Comments on: Chain Whittler

By: George

George — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:42:23 +0000

I have a wooden log chain, 12′-0″ long w/ hooks.If the links and or hooks have been cracked and glued, what a job. It’s a great piece. Looking for another if anyone knows anyone that still carves them

By: Henry

Henry — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:23:33 +0000

Neato.

To the last comment, I’m not sure that saying “this guy in the article may have worked harder or smarter”.
If the “smarter” is referring to the use of glue, then it’s not smarter, it just takes less skill, still a lot of skill,
just less than it does to make a wooden chain without glue.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:15:19 +0000

A store near me, owned by an old craftsman, had a large wooden chain and other carvings along one wall. The chain must have been 30 feet long. I asked the man about it, and he said he carved the links seperately, and then cracked every other link in two by hand. This broke the link along the grain, without losing any material, so it could be glued back together perfectly. Before he said that I thought it must have been carved with the links linked…

So, this guy in the article may have worked harder or smarter … either way, the end product is like a brain teaser when you see it in person.

By: Chakolate

Chakolate — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:59:43 +0000

I suspect it’s a mistake to refer to each ‘link’ being made of a single piece of wood. They should have said that each *chain* was made from a single piece.

My dad made a much smaller wooden chain for me when I was a child. It takes careful whittling to make a chain - one false move and you have to start all over. Or you bleed a lot.

Interestingly, the resulting chain can be much longer than the piece of wood it was carved from.

By: Stannous

Stannous — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:58:05 +0000

This is pretty amazing. Take a board and carve it into links, think about it.

I especially like the Escher-like four link piece in the foreground.