Pierre Lachance Is consider the leader in Automotive Wood Crafts World wide and Make is stuff here in Agassiz/Harrision Hot Springs Canada
March 24, 2005 (Press Release) --
Wood carver with an eye for detail
Pierre Lachance says he enjoys the challenge of turning pieces of wood into recognizable, detailed vehicles.
By James Baxter, MetroValley News
Mar 15 2005
Local wood carver Pierre Lachance is putting the final touches on an oak motorcycle he is building for legendary stunt driver Evel Knievel.
The bike, a faithful replica of Mr. Knievel's gravity-defying Harley Davidson XR750, has been meticulously fashioned, piece-by-piece, over 100 hours, according to Mr. Lachance, who has also carved himself a reputation as a leader in wooden automotive crafts.
He began work on the Knievel bike last year as a trade for the stuntman's endorsement of Mr. Lachance's website, which is dedicated to the auto thrill show business.
The carver's father was a friend and employee of Mr. Knievel's.
"Also, I am doing it for the honour I have for Evel Knievel and the past [when] my dad worked for him," he said. "I feel I am carrying the torch in the auto thrill show business. The old man was a racing car driver and stunt driver, and - I was the model maker and the trophy maker for the drivers."
Mr. Lachance says he is also set to display a few of his nearly 14,000 pieces at the local library. The featured item will be a Molson Indy car he carved in 1995 in connection with the Vancouver race. It will be joined, he says, by "what I can fit in the case."
Mr. Lachance works from a small shop in Agassiz, where several of his replica cars, trucks and motorcycles rest bumper to wheel on counter space around his work table. He says he has been carving for nearly 35 years, a hobby he developed when he was sidelined by an injury at age 10.
" learned a lot from my grandpa as far as woodworking," he explains. "He was a furniture maker and also did small renovations. By the age of-13 or 14 I had a whole bunch of models, all wood, [and] then I got into more technical stuff- precision autos like Porsches, Bentleys, Jaguars and 4x4s.
"Then I would get into building custom bikes like Harleys and BSAs, and tow trucks, monster trucks, logging trucks and fire trucks."
Mr. Lachance says he enjoys the challenge of turning pieces of wood, some thrown on the scrap heap, into recognizable, detailed vehicles. He also recognizes that his is a unique craft.
"When I started getting into making wooden objects, I was very unique because not too many people have the patience to do it and there are not very many people who can do it," he said." I have become a category of my own."
He says he most enjoys the challenge of fashioning a three-dimensional object from images in photographs, or from his own memory. Many of his pieces have been given away or donated to children at Christmas.
"It's not like I have a model beside me which I am copying," he said. "I am working from photographs. I transfer the raw material into what you see."
Mr. Lachance's on-line gallery can be viewed at www.pierrelachance.com.
Wood carver with an eye for detail
Pierre Lachance says he enjoys the challenge of turning pieces of wood into recognizable, detailed vehicles.
By James Baxter, MetroValley News
Mar 15 2005
Local wood carver Pierre Lachance is putting the final touches on an oak motorcycle he is building for legendary stunt driver Evel Knievel.
The bike, a faithful replica of Mr. Knievel's gravity-defying Harley Davidson XR750, has been meticulously fashioned, piece-by-piece, over 100 hours, according to Mr. Lachance, who has also carved himself a reputation as a leader in wooden automotive crafts.
He began work on the Knievel bike last year as a trade for the stuntman's endorsement of Mr. Lachance's website, which is dedicated to the auto thrill show business.
The carver's father was a friend and employee of Mr. Knievel's.
"Also, I am doing it for the honour I have for Evel Knievel and the past [when] my dad worked for him," he said. "I feel I am carrying the torch in the auto thrill show business. The old man was a racing car driver and stunt driver, and - I was the model maker and the trophy maker for the drivers."
Mr. Lachance says he is also set to display a few of his nearly 14,000 pieces at the local library. The featured item will be a Molson Indy car he carved in 1995 in connection with the Vancouver race. It will be joined, he says, by "what I can fit in the case."
Mr. Lachance works from a small shop in Agassiz, where several of his replica cars, trucks and motorcycles rest bumper to wheel on counter space around his work table. He says he has been carving for nearly 35 years, a hobby he developed when he was sidelined by an injury at age 10.
" learned a lot from my grandpa as far as woodworking," he explains. "He was a furniture maker and also did small renovations. By the age of-13 or 14 I had a whole bunch of models, all wood, [and] then I got into more technical stuff- precision autos like Porsches, Bentleys, Jaguars and 4x4s.
"Then I would get into building custom bikes like Harleys and BSAs, and tow trucks, monster trucks, logging trucks and fire trucks."
Mr. Lachance says he enjoys the challenge of turning pieces of wood, some thrown on the scrap heap, into recognizable, detailed vehicles. He also recognizes that his is a unique craft.
"When I started getting into making wooden objects, I was very unique because not too many people have the patience to do it and there are not very many people who can do it," he said." I have become a category of my own."
He says he most enjoys the challenge of fashioning a three-dimensional object from images in photographs, or from his own memory. Many of his pieces have been given away or donated to children at Christmas.
"It's not like I have a model beside me which I am copying," he said. "I am working from photographs. I transfer the raw material into what you see."
Mr. Lachance's on-line gallery can be viewed at www.pierrelachance.com.
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