The Unkindest Cut ...
The origin of the idea, small blade, a chain of continuous movement has a strange origin outside his current application.
A German orthopaedist Bernard Heine fantasy has created a device called osteotome, around 1830. This was accomplished by a handle that operates a chain that ran the chain. The reason was that he wanted to improve the cutting of bone. Today, we of course do everything to prevent this casewhen using a chainsaw.
To create the chains followed some frantic attempts to register in the U.S. based equipment. The first was by Mr. Muir in California, a machine that has a great need for a crane to lift it, and obviously do not commercially invented weighed.
Since 1861, Hamilton was shaped like a spinning wheel, and riding Saw the 1880 looked like a rowing machine, the operator sat inside, but did not produce a breakthrough for the mechanical sawsdominant hand saws.
Almost a century after the modern chainsaw Heine was born, as another German, Andreas Stihl (1896 - 1973) patented a chain saw for forestry, in 1926. It 'was in fact an electric model with a heavy weight of 63 kg.
Stihl company began to be truly successful when he developed a model with a gasoline engine in 1929. But then he had a rival, Emil Lerpa, who in 1927 was the first to develop a gasoline engine, around which he built his company DolmarHamburg.
These early machines were heavy pre-war and two men to lift it: some ex-military axis used instead of requiring the user to the woods, great efforts must be transported.
Cut to the quick
World War II brought a frenetic technical innovations, two, under which the commercial availability of aluminum alloys, as well as increase the efficiency and miniaturization of motors, of which 2 days were.
The first engine of this development chainnew world of postwar American Joseph Buford Cox (1905-2002) was. It 'been exercised by the inefficiency of existing models and the need for frequent blade sharpening.
Cox was inspired by the larvae of beetles that feed on the wood of observation can be happy with good quality wood sound. They are C-shaped jaws, and this seemed the secret of its efficiency. Cox repaired to his lab and created C-shaped blades that, when (with his wife Violet), founded the companyOregon chainsaw in 1947, became a quick success. This was the first chain of type 'hacker' modern.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Robert McCullough of McCullough Motors Corporation was founded in 1943, produced by small gasoline engines. In 1948 he conducted his first chainsaw CS 5-49. Until then, it was in California.
But Andreas Stihl had another important development in the hole: Stihl introduced the first true one-man operation was in 1950.
A little knownHero of the innovation chain has been presented that Norway's Wiig Rasmus in 1949, Comet, has seen a diesel engine, kg easy for his time to 8.5. But the need to heat the plug before use, was a drag-and-sales never took off, moved production to Sweden, but after a few thousand were made 1950-1954 the machine is pulled.
The Germans and the Americans continue to market for many years, dominated by the growth of Chinese and Japanese from the 1970s/80sin 2000.
Notable monuments were the Stihl Contra S light car in 1959 and the Homelite XL12 has seen since 1963, with its Oregon chain 72D, the first 3 / 8 "pitch chain model, this feature of success that continues today, very copied by competitors .. In fact, Oregon has its blades and knives for sale to other manufacturers and bar is the main supplier of such equipment, with manufacturers such as Draper with Oregon bars and chains.
In 1967, McCullochlaunched the first gasoline engine in the world with electric start chain saw, 3-10E. You might think this would revolutionize the industry, namely the function can be found on a lot of Chinese saws. But it is not professional foresters who fear the loss of autonomy in the wild and literally left helpless prisoner. Thus, the tug the rope firmly is still the chance to start sawing.
This did not stop there for innovation. Makita introduced theirDCS34 a "Quick Start" function that the air / fuel mixture to optimize start-up and claims to reduce the force needed to pull a massive 70%.
Down in Australia, Atom Industries patented its own system of electric chain saw in 1972, and their patented "turbo action self cleaning air filters." They also invented an attachment direction of the drill for drilling fence posts and stringing wire to allow. This innovation has been much copied exceptional professional machineCircles.
Anti-vibration systems, faster to stop the chain and other security institutions, further weight savings and the body are more balanced now with modern models.
Given where they are now?
What has been created by people and businesses that the chainsaw as we know it today?
Andreas Stihl's successors continued the private company he founded to run.
Emil Dolmar Lerpa the company is still manufacturing in Hamburg, but in 1991 it was bought by Makitawhich makes some of the best regarded as professional saws on the market.
James McCullough is determined diversified into aircraft engines and compressors of the 70 that had just focused on horticulture, but in 1999 it went into Chapter 11. Husqvarna from Sweden now have it.
Atom industries around the world could be contending with their innovations, but they lost their Australian import tariff protection in 1974 and could not compete with cheap imports. They stopped production cutAt the end of 1970. Production of engines held until 2005. They now focus on other markets.
As we have seen, are more successful and Oregon are part of the Blount Group. You are in the United States, China and elsewhere.
Hundreds of other manufacturers are now competing on the market.
Chain saws have broken from the market in recent years woodcut. Modified machines with diamond blades, dust, water cooling and hydraulic units are in use to cut throughStone, brick and concrete to build or rescue, or even for artistic sculpture. Ironically, these cars safer than those that operate in these difficult and unpredictable medium, the tree. However, the world completely for loggers in the last 80 years or so changed, and today the system units have almost completely replaced the hand saw.
