Ray Murphy can’t tell you how many angels dance on the head of a pin, but he probably could chain saw a few.

Hancock artist Ray Murphy has been chainsawing animals and other figures in the same spot on Route 1 since 1991. Murphy describes himself as a “sawyer” for what he does with his chainsaw.—JACQUELINE WEAVER
Chain-sawing numbers, letters or anything else on increasingly small pieces of wood is one of the things that get Hancock’s Santa Claus look-alike up in the morning.
“During a show in 2008 I sawed three numbers on a mustard seed, which is nearly impossible as it is,” Murphy said. “Now I want to saw ‘911’ on a mustard seed.”
He plans to auction off the piece — he has no doubt he can do it — and use the proceeds to support Parkinson’s disease research.