Transcript
Chainsaws Carve Out a New Niche
By Guy Meilleur The tree is down. You’re faced with all that material that took decades, maybe centuries, to be assembled by sunshine. Trees deliver great value while they stand, tall and grand, but when they lay in pieces on the ground they may bring nothing more than headaches, backaches, and the expense of disposal. The whole was definitely worth more than the sum of the parts, but there are profitable alternatives to the landfill. What is the best use for this biomass? Let’s start from the outside in. With branches, the decision is usually to chip them into mulch, but other options are sometimes worthwhile to consider. If the site has a large natural area on a slope, branches can be laid in low spots, for erosion control, building the soil, and habitat for birds and other tree associates that are smaller but still valuable to the remaining trees in the landscape. Some leaves have value that is worth the cost of processing—dried ginkgo leaves sell for about seven dollars a pound, and the ground crew might enjoy a sit-down job while they wait for the climbers to set their ropes in the next tree. Ginkgo flavonoids dilate the small capillaries, increasing energy flow to the body and the brain. Maybe ginkgo tea served during drink breaks would improve productivity! Smaller branch wood can be used as walking sticks, trellises, and fenceposts. Larger branches usually become firewood or mulch, depending on available machinery and the market. Bark has many traditional uses, but processing costs make them seem impractical for most arborists. On trees such as birch, Betula sp., and tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera, harvested early in the growing season, bark can be “slipped” off down to the wood in sheets and used for canoes, basketry and objects of art. We’re often tired when we confront the stem, so our thoughts are usually focused on the best machines to pick them up and chip them or haul them away. Many cities have set up programs to process urban logs as timber, but this is still not always practical. Art is seldom on our minds after removing a tree, but through creative chainsaw carving, “scrap” wood logs can be converted into valuable and functional works of art.
The History of Chainsaws and Carving
An early experiment with a gasoline chainsaw took place in 1905 at Eureka, California. The saw was driven by a twocylinder, water cooled, marine type motor and sawed through a 10-foot log in 4-1/2 minutes. The March 16, 1918 edition of the Scientific American featured a picture of a chainsaw on the front cover. It was said to be of German design and featured a gasoline engine separate from the saw unit. In 1929, German mechanical engineer Andreas Stihl patented the first gasoline-powered chainsaw, called the tree-felling machine. Logger Joseph Buford Cox operated one of these saws in 1946, spending a lot of time filing the problematic chains of that time. He had only a third-grade education, but like Leonardo DaVinci he knew how to apply his keen observations of nature to solve a problem. Joe was chopping firewood on a cold autumn day when he noticed a timber-beetle larva easily chewing its way through sound timber, going both across An oaken lounge chair and a Celtic knot, inspired by 6th and with the wood grain at Century Irish monk Clonmacnois, whose teacher said: “You are the tree and all Ireland shall be sheltered by the will. Joe knew if he could grace within you.” duplicate the larva’s alternating C-shaped jaws in steel, it just might catch on. He went to work in the basement shop of his Portland, Oregon home and came up with a revolutionary new chain. Four years later, his Oregon chain company’s sales exceeded $1 million. In the early 1960s, chainsaw dealers competed to promote their products at forestry expos and state fairs. As a gimmick to attract customers to their booth, the most creative guy in the company would demonstrate their brand’s ease of handling and
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power by carving simple objects. The art of chainsaw sculpting was brought to the public. Many new artists began to experiment with chainsaw carving, and transformed their pickup trucks into traveling art galleries. In 1982, the first book on chainsaw carving, Fun and Profitable Chainsaw Carving, by William Westenhaver and Ron Hovde, was published. Later in the 1980s, the craft got national television exposure at the Lumberjack World Championships, held in Hayward, Wisconsin. The addition of carving contests in 1987 brought carvers together to test their skills and learn from each other. The 1990s saw the development of the Cascade Chainsaw Sculptors Guild and their newsletter, The Cutting Edge. The growth of the internet has since helped the craft become an international phenomenon. Japan, Germany, Australia and other cultures are expressed through stunning works of artwork in the medium of trees. These works can also demonstrate cross-cultural understanding: U.S. carver Karen Tiede, inspired by Celtic imagery, carves intricate knots that echo its prehistoric symbolism.
