Who Invented the Chainsaw?
The chainsaw has become a staple of most garages and workshops and has revolutionized the way humans have harvested, prepared, and transported wood for building. Over time, this tool has evolved into various forms, including chainsaws for materials like concrete, and has led the way for development of other hand-held mechanical tools. There are a few important names to know in the development of the modern chainsaw. Does this Spark an idea?
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Function
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A chainsaw is a mechanical tool, most often motorized and powered by gasoline, which features a motor (typically internal combustion or electric), a long bar made of strong metal alloy and a circular chain. The chain rotates around the blade by means of an internal centrifugal clutch. The chain is made with various types of "teeth," small links which connect to one another interdependently to achieve maximum cutting power.
History
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The first prototype of the modern chainsaw was most likely a saw invented to cut bone by a surgeon in the early 1830s. This surgeon, Dr. Bernard Heine, called his instrument the osteotome. It was powered by a winder, not a motor, but the theory of application was the same. In 1927, Emil Lerp, the founder of the Dolmar company, created the first gasoline-powered chainsaw based on a very similar design. It weighed more than 100 pounds and could only be operated by several men.
Then, in 1929, Andreas Stihl created his own version of the gasoline-powered chainsaw, and was the first to create a mass-manufacturing system to churn out hundreds of saws at a time. His company is known as the STIHL Corporation, with offices worldwide and thousands of employees. -
Considerations
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The story of the invention of the chainsaw would not be complete without a later addition to the tool's evolution. In 1946, a man named Joseph Cox was chopping wood and began to watch a timber beetle larva chewing easily through the logs around him. Nature provided the inspiration: jaws with teeth that could cut either with or against the grain of the wood. In 1948, he revealed the Oregon chain for chainsaws. The product mimicked the teeth of the timber beetle larva with interlocking links, and was so popular that Cox founded the Oregon Chain Company shortly thereafter. In addition to making waves with this chain style, the Oregon Company made history again in the early 1960s, with the release of the Homelite chainsaw series: the first modern, lightweight and portable chainsaws.
Types
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There are many types of chainsaws on the market, but the Oregon company is the largest manufacturer of chains, in addition to its lines of other cutting tools, chainsaws, and accessories. The STIHL company remains one of the largest manufacturers of chainsaws and hand-held tools, with offices all over the world, and the Dolmar company, whose main offices are in Hamburg, continues to produce cutting tools for all sizes and types of work. Other popular companies in the chainsaw market include McCulloch, Craftsman and Husqvarna; many companies have expanded the work of Stihl, Cox and Lerp to create a wide variety of hand-held mechanical tools.
By making chains that are edged with diamond rather than metal, and enlarging the machine, the cutting power of the chainsaw is expanded to be capable of cutting materials like concrete and brick. These chains were pioneered by an affiliate group of the Oregon Chain Company in the early 1990s, and are now used on many concrete chainsaw varieties, especially those made by Stanley. These saws have proven useful in the emergency medical fields and for rescue squads and fire departments across the nation, as they can be life-saving in a disaster or crisis situation by removing people trapped in debris or wreckage.
Considerations
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The chainsaw is also used in a variety of entertainment. Chainsaw competitions are held in many countries around the world, where experts practice for months before gathering to compete in various cutting and sharpening contests. Some modern musicians have even used chainsaws as instruments.
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