Is Oak good for chainsaw carving?

Oak is a hardwood very long-lasting it’s the kind of carving wood that is a bit pricey compared to more available woods such as pine. With that said, is oak good for chainsaw carving?

Oak is good for carving. as a hardwood, it is quite durable and a sculpture made out of oak will last centuries and beyond. However, there are some challenges with oak for instance it has a splits and checks problem

Oak is also notoriously hard calling for patience and a lot of sharpening while working it.

In this post, we will look at a few things concerning chainsaw carving oak. Stay put for tips as well.

Is oak good for chainsaw carving – Chainsaw carving hardwoods

Oak holds detail well.

Oak is remarkable at holding details. This is not only true of oak but most hardwoods. the grain structure for hardwoods is dense enough to support very minute contours of details.

After working on your oak carving with a chainsaw there is still plenty of room to jump in with finer tools and lift that detail on the surface.

With good technique detailing increases the value of your sculpture remarkably. The detail shows the time commitment of the chainsaw artist. Since chainsaw carving is relatively fast time commitment is appreciated as added value.

Oak takes finishes well

Just like the previous point surface treatment is crucial not only in chainsaw carving but in all woodworking.

Some woods are pretty stubborn and require special techniques or very specific finishes. With oak it’s quite the opposite oak will take finishing well with oils making the grain look richer.

Carvings have to be given a finish since wood is an unstable material. finishing also helps prolong the life of a carving choosing wood that accepts finishing well as oak does makes the finishing process much easier.

Watch out for splits as your oak chainsaw carving dries

As a chainsaw carver, this is something you have to accept sooner or later its not much you can do to stop most wood from splitting.

Most of the time chainsaw carvers use logs. While this gives them a chance for mega wooden sculptures is also a disadvantage. carvings from logs are more prone to splits than saw carvings from sawn timber.

carvers using sawn timber may avoid a large sapwood percentage in their wood than carvers using logs which will obviously utilize a large share of the heartwood but also a considerable amount of sapwood.

For oak the case is the same and splits will occur but just like we mentioned on chainsaw carving with pine, the splits can be predicted and avoided for front areas.

Oak is a tough wood to chainsaw carve

Oak is a tough wood. This means carving it even with a chainsaw is both slow and tiring. the secret to carving such hardwoods is being patient. Being in a rush to finish a carving in hardwood either ruins the wood, tools, or your mood.

You don’t want any of that so being patient and only doing what the wood allows at the time is the right way to chainsaw carve oak.

Also, a safety tip hardwoods will tend to give a kickback if you force the nose of the chainsaw on the wood. If you don’t know what chainsaw kickback is and how to avoid kickbacks do check it out that information could save you from serious chainsaw injuries.

Sharpen your chainsaw regularly when carving oak

Sharpening skills are vital for anybody that works with tools with a cutting edge. Chainsaws do need sharpening especially when working with tougher woods that blunt the edge often.

When chainsaw carving oak once you fill the efficiency of your saw greatly declines, which it means is time to sharpen again. Do this as often as possible and the oak won’t be such a tough opponent for your saw.

Chainsaw carving oak green

Carving hardwoods when green is an ingenious way of overcoming the toughness of the wood when it dries. This technique is used by whittlers to whittle pieces in hardwood.

Oak can be chainsaw carved green and the process becomes much lighter and faster. However, there are high chances of big splits forming on such a wood.

To mitigate the splits and checks problem, roughing out (blocking) can be done while the oak is green then let dry as is then details worked on later.

But today chainsaw carvers don’t worry much about splits and even let their customer know that 90% of the time it will happen. But splits add character to a carving so no worries there.

check out other woods to chainsaw carve

Is oak good for chainsaw carving- A summary

Oak is definitely slower to work with. Checks and cracks a bunch. Rougher on your equipment but not too bad. It’s really nice grain but it does usually get those big cracks that are iconic to oak timber frames.

in conclusion, is oak good for chainsaw carving? Yes! The best wood for carving is the wood you have! If you have oak then ist good enough for carving.

Happy chainsaw carving!