Carvers Information

The English Open Chainsaw Competion 2007
Saturday, Sunday & Monday August 25th/26th/27th 2007
Held at Tatton Park Country Show

 

Due to a u-turn in sponsorship of the English Open Chainsaw Carving Competition we are unable to offer airfare support for this years event. After two years it is perhaps a good time to look at, and re-adjust the structure of the competition. This year there will be three classes forming the two competitions.

THE MAIN AUCTION

The competition pieces will be auctioned at various times throughout the day.

CLASS A) Chainsaw only Sunday 2.20pm

CLASS B) Full power Monday 2.20pm

Classic Monday 4.00pm

MEDAL PRESENTATION

The presentation for all competitions will be on Monday afternoon at 3.30pm

PRIZES
1.Chainsaw Only 1st Prize £500.00, 2nd Prize £300.00, 3rd Prize £200.00
2.Full Power 1st Prize £500.00, 2nd Prize £300.00, 3rd Prize £200.00
3.Classic 1st Prize £1200.00, 2nd Prize £800.00, 3rd Prize £600.00

1.The event has been moved to Tatton Park, a premier venue in the North West with a vastly increased visitor base from nearby Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, The Wirral, South Cheshire and North Staffordshire.

2.We felt that the oppportunity to work on smaller carvings will appeal to some of the carvers. With good speed carvings making good returns, it was thought that smaller carvings of a good standard could command good prices and there are two such opportunities.

3.The auctionhas split in to 3 across 2 days. This gives an advantage to the overall show, and to the carvers. With 55 carvers last year it was too long for the later auction entries; Three short swift auctions should be a better solution.

NUMBER OF CARVERS
The first year attracted 39 carvers, the second year we increased this to 55. The census of opinion seems to be 55 is too many. This year we are setting the number of carvers at 25 the breakdown will be.

UK Carvers 10
American Carvers 6
European Carvers 6
Rest of the world 3

COMPETITION EQUIPMENT
The competitor will be allowed to use chainsaws to remove wood and finish the carving. Specialist carving bars will be allowed. Other power tools and hand tools as provided by the carvers will also be permitted. There is no restriction on the number, size or hand tools used. The carvers should provide all consumables that they are required for their own use. It is planned to have a 240v electric supply available at the carving area, a 110v transformer will also be available were required. Please note that top handled chainsaws will not be allowed.
Chainsaw personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn at all times when using a chainsaw. The PPE will comply with AFAG guide 301 using petrol driven chainsaws. Copies of the guide will be made available before the event. PPE appropriate to other equipment must be worn. Your set of safety clothing should include Jacket, Trousers, Safety Boots and ear defenders.

It is unlikely that the use of a sponsors equipment and safety clothing will be available. Each carver is to be responsible for the provision of safety clothing We would hope that carvers will be able to bring their own saws and will do so, for those unable to do sowe will provide the equipment.

COMPETITION RULES
UK carvers will be required to produce a copy of their Certificate of Competence in the maintenance and use of chainsaws. All overseas carvers should record their experience in their C.V. (see booking form). Safe working practices will be observed at all times the Organisers reserve the right to exclude anyone who they consider to be unsafe or a danger to others. The Organisers will need to satisfy UK health and safety requirements. A satisfactory Risk Assessment will be agreed with Cheshire Council prior to the event.

WOOD SELECTION BY LOTTERY
12pm on Friday the draw will commence, draw number 1 and you will get first pick from the wood available and so on after that late commers will be on a first come first served basis. You may exchange logs with other carvers. It may help to arrive early and have a good look at the available wood and its location.

YOUR MAIN PIECE SELECTION
This must be achevied from within your selected log and the off cuts, unless you are doing a bench when you can select planks for your bench if there are any available. Once you have your log you may prepare the base or stand it on props, you may debark your log and draw on it, you can cut it in height and have it stood up, But carving must not start untill the advertised times. At any time your log is found to be flawed, you can select another from the available pile, but you must complete the new carving within the time left for the event.

UNLESS THE EVENT IS ADVERTISED AS CHAINSAW ONLY
Oils and paints can be used for the presentation of the sculpture, you may use any power tools you have, electricity will be supplied.

SCAFFOLDING AND PLATFORMS
These must be of safe construction.

DESIGN
Unless the event has a theme you may carve any design you like, but please remember the sculptures are also view by the members of the public with children and the organisers resrve the right to remove any sculpture considered offensive; we have allowed nudes and breasts but done in good taste.

WE EXPECT EVERY CARVER TO CONFORM TO HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS THAT APPLY HERE IN THE UK, CONCERNING CHAINSAW SAFETY CLOTHING.

JUDGING
The judging at the 2005 event caused some comment. We are looking at a radical change in the judging of the competition. We will set a judging criteria and points system, all the carvers will then take part in the judging. Each carver will be given a score card for each of the competitions. They will select their top 6 in each competition and award points in accordance to the given criteria. The score cards are then totalled into the top 3 prize positions for each competition. The winner will be the carver with the highest number of points for each of the 3 competitions.