Performance, Art, and Charity
The noise, sawdust, and fast results— as well as the athletic flair displayed by experienced carvers—create a “performance art” appeal epitomized by “The Chainsaw Chix.” There is a growing number of women all over the world, creating their art, many to great acclaim. One of these women is Angela Polglaze from Australia. In July of 2007, Angie placed first in a Masters Extreme Power Chainsaw Masterpiece Competition, but she was the only female competitor in the arena. Having placed first in competitive events around the globe, Polglaze wanted to do more to promote and encourage female practitioners of this art form. “The Chainsaw Chix” is now the Women’s division of the Masters group, and includes a hardcore crew of female performance carvers from around the world. Stephanie Huber studied woodcarving in Bavaria and together with Uschi Elias represents Germany. Elias “listens to what the wood tells her, sees many different things in the wood, and has learned to bring them out. I love to carve abstract women.” Lisa Temmanson started carving when her son’s illness forced her out of her regular job. She performed at the 2007 Armed Services Day, donating a carving to benefit veterans. Karen Tiede of the U.S. started when lightning struck, literally, on Labor Day, 2000. When the smoke cleared and the fire department left, it was clear that her big sycamore tree had to come down. The arborist removed the branches, left the trunk, and appraised the tree’s value. Karen bought a chainsaw with the insurance money and started carving. “Most of the creations that come off my saw have asked to be released from the log,” she says. “My only purpose is to clear away the wood that’s not the art, and add the finish that will preserve the sculpture.” From north of the U.S. border comes another of the Chainsaw Chix, Alicia “Lee” Charlton from Canada, whose art has supported a humanitarian cause in the deep south. Amy Canada started The KatRita Wood Project after Hurricane Katrina forced her to move. On a return visit to her former house, she was disturbed by the number of downed trees being destroyed because the timber was twisted. She figured devastation didn’t have to lead to waste. “We just wanted to do something to help,” she says, “and when we saw that a lot of the wood was being chipped and burned, we tried to think of a way to do something useful with it to try to help rebuild.” One posting on the internet, and within minutes Charlton and other chainsaw artists were volunteering to come to Louisiana to turn the felled trees into saleable sculpture. The money goes toward restoring storm-damaged sites. This project is a model for salvaging tree value after any sized storm.
Keeping Tree Value for the Owner
Tree owners often have sentimental attachments to their trees, so they are open to suggestions on how to preserve what they have lost, in some form or other. Portable sawmills can convert logs into boards, which can be used for everything from building materials to plaques. However, the need to store the boards for proper drying makes this alternative difficult for many clients. Wood turners can put wood with interesting color or grain patterns, such as burls, onto a lathe and create lasting memories through bowls and other sculpture. Keeping these reminders of trees gone by alive in their homes might also motivate clients to invest more in the remaining trees outside. Connecting with local wood turners and sawmill operators can develop future markets for wood as future relationships with clients are built. Arborists can also do some of this on their own without spending a dime, by carving with the same chainsaws and personal protective equipment (PPE) they used to D cut the trees down.
OCTOBER 2008
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Even the least artistic arborist can create basic, functional furniture and hardscape items. A standing stump becomes a comfortable chair with just two cuts. First, measure the height of the seat by measuring the user’s leg from heel to knee. Then cut the standing log section deep enough for the user to sit comfortably. Finally, angle the next cut downward to meet the end of the first cut and provide a backrest. An entire family can be seated on one tree this way—the larger sections for the parents, the smaller ones for the kids. Unwanted logs become lasting benches when they are elevated above the ground. Unsplittable stump sections can become “stepping stones” when they are cut into thin sections and laid down on a path. Aesthetic standards can be more accepting when it comes to preserving what is left of a favorite tree. Functional rustic creations, low- or high-profile, can find new niches in modern landscapes. Front and center in some landscapes is “critter art,” created by chainsaw carver Clyde Jones. For over a quarter-century, Clyde has been creating rough-hewn creatures—many of them big-eared animals like dogs, giraffes, elephants, and some hybrids. Rough aggregations of four or five pieces of wood cut quickly and nailed together with or without a coat of paint come alive when children attach found objects like plastic flowers for eyes and noses. Clyde and his chainsaw are fixtures at elementary schools, fund raisers and auctions, and any summertime festival with string bands and facepainting. The critters also bring winter alive when wooden reindeer are adorned with colored lights. All this may sound like it would only fit in more rural areas, but Clyde’s critters have been exhibited all over the world, from The Great Wall of China to the Smithstonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Lasting Work
