Chainsaws today are primarily utilized to lower trees, and for good factor: theyre really excellent at slicing through hard products with minimal effort on the part of the user. The energy needed to make the cut is produced by the engine the tool is equipped with, rather than an individuals arm muscles. This makes chainsaws far more convenient to use, and a lot quicker at cutting, than hand saws.
That being said, the chainsaw has a special location in the public imagination. Computer game like to feature chainsaws either as weapons or tools, and scary movies have a specific soft spot for them and the simulated gore they can bring to the screen.
They buzz, they whirl, and they cut the trees down– they are chainsaws. Although the basic perception of these tools is deeply connected to the concept of cutting down lumber or processing it into planks, that wasnt the function for that these tools were developed to serve. The roots of these devices stem from the field of medication, not forestry.
It wasnt until the early 20th century, nevertheless, that the first modern-day chainsaw was invented. Incredibly, it wasnt designed for forestry or woodworking, however for medical procedures.
Image credits René Schindler.
In fact, the origins of the chainsaw can be traced back to the late 18th century, when 2 Scottish medical professionals named John Aitken and James Jeffray started explore surgical tools that utilized a chain with serrated teeth to cut through bone.
While pop media depicts the chainsaw as an instrument of death and damage, at its roots, it was indicated to assist bring life into the world.
Why were chainsaws created?
Giving birth is an undoubtedly demanding, stressful procedure for moms; this is true even with the benefits afforded by modern-day medical innovation, knowledge, and medication. In the times before these were offered, such events might quickly end up being deadly for the mom, the infant, or both.
While cutting this bone, the cosmetic surgeon would require to be careful to damage the surrounding tissues as little bit as possible, so the symphysiotomy was brought out using a little knife. Even so, the cut was frequently imprecise and rough.
However, the c-section has actually not been available as an alternative for the majority of history, and it is just safe to carry out due to modern tools, training, and medical facilities.
Around 1780, 2 Scottish cosmetic surgeons commenced to improve the procedure to provide moms-to-be that had to withstand a symphysiotomy a much better possibility at survival. Their design would end up being the chainsaw we understand and like today.
Simply like now, complications might arise during giving birth that would need special intervention from going to doctors or midwives in order to conserve the mother, the baby, or both. Today, numerous such problems are resolved through the use of cesarean (or C-) areas. This kind of intervention is particularly useful when the child is too large to fit through the moms birth canal or if they are in a breech position (feet-first in the womb instead of head-first), which can make regular birth difficult.
Before c-sections, when the infant would not or might not fit through the birthing canal, cosmetic surgeons would resort to a treatment understood as symphysiotomy. This procedure involved the severing of the moms pelvic bone in order to develop sufficient area for the child to travel through.
The osteotome: the original chainsaw
It consisted of a long chain fitted with serrated teeth with a handle on each end– these teeth looked like pieces of a knife blade, not like todays chainsaw teeth. This would be twisted around the pelvic bone, and the doctor or medical professionals would alternate pulling on each handle. This created a repeating movement that would assist cut through the bone much quicker, with less effort, and with more precision than a knife.
Symphysiotomies ended up being much more secure and commonly accepted after the development of such tools. They likewise started being used in other kinds of dissections or surgical treatments too, due to their efficacy in cutting through bone.
It would be more fine-tuned into a more stable tool that could be held in a single turn over the years, with a prime example being Bernhard Heines osteotome from the 1830s. His variation of the gadget was powered by a hand crank, and the chain was looped around a guiding blade to allow it to rotate. The device integrated the efficiency of the chain osteotome with the ease of use of a routine knife.
The two medical professionals, John Aitken and James Jeffray, developed the osteotome to help them and other physicians more quickly slice through the pelvic bone. The device, which they named the osteotome, was in impact the worlds first chainsaw, although you would not right away tell by its shape.
Osteotomes are still in usage today in different medical applications that need the cutting or preparation of bone, such as plastic or oral surgery. The modern-day versions of this tool do not look like Aitken and Jeffrays gadget at all; they are more like chisels. Today, that original tool is understood as a chain osteotome.
The osteotome as designed by Bernhard Heine. Image credits Sabine Salfer by means of Wikimedia.
Leaving the surgery room: how the chainsaw went from cutting abdominal areas to cutting wood
But a San Francisco-based citizen by the name of Samuel J. Bens would turn the gadget to cutting another tough material– timber. In 1096, he submitted his patent of the “endless chain saw”, serial No. 302,537. For all intents and purposes, this gadget is the saw chain in its modern-day kind.
What would drive the osteotome out of the health center and into the logging camp was much better hygiene and anesthesia. Together, these 2 elements made c-sections much more secure to perform and easier to bear for the mother. C-sections also tended to have less or no long-term problems, rather than symphysiotomies (which might even leave a specific not able to walk for extended amount of times).
As such, symphysiotomies fell out of favor.
17 1905 and numbered 780,476, I described a saw com increasing a chain of links bring saw teeth and running in a guide frame.
Despite its humble origins as a surgical tool, the chainsaw has actually ended up being one of the most indispensable and versatile tools in contemporary society. And while its power and potential for harm should never be ignored, theres no denying the impact that this innovative and unanticipated innovation has actually had on the world.
” While the basic things of the present innovation are significantly the like those stated in the Letters Patent described, I have actually designed and herein explain and reveal different and beneficial enhancements upon that building, tending to increase its performance and effectiveness.”
The first portable chainsaw, the forefather of the tool in the shape we know it today, was established and patented in 1918 by James Shand, a Canadian millwright. While he held special rights to his patent, further advancement was slow. Nevertheless, Shand allowed his rights to lapse in 1930, and the patent was additional established by the German company Festo– which still produced portable chainsaws to this day under the name Festool.
They buzz, they try, and they cut the trees down– they are chainsaws. This makes chainsaws much more convenient to use, and a great deal faster at cutting, than hand saws.
The last pieces of the puzzle were contemporary engines that might power chainsaws into their capable but portable kind these days.
It consisted of a long chain fitted with serrated teeth with a manage on each end– these teeth looked like pieces of a knife blade, not like todays chainsaw teeth. The very first portable chainsaw, the predecessor of the tool in the shape we understand it today, was established and patented in 1918 by James Shand, a Canadian millwright. Shand enabled his rights to lapse in 1930, and the patent was additional established by the German business Festo– which still produced portable chainsaws to this day under the name Festool.
As technology enhanced, so did the chainsaw. By the 1950s, portable and lightweight chainsaws had become commonplace, changing the forestry market and making it possible to collect timber more effectively than ever before.
” Thus I have offered [methods] for reinforcing and subsequently stiffening the guide frame, and also a much better arrangement and building and construction of saw teeth, I supply alternately arranged cutting teeth and dragging teeth, the latter operating to keep the saw-kerf clear. I have also created a much better methods for holding the cutting blades in the frame while at the very same time such blades are replaceable and easily removable in cases when renewal or re-sharpening or any type of repair work is required.”
The chainsaws effect extends far beyond the world of forestry. Today, chainsaws are used in a wide variety of industries, from building and demolition to ice sculpting and even art.
These early chainsaws were cumbersome and heavy, often requiring 2 individuals to operate. They were likewise exceptionally powerful, capable of cutting through large trees in a fraction of the time it would take to slice them down with an axe or saw.
