Rob D

Sounds more like a bandsaw you're after.... I charge £400 a day for Peterson mill/and or chainsaw mill - a lot maybe but I only do 5 days a year for other people. I'd always rather do a deal on the wood.

Great story - that's brilliant!

Hi Peter! If you want to try one of the carving bars I'm sure it will fit on your saw (go for a dime tip) as they all have universal mounts. But you want to keep the 1/4" drive sprocket as this is the one you want for a carving bar. You want this as to run the smaller finer dime tip bars you have to run 1/4" pitch chain. Get the Stihl carving chain as this is really the only carving ready chain available. If it doesn't fit send it back! (but I'm pretty certain it will fit). Rob

Good fells - would have been good to see that oak milled as it looked a nice stem.

Vertex vent for me as well - lasts well and cool in the summer

If you are looking to mill large trees then it's either the 880 or 3120 - simple as that. The 90cc saws are fine for milling up to 30" diameter but if you're looking to mill larger then you need the 120cc. Which one? - there'll be just as many on either side of the fence - do you have a dealer near by that you get one with and can rely on for backup? I do a lot of milling and my 880 is out more than any of my other saws. That is really where those big saws are handy.

Ha ha - good stuff!

Ha ha - yes I think you may well be! - it's a good idea but with the flaw you've already pointed out - each subsequent job would be different!

Have a look here - Chain | bar | sprocket identification I wrote these pages for exactly this reason so you can ID what you have. The pitch of the chain must match the pitch of the sprocket. I have a range of Husky bars and chains to suit your saw so let me know if you need any help. Rob

It seems that Tescos have addressed the issue of milk production - so if what they say is true at least 720 diary farmers (or 80% of these) are happy with what they get. Have a look here : Why drink tesco milk? - Tesco Real Food Dear Rob Thank you for contacting us. We greatly value our dedicated dairy farmers and are one of the highest paying retailers for milk, above the market rate. Our 720 direct suppliers are members of the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group which we set up to address the volatility in the dairy market and ensure they get a fair price for their milk. We guarantee to pay our dairy farmers above the cost of production as calculated by an independent tracker so that they can invest and plan ahead. Our price also takes into account increases in fuel, farm labour costs and unpaid family labour. All of our own brand fresh milk is 100% British. For more information on the TSDG: http://realfood.tesco.com/our-food/milk/why.html I hope that this reassures you. Thank you for contacting us. Kind regards Lexy St Clair Tesco Customer Service

Keep going with it Eddie as you have a talent and with persistence it will pay off.

Ha ha! Although she would have the last laugh if it turns out it did!

Yep that's the way it should be done

It will show that the public are prepared to pay more for milk if it means we keep production in this country. You'll not change the system as it stands - the supermarkets are all powerful so there will never be a free market in diary production. I think you're looking at farmers in general and subsidies in general. This thread and issue is just looking at Diary farmers only.

Here's a copy of my letter. Dear Sir, It’s a disgrace that the supermarkets are not supporting British Diary farmers and you are the leading UK supermarket. If you lead others will follow. I suggest the following – Fairtrade milk for our farmers. Put the price of this milk up by 11p in full, semi and skimmed per pint. 1p goes to you for printing the label. 10p goes direct to the farmer who produced the milk with proof of this. 99.999% can afford to pay extra for our milk. You get fantastic PR for showing you are helping British farmers – PR which you can ‘milk’ (sorry!) in your telly adverts. We (the public) pay you the extra – it costs you nothing. We get to keep our diary farms in Britain. Part of the reason this country is in the mess it is is because we do not produce anything anymore. Help put a stop to this trend. How hard can it be? Regards, Rob Dyer

They (supermarkets) can sort out the details - the main thing is to show massive support for the farmers. If the shelf with the fairtrade milk is cleaned out everyday then the supermarkets will realise they're onto a winner. Will the farmers get the increase? I'm sure they'll soon tell us if they don't You can't try and make it perfectly fair Huck - the aim of this would be to keep some diary farmers in production. Look at systems out there that try and make things fair for everyone and take in all eventualities - they turn into monstrosities of red tape - which then use alot of the money to process the money. Keep it plain and keep it simple - this is to keep diary in this country not to bring equality to all diary farmers.

We do Fairtrade for other countries farmers why not our own? How about we all write into Tescos (if they do something all the others will follow) requesting a 'fairtrade pint of milk' where all they do is put the price up by 11p of full, semi and skimmed. 1p can go to Tescos for labelling. 10p then goes direct to the farmers. It's a win win People can then choose to directly support diary farmers We can afford it Tescos get great PR It won't cost Tescos anything as we'll be paying! A barrage of e-mails may help. Tesco CEO e-mail address [email protected] Also [email protected] and one to customer services [email protected] I've done mine!

I don't think there are many/any price supports - I think it is a simple case of it costs the farmers 30p per litre to produce and they get paid from the dairy 27p. I don't think diary farmers get subsidies do they? The farmers can't just put their price up or the diaries would not buy any of their milk so I can see their position - they'll go out of business either way. They just want a fair price for their milk - I'm happy to pay it - what is a few pence on a pint?

I have to say I have not used a Stihl carving bar but from speaking to various carvers they didn't seem to rate them - BUT they may have just spoken to others carvers etc etc chinese whispers .... you only know until you try yourself! Ref the bar tip getting hot I have never found this less of a problem carving with Stihl carving chain which has a shorter top plate and so the heel of the cutter does not contact the wood? On the zebra bar site he illustrates this well and also gives some basic start up tips. Zebra

Must admit seeing this on the news raises my hackles - why can't all milk go up 7p a pint with this 7p going to farmers? We could all afford this yet we will lose milk production in this country otherwise.... and I can imagine it's not something you can just do i.e. by a farm and away you go. If there is someone to blame it's the supermarkets - I have yet to see a 'fairtrade' pint of milk on the shelf for our farmers - if they had it and it was 20p a pint more I'd buy it.

Ditto above - no more advice to give than has already been given - stay focused and positive.

Ok that's horses done but don't worry about him - you just need a design that isn't imported - try a few more different ideas and you'll hit on one that is popular and not being done yet.

A couple more - why not!

We have a good range of carving bars and chains and will be looking to expand this over the next year. To go with this we will be sponsoring a number of carvers to help promotion as well as to get bars and chains tested to make sure we can supply the best equipment and advice. Currently we stock cannon, stihl, oregon and zebra carving bars. I'm surprised people aren't raving about the oregon carving bars - they seem superb quality and the one I'm using is standing up very well! I'd like to hear more people's feedback on these. Oregon don't make these themselves but whoever does knows what they're doing! Nic Speakman is relatively new to carving but is already competing at the highest level - here's some of his work 3D Wood

Lovely bit of burry oak! Give Andy Fellows a call on 07973846364 as he was looking for some heavily burred oak.