Brandon Nelson's Chainsaw Carving Habit

In my free time, I've been grooving out on my life-long love of wood and carpentry.

My (relatively new) passion for chainsaw carving has gotten plenty of attention, and I've found a new angle that is less "artistic creativity" and more "incremental improvements in process and efficiency."

By that I mean, I have narrowed my focus down to one single type of carving:

Salmon.

Specifically, sockeye salmon.

Indeed, my time with master carver Tomas Vrba influenced or directly caused this.

Here's my process:

I built a quick-and-dirty, single-point-of-contact stand on which I attach a slab of cedar from underneath.

On this stand I can rotate the piece, tip it forward or back, and hit every edge and angle I need, while it remains stable the whole time.

It looks like this:

The carving session begins with a chainsaw, and then moves quickly through 6 other tools, each one in use for only several minutes.

It's an absolute rush.

To paraphrase some carver of unknown origin at some point in history:

The salmon was there in the wood before I ever started; I'm just removing what's not the salmon.

When the dust settles, there's a salmon there, like this:

I love the natural wood look, highlighted with a blow-torch to bring out the details a bit more.

Sometimes I paint the finished piece...

Sometimes I go one step further, and use a strap sander to give the fresh paint an aged look.

Here's a comparison:

Some people are wired to not repeat, but to break new ground with every project, to always be inventing.

For some reason, I have been deeply enjoying "going deep" on one specific subject.

I'll pivot in time, I know.

But for now and for the foreseeable future, there are going to be a lot more salmon coming into the world.