Thursday, August 18, 2011

Old Tree, New Eagle...

A Sycamore tree in Pasco, WA had grown from a nice shade tree into a menacing giant next to the house and had to be removed this past spring.  Just before the tree was taken down, I went to consult on the possibility of carving the stump.  What a huge piece of wood!  The trunk was nine plus feet around and the first limbs were fifteen feet from the ground...

After discussing design and price, I marked the tree for the arborist and set my appointment to carve the stump in August.

Two days ago I started the job of releasing this huge eagle from his stump.  Using my Stihl ms-660 saw {the second largest saw Stihl currently makes} I removed pieces of wood weighing up to 2, 3, and even 400 pounds each!  The customer said they could feel the house shake when the biggest pieces crashed to the ground.

This photo was taken at the end of my second day of carving.  The beast is so large that when standing on the bench, I cannot see over the top of the wings.  It's an eagle but there are many details to add.  Feet are still quite crude, eyes and body feathers not yet carved, some small details around the beak are still missing, and an eagle next to the river needs a salmon.

Like most big carvings, this one taught me that I need another tool.  The long and wide ripping cuts required for the wings took way too long to complete.  Time to buy some skip tooth chains for the 660.

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