Peter Shanahan (middle) of Sullivan looks to God as he tries to keep perfectly still while Murphy writes his name on a belt-buckle on his waist. Right, one of Murphy’s chainsaw sculptures stands guard in front of his art showroom off Route 1 in Hancock.—STAFF PHOTOS BY NICK GOSLING

HANCOCK — Ray Murphy handles a chainsaw with about as much precision as a surgeon handles a scalpel. He can scribble a couple of numbers on a sliver of wood millimeters wide and not even blink an eye. Given the chance, he’ll write your name on a 2-inch wide belt buckle — while it’s snug on your waist. With two chainsaws in hand, Murphy becomes a whirling dervish of a man capable of sawing up two boards into art at the same time.

Murphy stands in his near-soundproof booth at the front of a set of padded bleachers in his newly finished stage showroom off Route 1 in Hancock. It’s his third show since opening the World’s Number One Chainsaw Sawyer Art Stage Show and a small crowd of 15 has shown up to witness the logger-turned-chainsaw artist’s amazing talents.

“Mountain Man” Ray Murphy (below) stands next to a lengthy list of his achievements on a sign outside his art showroom.—STAFF PHOTOS BY NICK GOSLING

Wielding two small chainsaws, the 63-year-old Murphy simultaneously cuts a zigzag down the center of one board and a rounded edge on the second. With his thin, wispy, white beard and tanned bald head he looks a little like a weathered wise man handling two 1½-horsepower machines. He trims a little more off 1-inch thick boards, curving and bending his saw blades to form desired patterns and shapes in the wood-grain that only he can see.

Finally, the boards begin to take shape and it’s obvious what he’s making. When Murphy is finished, he sets down his chainsaws and holds up to the crowd a half-moon with a face and a lightning bolt. He’s grinning ear-to-ear.

That’s because Murphy loves what he does.

It’s been a dream of his to one day have a place to showcase his art and talents and, now that he has it, he’s encouraging others to pursue their dreams as well.

“It’s nice to be able to help someone else with their talent and help them pursue it,” Murphy said.

From his sound guy and emcee, Jesse Burns, who someday wants to do production work, to his 12-year-old granddaughter, Sasha Mitchell, who takes center stage at the end of the show to sing “Amazing Grace,” Murphy is helping others to fulfill their own dreams.

Murphy’s resume sounds more like a Paul Bunyan tall tale than reality — but it’s all true. By age 10, he was running a chainsaw. By age 11, he was writing messages into pieces of wood and sawing out pieces of art. He’s credited as one of the first chainsaw artists in the world. In 1979, Murphy became the first person to saw the alphabet onto an ordinary No. 2 pencil. Fifty or sixty other chainsaw artists have attempted this same task and can’t even start it, says Murphy. In 1980, he created the world’s first saw sculpture stage show and traveled around the country, racking up over a million miles on his 1960 GM tour bus.

In 1981, Ripley’s Believe It or Not featured Murphy in a nationally syndicated cartoon describing some of the feats he can do with a chainsaw. Seven years later, Murphy set a world record by sawing out a chair with a back, seat and four legs from a log in 10 seconds — a record that still stands today. In 1999 and 2000, Ripley’s showed up at Murphy’s doorstep to film him writing 10 numbers onto a toothpick with a chainsaw, along with some of his other sawing skills. Murphy’s toothpick stunt (his most challenging, he says), his alphabet on the pencil and his name on the belt buckle have become his signature moves.

Today, every Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum in the world has a pencil autographed by Murphy with the alphabet and many of them have belt buckles and chairs created by the Wild Mountain Man — an old CB handle that’s stuck with him since his logging days.   

Entering Murphy’s chainsaw art showroom across from the stage show is like stepping into a fantasyland inhabited by wooden creatures, minus the magical forest and Cinderella castle. In the middle of the room stands a life-size figure of an angel with the face of Murphy’s wife, Emilina. Tinkerbell sits cross-legged on one of the wooden tables and in the corner a snarling black panther stands over a small varnished alligator. Hanging on the walls is a Noah’s ark variety of animals — from brightly-colored tigers, wolves and rabbits to salmon, whales and dolphins arching their backs in mid-swim. Plus, there are a few creatures you won’t see in any nature show, like dragons, leprechauns and a triceratops.

Murphy’s art isn’t all that you’ll see in his showroom. Several lesser-known artists have their artwork on display there, too.

“If I can help someone else progress with their talents, progress with their dreams,” says Murphy, who is happy to help other artists become recognized, “… that’s kind of my place now.”

In the courtyard between the World’s Number One Chainsaw Sawyer Art Stage Show and The Ray E. Chainsaw Sawyer Artist showroom is Murphy’s open air workshop and demonstration area, surrounded by thick waist-high logs and half-finished wooden sculptures. He draws an invisible line next to his outdoor workshop, separating the two showrooms — one for art, the other for stunts. They’re what Murphy calls “two entirely different entities.”

“Nowhere else in the world will you see anybody pick up a chainsaw and write 10 numbers on a toothpick,” he says about the stage show.

After Murphy finishes his last stunt, he comes out from his booth, which separates him from the crowd by a 1-inch window of bulletproof glass that acts as a sound barrier, muffling the noise of the chainsaws inside. Murphy carries his trophies — the lightning bolt, the moon and the toothpick with 10 numbers sawed into it. He smiles to the crowd, asks how it went and answers any questions. But before calling it a night, he does something that makes his show even more winning. Murphy offers anybody in the crowd — especially the children — the chance to sing or perform in front of the bleachers. On this night, his granddaughter accepts, though Murphy tries unsuccessfully to coerce some of the other kids he knows into singing. And though it’s his stage and his act that brought the people here, even one of the world’s greatest chainsaw artists doesn’t mind sharing the limelight.

Ray Murphy answers the age-old question of where do you go when you’ve reached the top. If you’re Murphy, you throw a line over and help a few others up.

You can catch Ray Murphy’s stage show every night at 7. Tickets for the show can be bought at the door for $15 per person, $20 per couple and students and senior citizens are $10 apiece. Kids under 10 are admitted free.