My First Chainsaw Carving: Making an Outdoor Chainsaw Chair from an Oak Log

Most handymen and women have a chainsaw lying around for various purposes, but little do they know the insane versatility chainsaws bring to the table. I wasn’t so lucky, and typically borrowed my dad’s or grandfather’s when in need. So, when Tractor Supply reached out about working together on a chainsaw project with Husqvarna, I couldn’t contain my excitement. 

I got creative and came up with a simple idea to carve a chair from a log. I’ve always wanted to take on a project like this. My grandfather carves some chairs when I was a young kid at camp which we used for years around the fire pit. Seizing this perfect opportunity, I called up my buddy with a 65-acre plot and got to work. Now, this is not the prettiest piece of furniture I have ever made, but I sure had a blast playing with the 460 Rancher. And think I ended up with one sweet piece of lawn furniture. Check it out!

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What You’ll Need:

Only the best of the Best Chainsaw Carving Tools

• A Substantial log - one big enough for a rear-end, at the very least.
• The Husqvarna 460 Rancher - The Husqvarna is an impressive saw right out of the box. When it showed up at the shop I was surprised with the size of it. This chainsaw is on the larger size at 60.3 cc and came with a 24″ bar. So, needless to say, this thing has some serious power. For a utility saw like this one, that’s vastly important. My girlfriend recently had some trees fall on her parents’ property, and this saw was the perfect tool to get them trimmed up and ready for the sawmill. This saw is awesome for everything from cutting firewood to trimming trees,  or basically anything you would need a powerful chainsaw for.

If you wanna snag up one of the Husqvarna 460 Ranchers, head over to TractorSupply.com/Husqvarna!

Check out some of the woodworking tools I used in this build: MY WOODWORKING TOOLS! 

How to Make an Outdoor Chainsaw Chair with Chainsaw Carving Tools: The Step-by-Step

Create Rough Cutout

To get started, make sure your log has a nice flat bottom to it sits securely while carving. You should also make sure you’re doing this on a relatively flat piece of land. The Husqvarna 460 is super powerful, and if your log slips up things can go wrong. And I like having all my fingers, personally. 

Once flat and secure, make a rough cutout of your chair shape. Nothing fancy -- just something to make your shaping easier.

Carve the Back and Seat to your Desired Shape

From your rough cutout, begin shaping up the back and seat to your chair. You’ll want to make these relatively flat and the right depth. You can try it out along the way to see where cuts still need to be made. These chairs are super forgiving and don’t need perfect lines, so have fun with it.

Cut Out Arms

I decided to throw some arms on my chair. I decided to split a scrab piece down the middle for the arms and notch out a rivet in the chair back for these to sit in. I hammered them in tight with a mallet and reinforces with some basic nails.

Shape the Front Legs

I decided my chair needed a little something extra, sho I just out a triangle in the front base to look like legs. Not only did this make it look a little more like a traditional chair, but lightened it up for whenever I want to move it around.

And there you have it: an outdoor chainsaw chair. If you liked this build, be sure to check out some of my other latest projects:

• Outdoor Adirondack Chair
• DIY Concrete Coffee Table
• DIY Desk Organizer

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