Chainsaw artist Rob Dalton standing in his workshop surrounded by tools and completed wooden sculptures, including a green ma

About Rob Dalton

Freedom creativity & flow

The Beginning

I’m Rob Dalton. I carve original wood sculptures using chainsaws and a few other tools. What started as a way to reconnect with the outdoors has grown into a full-time creative business that now sends work across the UK.

After years in public service, first in the military and later in the police, I needed a way to reset. A chainsaw course changed everything. It gave me space to breathe and a way to work with my hands again. From there, DaltonWood began.

Rob Dalton using a chainsaw to carve a wooden sculpture of a horses head inside his mobile workshop.

The way I work

I don’t draw things out. That’s not my style. Each piece starts with an idea and a conversation. From there, I do my research, study the forms I need to carve, and then I let it flow.

Not sketching gives me freedom. It keeps things loose. It means I’m not copying a drawing. I’m carving in the moment, working with the natural flow of the wood and trusting the piece to come together.

Rob Dalton using a blowtorch to burn detailing into the feathers of a large wooden owl sculpture.

creating the sculptures

Tools of the Trade

I use a variety of chainsaws in different sizes for different types of cuts, along with sanding belts, carving tools, and finishing equipment. Some are more precise. Some are made for power. The mix of tools helps shape each piece to the detail and finish it needs.

It’s not about the tool. It’s about how it’s used. Carving is as much instinct as it is skill. That’s why every piece comes out different.

Rob Dalton painting fine details around the eye of a large owl wood sculpture inside his trailer workshop.

Close-up of woodcarving chisels and tools neatly arranged on a wall-mounted rack in Rob Dalton’s workshop.

Close-up of chainsaw blades with ‘Sugi Hara’ branding, showing the precision tools used by Rob Dalton.

Sourced locally

The timber I use comes from local tree surgeons and sawmills. Much of it is reclaimed. Trees that have come down in storms or needed to be removed for safety.

Instead of being chipped or left to rot, that wood becomes something lasting. A bench for a village. A carving in someone’s garden. A memorial piece for a family. I try to make every piece part of that story, giving the wood new life and new meaning.

Large log being loaded into a trailer using a green Avant 635 compact loader on a driveway

Rob Dalton and a young girl painting details onto a large owl-themed wooden sculpture outdoors.

Made to mean something

Everything I carve is one of a kind. But it’s never just about the wood. It’s about the people it’s for, the story behind it, and where it lives after creation.

Over the years, my work has become centrepieces in gardens, landmarks outside businesses, and talking points in communities. Wherever it ends up, it turns heads, starts conversations, and means something to the people who see it.