Custom Carvings
On Site Carvings
Chainsaw
Sculpture
Pyrography
Web Design
Chainsaw Sculpture and Pyrography
by artist Cindy Servis
Chainsaw-Chick.com
Carving Safety
All artwork and website contents © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Cindy Servis. Unless otherwise noted.
Contents not to be used without express written permission and proper credit to the artist.
Burned and Sanded

This option is the easiest for the carver to complete aside of a natural unpainted and unburned finish.  It is completed by burning the carving, sanding and then reburning certain areas dependent upon the effect desired by the artist.  This is how most of Cindy's carvings are finished because the tools to complete this effect are most often with her when she is traveling. 
Airbrushed

For this finish the carving is sanded, primed and airbrushed to create a translucent and soft feel to the nature of the carving.  This process imparts several layers of paint and varnish to create a deep realistic tone while maintaining the show of the grain through the paint.  This is one of the most time consuming processes but is also one of the most beautiful and very soft in appearance.
Drybrushed (Photos coming soon) 

This process is a more opaque process that hides the grain until the last coats of color are applied and then the grain is made to "pop" from the wood.  This process is more about texture than anything...it works by far the best on highly textured peices and imparts a special "raised look" to the grain.  (see closeups)  This process is done with a brush that is wiped clean of most of the paint and requires 2 or more colors of paint in a given area. 
Your options for finishwork on carvings is limited only by your imagination and how much you want to spend on making your carving as realistic as possible. 
Stained (photo coming soon)

This process uses a simple wood stain to seal and color the carving.  It can be done with one color and burning for accent or with one solid color.  Popular colors for staining are walnut and cedar toned translucent or semi-translucent stains.   
Painting Options
Carving Options
100% Chainsaw

This option imparts only the saw with no other small hand tools used for finer details.  It's amazing how detailed a carving can get when no other tools are used. 
90% Chainsaw

With this option most of the work is done with the saw but small details such as hand carved eyes are added.  Sanding the entire peice can also be done. 
Chainsaw and other tools

With this option the main portion of the carving is carved with the saw and finer details are added with hand tools, grinders, dremels and sanders.  This is a highly finished peice, is made to be realistic and can be fairly rough or highly finished such as the peices done by hand carvers.  This is the most expensive option for chainsaw carving but the finished peices are realistic and very beautiful.  This option, combined with airbrushing sends peices up into the fine arts category and price range.  
Spar Varnish or Poly

Spar varnish is the longer lasting of the overcoat finishes but cannot be used over white paints without turning the white to an amber hue.  Spar is  for outdoor carvings and carvings in full sunlight and poly can be used for indoor carvings with white paint that must remain pure white.  Cindy recommends a good spar varnish due to it's durability especially for outdoor carvings.

Poly must be refinished every 1-3 years depending upon the wear of the finish and it's a good idea to initally use 3 coats and then a coat yearly until the carving has completed the drying process.

Spar is generally oil based, is applied every 3 years and it is recommended to have 3 coats the first year, a coat a year until the drying process is complete, and then the finish can be left for up to 3 years before re-finishing.