurine from one of the dollar stores in our area.Jamie has also suggested shaping what you want to carve out of an
inexpensive modeling clay to see how to develope the shape desired.
Another thing is, you do not need to get caught up in having all of the specialty saws and carving bars to carve. There were chainsaw carvings being made long before these were engineered to make carving more detailed.
Try your 142 and see how far it takes you. Carve in larger proportions and you can put the details in perspective.Try something simple like a cactus or a mushroom.A lot of carvers carve a mushroom upside down for ease of accessability and lop off the log after the base and the cap have been carved.
The main thing is to work at a comfortable level.Set up a piece of a log on a stump or larger cutoff, and anchor it with deck or drywall screws.A really good tip is when you screw down your workpiece for stability,run the screws through a short length of the flouresent plastic surveyers tape. It is real easy to lose track of where the screws are once you start carving and this really helps.
Have fun,be safe, and a fair warning,this chainsaw carving is addictive. For me,it is the ultimate buzz! -Ken
