Whenever we hear about the chainsaws or see a chainsaw we may think about lumberjacks chopping wood. Some people also remember the scary horror movies where the psychopath villain uses the chainsaw to kill people. But do you know why chainsaws were invented? It is certainly not used for the activities mentioned above. You can ask the medics about the history of chainsaws because they will be aware of it. If you know about all the information about it, you will be shocked.
They were invented for a very different purpose than what we use chainsaws for today. Here you can find all the details of Chainsaw and the different types of chainsaws.
Who invented the prototype of modern chainsaw?
In England, traditional saws were used in the 19 century. They were used to refine and cut pieces of wood. But according to the sources, the modern chainsaw was invented in 1830 by German orthopaedist Bernhard Heine. He named it the osteotome which is a Greek word meaning bone and cutter. So the word means bone cutter.
At the same time, the smaller versions of the chainsaw were used for medical purposes. Then at the start of the twentieth century, even more powerful chainsaws arrived. The first patent of the chainsaw called “endless chain saw” belonged to Samuel J. Bens.
In 1926 the first electric chainsaw was designed and its production line and patent belonged to Andreas Stihl. It was a heavy and robust type of saw. Then the saws started to be widely used in other countries too.
A breakthrough came in 1973 as safer chainsaws got invented by Husqvarna. In the modern age too this company has invented a lot of effective and efficient chainsaws.
Why were chainsaws invented?
Today there are different types of chainsaws. There are Stihl chainsaws, Lowes chainsaws, and more. They are an important tool in a workshop.
But no one talks about chainsaws very often. Then how did they become the talk of the town? It is because of social media platforms such as TikTok. There is a trend started in TikTok to know why chainsaws were invented. Many people saw it and got interested to know the details. Now people are obsessing over the origins of the chainsaw.
In TikTok, people are sharing that chainsaws were invented to aid during childbirth. One user in TikTok hello mynameisjohn shared a video to prove that these were used by medics long back to help women with childbirth. But is this fact circulating in Tiktok true? Continue reading to know about the history of chainsaws.
Were chainsaws used during childbirth?
The first chainsaw was invented to be used for women at the time of giving birth. But it was different from the design of chainsaws we use today. The prototypes of the medical chainsaws were designed by two Scottish doctors, John Aitken and James Jeffray. They are well-known eighteen-century surgeons who created the tool for the process of symphysiotomy.
John Aitken was a surgeon belonging to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He has given many medical lectures in his time. Also, he is credited with inventing many surgeries popular in that era.
His partner in the field is Dr. Jeffray who is a student of Glasgow University and Edinburgh University. In his lifetime he has dissected many dead bodies to understand the human body. He is well known in the fields of Anatomy and Botany.
What is symphysiotomy?
It is a type of surgical procedure where the cartilage of the pubic symphysis gets divided. The surgeon uses the chainsaw to widen the pelvis when the baby is trapped inside the mother. In this way, the women can give birth to the baby without the caesarian section.
Before the invention of the chainsaw, eighteen-century surgeons used the knife during childbirth. But this process was dangerous as well as painful. Also, it was done without anaesthesia. It also took a long time for a woman to give birth to a child.
Then after the invention of the chainsaw, it became widely used by surgeons. It was operated manually during the surgery. But gradually the use of chainsaws during childbirth decreased after more modern methods became prevalent. Now the childbirth procedures are more safe and advanced. (Read more)
Conclusion
Knowing about the history of chainsaws is an interesting topic. We have to be thankful for modern medical inventions because these are no longer used for childbirth.
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