wills-mill

I thought I recognised your name..... it was signwritten.... I did a bit of milling for Surrey Wildlife Trust in the college yard, and it stood out a bit- Where should it have been?

Close the vents! They are as simple as you want. Go to Woodweb, there's a massive article to download with about 30 or 40 designs. They are basically an insulated, sealed shed with glazing to the South (double if you want, inflated plastic sometimes) and a black painted plate behind (the 'collector') the glazing. When the temp rises, fans switch on to circulate the hot air on the collector through the timber stack underneath, and small vents are opened or just flop open to allow a certain amount of moisture out. A lot of the designs are for simple materials in the developing world, so they're not complicated. I went to Tino Rawnsley's when I was down in Cornwall last year with my ex and he very kindly took time to show us round their setup which is very impressive. On a cold, grey day of about 12 degC the temperature inside was over 30 deg for free.... 70 degC is quite common in direct summer sunshine. He had installed electric elements to force a particular order over a period in winter, but it ended up costing him £500 in bills. He'd rather take the time and let the sun do the work. I think the bill for the fans and sensor gear is about £20 to £40 for a large load of timber (could be wrong, but it was very cheap)... Milling this time of year is great anyway... the first few months of drying are nice and cold. If you open up a prime bit of wood in baking August weather it could get fecked before you know it!

No probs... Champion Timber do it too WRC cladding, Champions price: rebated shiplap 25 x 150 £11.63 per metre inc VAT shiplap 16 x 100 £4.28 per metre inc VAT Tongue/Groove/Vee'd 16 x 100 £4.29 per metre inc VAT That's £75 per cube for the small and £85 per cube for the 6x1 :scared: Perhaps I should start machining!

Ben was there a cherry picker of yours hiding in a well known Surrey agricultural college's yard last year?

How wide and what finish? I've got some western red cedar to mill.... If it's plain weatherboard I can do it pretty easily, I'm not up to running out planed and machined tongue and groove or shiplap at the moment. Otherwise try Ryall and Edwards in Redhill, Charles Wilment (Treespanner) in Lingfield/ Dormansland, or if they can't help try Wests of Petworth or Northwood Forestry between Biliingshurst and Storrington. For excellent milling and drying advice: Woodweb is fantastic For milling, solar kilning, low impact woodland work, timber arches and great philosophy: Jim Birkemeier at Timbergreen, Wisconsin Tino Rawnsley, Cornish Woodland Products Jonathan Guest, furniture maker in Wales

1. Dead and storm blown Oak, Charlwood, W Sussex 2. Limbs milled to make bearers, levelled up with first layer of sticks in place. 3. Stack's gone up, sticks nicely aligned vertically. 4. Happy customer :wave: you can see we stacked some chunks (by his feet) on the long boards to stop them moving. For that job we used commercial roofing batten, it's nice and regular, it's not going to rot and it's readily available and cheap.... the stack ended up with a lid of corrugated iron to keep the rain out. If you use old sheets, be a bit careful- if rainwater runs over rusty iron and onto oak it will stain the timber.

It's very rare for timber to actually dry in log form. I've milled Oak and Chestnut recently that's been down since the 87 storms, all the sapwood's gone, the first outer inch of heartwood is dry and the end 4 inches of each log is hard and gnarly, but there's plenty of moisture (pretty much normal) inside. I think that anything you want to dry 'in-the-round' should at least be ripped down the middle or cleft with wedges. A log with bark on and sealed ends doesn't have much oportunity to lose moisture... BUT I do think if a log has 6 months or are year waiting before milling it lessens the stresses and tensions inside. You've also got to weigh up the possibility of spalting and insect damage whie it sits... I wouldn't leave beech, sycamore, birch or hornbeam lying around getting punky for instance.

