splinters

did this to hang in the window of a local barbours shop. its done up like a 1920 gentelmens club. its the same on both sides.

this has been a labour of love i roughed it out with my 201 but ended up doing most of it with my powerfile and a dremel with a router bit on it. then i raised the tanin levels in the wood with tea and silvered it of with eboniser solution. then worked back into the dark areas with the power file to add some high lights. was a bit sad i sold it so quick as i had grown rather fond of it

carved this on sunday at an easter fun day at a local country park. its larch and took about 3.5 hrs.

Lantra Certificate is all they want to hear. so yes

Depends on the type of event it its. if the event is been run by a company and i am one of the attractions bringing people to the event then i charge £250 for attending. if its a community type fundraiser then i dont charge. either way i take a log to work on and have carvings to sell aswell. i supply everything i need including enclosure. and make sure you take all your mess away with you. i have never and would never pay to attend an event. the carving you do on the day if you can sell it then do so or if its a community fund raiser you could donate it or another carving as a raffle prize. and as dave said craft insurance are about the best price wise but you will need a latra certificate of saw competancy. if its a 6 hr event aim to carve some thing you could do in 3 hrs as you will spend alot of time having to speak to people.

any air rifle in the uk with a high enough power to humainly kill a fox would be required to be on a firearms licence. should have also added to my last post marking your terratory helps alot so get out side and start peeing up the garden fence. no im not joking. have you any idea how the fox got into the house. tom

yes and its is against the law. the local sspca used to release them on the edge of the farm where i have the stalking. they stick out like a sore thumb when you put the lamp on them as they are used to car lights and dont run. i had a wildlife management and pest control company for 5 years and i did a hell of a lot of urban foxes. the easyest way to sort them is to bait them into your garden and shoot them from an upstaies window with a moderated .22 sub. if you create a bait point in the middle of the garden and put somthing like a thick sheet of ply wood behind it to create a safe back drop. bait it for several night then sit out and shoot it on the 3rd night. you need to practise the shot from the window to the bait point so as to be sure of a clean kill as the locals wont like a wounded fox wandering around. only a head shot will do with a .22. i had 7 of the buggers in on gadren one night. most big cities have people who offer the service and know what they are doing. i know there are several in london.

get a nice wide plank or thick bit of Ply screw it to the bottom of your log so the screws are in the middle couple of inches of the log where you cant catch them on your chain then stand the log the right way up and screw down through the ply onto yourwork block/ stand. make sure the screws are well out from the log you are carving so you dont catch them with the saw. or you can but an expensive clamp stand. some people use a black and decker work mate.

No worries dude. Prob should have also said there us nothing wrong with looking at other peoples work to get ideas and see how they have done somthing but if you are going to carve the same thing do your own research and get your own pictures of the real thing if you work from pictures of some one elses carving what you will end up with is uour interpritation of that carving. If you work from your own research you will start to develop your own style. This can be seen when you look at american carvings all the bears and all the eagles look the same because there is a steriotype chainsaw carved bear and eagle that every one coppies,

As dave has said there are several books on carving and several that give step by step instructions but dont bother with them. you would be better buying books on how to draw. learning to understand what things look like from different angles is the key to learning to carve. to start off with you will find it easier to put 2 flat sides on to your log at 90 degrees to each other. on one flat draw the front view on the other draw the side view. take care to make sure the two aspects corispond with each other so that the various datails are at the same hight on both plains. it doesnt matter how complex your design is you need to master the basics first.

we will only share tips if you share your photos. yes it helps to clamp your block espesially if it is a bit on the light side. no dont have it so i can rotate or you will find the log will try to turn when you are cutting. and finally use the saw however you want. if it workd for you then do it just watch out for kick backs. using the side of the bar is another good technique for removing a small amount of wood. on an upward stroke make contact with the bottom chain and on a downward strock use the top chain a bit like icing a cake with a pallet knife. tom

haha you beat me to it dave i was going to ask how you managed to not fill the pond with shavings. and nice carving

Thought it was about time i made myself a sign.

i like that one si.

welcome sign and a family of owls

The hollow one would have made a good cauldron

Good start. Now take your saw and start slashing up the serface of your bear. I know it will feel like the wrong thing to do but trust me as soon as you get the hang of creating a hairy effect it will transform your carvings. Start at the bottom of one of the legs and with thevtip of the bar using one side of the chain just make small zig zags up and down just enough textureise the surface. Work your way over the whole body except the face. Make the zig zags folow the way the fir would lay so if an arm bends follow the curve. Once you have covered the whole bear go over it again th az n a thid time but heavier. This will give a good fir texture.

You will read all sorts about modifying your chain. dont bother iv tryed all sorts of variations and havent found any thing that makes a difference. at the end of the day it comes down to how good you are with a saw not how its modified. As for cutting a curve. it depends on how thick the wood is and how tight the curve is to be but you should be able to do most cuts with a stsndard bar and chain. if you are only cutting through a couple of inches you can just draw a line you want to follow and then start cutting. you will find once the chain has cit in an inch you will be able to start to roll the saw to the side so the bar follows the line. if you are cutting through a thicker log. mark the line you want to cut then scribe the line in with the tip of the saw. carfull it dont kick back on you. then once you have a line scribed just keep going over it cutting in an inch or so at a time. for really tight curves cut the curve in a series of square cuts then using the tip of the saw you can rub the flat edges back untill you have the curve you want. with a standard bar and chain you can create a cure as tight as the end of your bar. with a bit of practice. if you are on face book go on my page and send me a message and i will give you some basic projects to get you started. toms chainsawcarvings

what about a HOW TO section where people can post instructions or ask How To do things like mainainance of different bits of machinery.

its only taken me about 10 years to get round to doing one of these. i have decided this year in only taking on the commisions i want to do and so fare i have loved every carving iv done. should have stopped chasing cash and started carving only what i want years ago.

Some how i forgot to share my biggest break through in standing up logs. when the log is laying down nail a thick plank of wood to the end that is going to be the bottom. you want the plank down against the floor. then jack up the other end and the plank will stop the log from rolling to one side and falling off your jack. when it is stood up right stick a plank the same thickness under the other side so the log is level. this will make it easyer to carve right to the bottom of the log with out touching the floor with your saw. when you a finished just tip the carving to one side and bash the plank off.

i would take a hell of a lot of weetabix to get built like u Hamish i thought you were more o a poridge man

Sorry should have said its the tomahawk one handed ones im after

Im looking to buy some throwing axes any body know where i can buy a good set for a reasonable price. i want to have an axe throwing stand next to my carving demonstration stand at an event im a few months. there was stall at Carve Carrbridge doing it and i dont think there was a single man at the event who walked past it without having a go. cheers tom

My most usefull bit of kit is my Hi-lift jack you ban lift, push and pull with them. you can lift 4 to 5 ft at a time depending on which one you buy. another way to load your pick up with a highlift is, to take your back drop down door off. stand your log up lean the log against the back of your truck then jack it up and it will slide its self in. its easyer to do with a log that stands higher than the bed of your pickup. i have also used the axle and tow hitch mount of and old trailer. jack up one end of a log. slide the axle half way along the log and lower the log dow onto it. attatch it in place with a ratchet strap. then attatch the tow ball hitch to one end of the log with ratchet straps and hook it up to the back of your truck. me and my dad have brought loads of logs out of the woods this way. DONT DO IT ON A PUBLIC ROAD