Does removing the chain from a chainsaw make the chainsaw safe for use in a movie?

I am making a film with a chainsaw scene, and want to use a real one in the scene. I plan on removing the chain so we can turn it on and run it safely. Does removing the chain (the blades) make the saw safe and not able to cut anyone or is there more to do?

Comments

4 Responses to “Does removing the chain from a chainsaw make the chainsaw safe for use in a movie?”

dale says:

June 28, 2009 at 12:06 am

it can't cut anyone but that doesn't mean that the clutch can't fly apart and injure someone. . just a possibility
Walter shumate says:

June 28, 2009 at 12:06 am

Yes If you take it off and put all the covers back on it cannot injure other then the muffler burning something
Corky R says:

June 28, 2009 at 12:06 am

Yes, the saws will be very safe with the chains removed, that's the only part that could hurt anyone, other than dropping the saw on your foot. The possibilty of the clutch drive assembly flying apart is so remote as to not be worth considering. We put on a Scare Trail for Halloween entertainment to benefit our local Community Policing agency a few years back and used the same sort of scenario for the last scare on the trail. I have to tell you when someone comes at you, looking half dead anyway, with a chainsaw running, being reved up and down several times, you don't stop to look at whether there's a chain on it or not, you just run. We had several people actually wet themselves trying to get out of the woods fast enough.
ghostofhoward says:

June 28, 2009 at 12:06 am

can an airplane without wings fly?Can a knife with no blade cut?