Most softwoods can be dried very quickly without cracking and problems- that's why there so good commercially, they can be milled and blasted in a kiln and be out in the builders yard very quickly. Of the hardwoods, Oak is very grumpy and needs very gentle drying- you can't just throw it into a very low humidity environment. It loses it's moisture very slowly, mainly because the vessels are blocked by tyloses and water must migrate through the cells. The ways used to lessen cracking and degrade are all things that keep the drying cycle nice and gentle and very even- if you're in a greenhouse or polytunnel, the cycle of hot and cold is too extreme when the wood is fresh sawn. The important thing about a kiln is that they are hot BUT they are also very humid to start with. Hot/ warm air can carry a massive amount of moisture, so if it is allowed to move freely over your boards and is constantly replaced by fresh hot air, then you will lose moisture too quickly. A kiln will be hot, but the air is circulated over and over,with only relatively small amounts of moisture venting to the outside world to start with. It doesn't matter how your kiln works (solar, dehumidifier, etc), they all operate on the same principle- controlled steady removal of moisture. If you wanted to force dry firewood, then a well ventilated greenhouse is your way forwards, just don't use it for FRESH boards. I think most yards in Europe will air dry all their hardwood timber before going anywhere near to a kiln. Realistically as long as you have a good firm, level base that lifts the timber off the ground, and you use regular, even sized battens to stack your timber, and you use something as a lid to keep direct rain out of the stack, you will be OK. A few things to slow your drying, keep your timber straight and cheat a bit: Keep the sun off- direct sun is really vicious, keep your sunny end shaded, a bit of plywood or dangling a tarp is fine. Keep strong winds out- If your stack is exposed, you may need to calm the wind down with netting or more ply/ boards/ tarp. You need good ventilation, but nothing too good. Paint your ends- It's been discussed, it works. PVA glue's good as well. The shorter your boards, the more you need to think about sealing. Think of your batten size- the 'sticks' used to space your stacked timber can be used as a way to control drying. If you have a timber you can dry quickly, then use a thick stick to let more air between the boards. I usually use 3/4in thick sticks, but with a fast and easy drying wood I'll use up to 1 1/2in thick, good for Western Red Cedar, Cupressus, Giant Redwood, Poplar. Only stuff you want to dry gently use maybe a 1/2in stick, good for burrs, crotches, yew, walnut, oak.... Level bearers- run a straight edge across the bearers that sit on the ground, make sure they all sit in a straight line to each other, you can shim up gaps with little slips of timber or laths from a fence panel. For gnarly timbers that want to move, you need your bearers closer together, maybe 12 to 16 inches, for well behaved straight grained timber that can spread out to 18 to 24 inches. Tidy sticks- If your sticks do not sit directly above the bearers, then the weight of the timber is not supported by the bearers and it WILL sag, bow and warp. Try not to have ends unsupported, they will twist and droop however they like. Stack the longest boards at the bottom of the stack. Put a lid on it- a few scrappy boards, plywood or clean tin sheets are good on top, tilt them to drain if you can. Weight it down!- Your boards really want to move. They can't push down but they can pop up... a good weighting of heavy breeze blocks, sleepers, paving slabs will keep it all straight. Sorry that's a bit heavy, I'll send up some photos :wave:

On the road- 'hatsu and new mill in Holland Park ,W London Out milling- pine lumps near Windsor Mog 'n old mill, an earlier Monterey Pine on the same site as the stormblown one

Timber Arch everyone should have one- no stress on the ground or the truck, and can be used remotely on a winch or rope to draw timber in cleanly and with no ground damage.... Me old U1000 'mog (came from Branchline Tree Services in Cheshire/ Wales), laying out some nice Yew. Yes, that is an Ifor Williams under there The trusty Ford 6610, clearing up a big messy storm downed Monterey Pine.

We (Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group) had a talk last week from the Forestry Commision's Woodland Officer for East Sussex on the new Habitat Regulations. Any contractor who's been near the Comission in the South East has been sent notification that the regs are in place, but the talk really cleared things up. Basically: There is a set of European Protected Species (EPS) which as has been said above are species that are rare on a Euro level but might be very numerous locally or in the UK. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-protectedspecies On the list are: are all 17 bats species, otter, dormouse, Great Crested Newt, Sand Lizard, Smooth Snake. On the web you can find the geographical distribution of the species. You can ignore the species if you're out of it's range. SO if you're away from dry heathy sites in the SE you can ignore smooth snake and sand lizard. If you're away from coppice woodland in the SE you can more or less forget dormice too. There is a checklist to fill out: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eps-checklist-v3.pdf/$FILE/eps-checklist-v3.pdf GOOD PRACTICE If you are in a species range and you SUSPECT they are there (suitable habitats, evidence of activity etc), or there is a CONFIRMED colony then you can work to a set of Good Practice notes, which limit the amount, timing and methods of work around each critter. LICENCING If you need or want to do more than is laid out in the Good Practice notes, you MUST apply for a licence. In this you must give your reasons for needing to go beyond good practice, the species likely to be affected, the aims of the work, and the type, size and timing of the work. This has come around as the previous habitat regulations only made it an offence to 'wilfull'y or 'knowingly' destroy or damage breeding, nesting arnd resting sites. NOW THAT HAS GONE.... You've got to look into it. Our man from the FC reckoned that 90% of forestry and woodland work would not require a licence. Sadly it's another whole site assessment that should be done at the beginning of a season of work...

I've got one of these and use it for carving and wood shaping.... It's very quick but incredibly smooth. From http://www.katools.com/index.html Compared to the one shown at the beginning of the thread, these don't have the usual chain link between cutter teeth. The complete ring of cutters (and the speed of the grinder) means there's very little space or time for a large lump of wood to get jammed up in the face of a tooth- kickback.... Discuss?

It would be nice to see a video of these additional tests being carried out on a composite toe cap. For the record, when I used to do a large amount of felling and recutting derelict coppice, I did manage to brush the toecap of a boot and slightly expose metal on a couple of occasions about 18 months apart. As others have mentioned, it wasn't a situation where full revs and power were being directed at the boot at great speed.... just a few residual revs as the saw winds down without throttle input.

