Sue O'Sullivan, My Chainsaw Sensei

Making Motivation with Dr. Drill

Sue O’Sullivan, My Chainsaw Sensei!Making Motivation Podcast mission: honor authentic people and tell their motivating stories. In the process, we aim to inspire and inform, put smiles on faces and a little fire under the asses of the masses. Date and Time: Saturday, April 13, 2024 @ 1100Context: A unique hobby of mine is chainsaw carving, not a lot of people pursue this pastime and I’m not here to encourage it. But while it might sound dangerous and downright crazy to sculpt wood with a chainsaw, it is a tremendously rewarding form of art and can be done quite safely, when you use your tools properly and wear your PPE. And…it’s not something you want to learn via trial and error, right? It is imperative that you have a mentor, someone to show you the ropes and make sure you don’t do anything stupid and lose a limb! During the early days of my carving wood with power tools, I was fortunate to find an online community of chainsaw carvers and virtually apprentice under Sue Hallet. Among quite a few encouraging carvers in this community, Sue stuck out…was friendly, kind and inspiring but also communicated in a no-nonsense manner, how to properly wield a blade of steel at 3000 rpms per minute to remove wood and make beautiful things. From saw maintenance and chain sharpening to wood selection and pricing my art, Sue was a great help to me and thanks to her guidance I am alive today with all my digits.Sue is a kind of Renaissance Woman, in that she does a lot of things very well and is always looking for new challenges.Musical intro: Darude, SandstormTalking PointsHow in the world did you get into chainsaw carving?What kind of person does this?Did you have a mentor?Why were you so willing to help me?What does your carving kit include, tools etc? Let’s take a lookIs chainsaw carving hazardous?Importance of PPE, safety measures etc?How to sharpen a chain?Favorite type of wood to carve?Favorite carving you ever did?Least favorite carving?Best and worst customers?Strangest shit you experienced on a carving job?Can you make good money chainsaw carving and in art generally?Define the term, “Saw Bitch.”What motivates you, Sue?https://youtu.be/4G_TagicNRM