Over time, wood that is customized wood for special reincarnations can fall at our feet, as in one ancient oak tree that grew on a hilltop and was toppled by a tornado. Because the tree had grown in the open, the forces of nature had spread, and curved, and twisted each branch as they reached for all the light they could harvest. Normally carvers prefer straight logs, but there wasn’t much straight on this tree. Oak’s toughness and weight make it less popular for carving, but veteran oak branches can be carved into amazing things. Tiede sliced slabs from one branch that had just the right curve and screwed on braces and legs, creating a chaise lounge with gorgeous patterns to its grain. Function follows form when the back of the lounge springs in response to pressure—the same qualities that held the limb aloft and kept it alive bring comfort to people after the tree is gone. The piece won a Judge’s Special Mention award at the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s annual autumn Sculpture Show. Dead trees can also be sculpted while they are standing. A canopy consisting of hundreds of live oaks, Quercus virginiana, shelters the 95-acre Sylvan Abbey memorial park, the oldest cemetery in Clearwater, Florida. When a tree succumbs to lightning or any other damage, the trunk may be reborn as a heron or a dolphin, an owl or an eagle. Sometimes branches are left attached, to serve as condominiums for woodland creatures such as bears, raccoons and opossums. These chainsaw sculptures helped Sylvan Abbey get recognized as one of the “Top 20 Grounds Organizations in the United States and Canada” and win the Green Star Professional Grounds Management Honor Award. Carver Keith Carroll is fortunate to work with wood as
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durable as live oak, but working in a cemetery begun in 1853 he knows that longevity is expected. Chainsaw carvers apply some of the same principles that arborists follow when pruning living trees, and for the same reasons. For example, horizontal wounds facing upward are notorious for cracking and collecting spores and organic matter. This increases the same risk of limb failure that the pruning was intended to mitigate. “Any time I can remove decayed wood and prevent moisture from settling and causing decay,” Carroll says, “I do it. I try to make my cuts so water runs off, wherever I can.” Still, wood that is exposed the drying sun and wind will crack, exposing inner wood to decay unless it is sealed. Torching the wood can alter the tone and harden the finish. The type of sealant chosen depends on exposure to sun and the type of finish desired. Oil-based sealants last longer, and copper-containing products last longer yet, but some states ban their use out of environmental concerns. Less toxic sealants can provide good protection, if they are regularly reapplied.
Gear and Safety
A regular chainsaw bar and chain are adequate for rough carving, but narrow-tipped carving bars and thinner chains are needed for finer detailing. Carroll uses a bar and chain from a gas-powered pole saw for his detail work, but smaller bars are popular among many carvers. “They are called ‘dime tips’ because the diameter of the tip is equal to a dime... this allows for the fine detail work that is done in carving and other applications” reports Rion Casey of Bailey’s arborist supply house. “The 1/4-inch pitch chain and sprocket are necessary because any other chain doesn’t want to bend fast enough around such a small point.” The smaller chain and tip needed for finely detailed carving also can be used in arboriculture, making deeper cuts on codominants. The chisels and gouges used in carving can do even finer pruning on buried branch origins and stem-girdling roots. Kickback, defined in the ISA Glossary of Arboricultural Terms as “sudden, sometimes violent and uncontrolled backward or upward movement of a chainsaw,” has been the subject of a great deal of research over the years. In 1959, guard links were developed to reduce the hooking and grabbing of small brush. There was an unexpected benefit—fewer chain saw accidents. Intensive, cooperative work toward a kickback-performance standard was begun in the late 1970’s by many chainsaw-industry manufacturers and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. By 1985 the work resulted in the kickback-performance requirements found in the voluntary chainsaw safety standard known as ANSI B175.1. As with any ANSI standard, it relies on participation by practitioners to remain useful and current. A firm grip, proper positioning and full PPE are essential in any chainsaw use. Ear and eye protection and chaps are the fashion at all chainsaw carving events. Respirators may not be mandated by ANSI, but fine dust that finds its way into lungs keeps oxygen out, and can cause serious health problems. Both the carving and the carver can last a long time if they are properly cared for. Chainsaw carving is a source of enjoyment for thousands of people around the world, so why not give it a try? Guy Meilleur (
[email protected]) is an ISA Board-Certified Master Arborist and an international tree consultant. His work involves training endocormic growth, walling off decay, and climbing trees as an antidote to aging.
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