I have had strange times with NFU as well... F'r'instance I might get a letter from NFU Central telling me about their great deals and how they'd love to have me... I ring in and they will only let me contact my local branch (Petworth, West Sussex), who won't do those deals and won't cover as NFU say they will. Bit strange

Top Heavy.... frightening.... Love the twin wheels on the Valtra

I love the idea that as a tractor you can throw a 16 year old lad in the cab of a Mog and let him on the road by himself with L plates Anarchy

Read the small print on the back.... usually tells you. I did use Tesco cooking oil for bar lube for about 18 months, it was good cost-wise but gummed stuff up a bit, and a saw would get sticky and a bit mouldy if left for a couple of months. The wear on bars and chains was higher but the cost so much lower than Stihl BioPlus it was cheaper I'm sure. It was still inconvenient when the nosewheel of a saw blows up unexpectedly..... Then I bought another supermarket's oil of a supposedly identical type, and in the first tank full the chain needed re-tensioning 4 times and everything overheated..... I suppose what I've got to say is that you're buying a cooking oil, which is made for cooking food. Strangely it doesn't conform to any mechanical engineering standards so it may bite you on the bum one day.... I now use Oregon bio chain oil, which in larger drums is as cheap to buy per litre as mineral chain oils in smaller quantities, that's my twisted logic on the subject

Roller.... I'd ask around for opinions and reccomendations, word of mouth is always best. There are a couple of great Danish guys down our way, did the business for me (Don't just find the nearest Danish bloke tho.... that's not what I'm saying )

:wave: :wave: What do you think? What are the statistics- 48 million people on land the size of Iowa?? something along those lines...... there's a bit too much pressure... Sadly....

This is (what shall I say??) not good

We've found a guy hanging round the truck when we're working round the back of the house..... "Just looking for a card" :wave:

How about a nice sticker to go on the truck, car, tractor, chipper, dog, house, children????? I'm happy to show the logo to the world. it's not anywhere near as bad a (motor) bike forum I'm on called Visordown. When you turn up at a bike meet, you wander round saying to people "are you from VD?"

I spoke to Envirowise, the Government's helpline on this issue in Feb 2006. I was concerned about my situation as I remove quite a bit of timber from other contractors work sites for milling. I realise that moving timber from away from site in sawmill friendly lumps is on the whole a slightly different game than chip, log, and sweepings but their e-mail brought up some interesting points: You operate a portable sawmill and want to find out whether you need a waste transfer licence or waste carrier's licence in order to move wood to a different site. Circular 11/94 re: Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Waste Management Licensing states that the purpose of the EC Directive is to treat as waste "those substances or objects which fall out of the commercial cycle or out of the chain of utility" For a substance or object to be waste it must be discarded, disposed of or got rid of by the holder. To help determine whether a substance or object has been discarded the following questions may be asked: "Can the substance or object be used in its present form (albeit after repair) or in the same way as any other raw material without being subject to 'a specialised recovery operation' and is likely to be so used? "Can the substance or object be used only after it has been subjected to a specialised recovery operation? Timber for sawmilling is clearly a raw material and not a waste. The answer to the first question is 'yes'. Further, sawmilling is NOT listed as a waste disposal or recovery operation under Schedule 4 - Waste Framework Directive of SI 1994 no. 1056. The answer to the second question is therefore 'no'. The List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005 (Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 895) includes the following: 02 01 03 plant-tissue waste 02 01 07 wastes from forestry 03 01 01 waste bark and cork 03 01 05 sawdust, shavings etc. I assume that you are not concerned with the disposal of leaves or branches too small to yield useful timber, but do have to dispose of bark and sawdust. This can be used as mulch. The spreading of waste wood, bark or other plant matter on land is exempt from Waste Management Licensing if of "benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement". This would cover mulching activities. The burning of wood as fuel is also an exempt activity, so you can dispose of offcuts as firewood without problems. A waste transfer licence is required by a carrier in order to carry other peoples' waste. The timber you obtain is not waste. Bark and sawdust generated by your sawmilling operations is your own waste and you do not require a waste transfer licence to transport it in your own vehicles. As it is in demand for mulching, it could be argued that it is not waste but a byproduct. The regulations were amended last year and the guidance notes are at present only published as drafts. "Guidance to Businesses" is available on the website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/ I suggest that you look at the final guidance notes, when published, to check that there are no changes that might affect you. If you feel that further assistance is required, please do not hesitate to call the Environment and Energy Helpline on 0800 585794. Their statement is that timber large enough for milling is not waste, logs are not waste, and chip and dust (though waste) are exempt if used for mulch. Where's the waste??

Makita had a 4 stroke saw in the pipeline recently-- has anyone heard any more about it?? http://www.forestmachinejournal.com/PDFfiles/ChainsawsOCT2006.pdf

yup, he's on flip flops and Kneeflex chainsaw shorts.... Ideal combination