"Wisconsin's vast woodlands and logging heritage have sparked a vibrant chainsaw culture. Chainsaw Love is a literary exploration of the impact of chainsaws and the people who use them. People make their living with chainsaws. They make art and war with them. Without chainsaws, the power grid would collapse as trees grow into utility lines. More than 3 million chainsaws are sold per year in the US. According to author James Card, the chainsaw is the most overlooked invention of the last century. yet it has changed the composition of the world's forests and the revolutionized the global logging industry. Each chapter illuminates the social history of the chainsaw through the lens a chainsaw-related activity in Wisconsin, from cutting firewood and clearingland for utilities, to making furniture and crafting art, to innovating the design of the machine itself. In his journalistic style, the author interviews chainsaw users and collectors to present a range of voices telling their chainsaw stories"-- Provided by publisher.
Behold the mighty chainsaw and discover its history, its influence, and its people
Considered the most powerful of all hand tools, the chainsaw has been vital to contemporary life in ways large, small, and sometimes surprising since it first came on the market in the 1940s. In Chainsaw Love, author James Card celebrates this formidable implement in unflinching style, sharing stories and reflections about the world of chainsaws and the people who use and appreciate them.
Card describes the personal freedom that comes from harvesting your own trees for firewood and introduces readers to lumberjack competitors, hot-saw builders, and the sculpture carvers who take sawing to new heights. Chainsaw Love asserts the key role chainsaws play in clearing the right-of-way for powerlines to keep the electrical grid humming; in forestry and conservation efforts to maintain desirable ecosystems; and in the sciences, where ecologists and astronomers use chainsaws to age trees for scientific research. Card also considers the chainsaw’s place in pop culture, from movies to rock songs to presidential photo ops.
Readers of Chainsaw Love will discover the lore and terminology of forests and wood cutting— widow makers and windthrows, witness trees and barber chairs, pumpkin pine, devil’s forks, cat faces, and schoolmarms. Additionally, the book offers insights into chainsaw variations and parts, guidelines for saw care and maintenance, safety recommendations, and other hard-won tips and tricks. Dozens of photos from the field, as well as helpful diagrams, add to readers’ understanding of the saw’s evolution and modern use.
Part homage, part social history, and part field guide, Chainsaw Love is the perfect book for chainsaw users of all stripes—from loggers to conservationists, woodworkers to weekend cabin-dwellers—and anyone curious about this magnificent and underappreciated machine.
