sime42

I've done the exercise that you're talking about twice before, enlarging a fireplace to fit a wood burner. The first time I found an original brick arch higher up the chimney breast hidden behind the plaster, so no need for a lintel. The second time there was no arch so I fitted a lintel myself. I inserted the Strongboys and very carefully, with much trepidation, removed the necessary bricks. Brick work is actually stronger and more robust than it looks I think, unless the hole is really big or loose then it's normally self-supporting.

You need some Strongboy supporting brackets that fit on top of Acrow Props. STRONGBOYS - Strongboy ® - The No.1 Masonry Support WWW.STRONGBOY.CO.UK Strongboy Masonry Supports

Good work big J. Litter chucking creatures are scum. I agree whole heartedly with your sentiment. Though I wouldn't have gone as far as opening the door myself. Due to uncertainty over the kind of person within as pointed out by others previously. That's mainly because I now live in Birmingham rather than lovely peaceful rural Devon, (grew up in Tiverton!). Dropping litter really does my head in. I've seen it in so many beautiful otherwise unspoilt places. I never understand it;- surely people that enjoy such remote places, (mountains, national parks etc), do so partly because they're closer to pristine and unspoilt? On a related subject, what the hell do the black dog poo filled plastic bag depositors think they're doing?! What really makes me angry is those people that chuck rubbish on the ground in broad daylight in a busy street, without even a guilty look around to make sure no one else sees. I think that's the worst behaviour. They obviously have no shame or feelings of guilt, they just seem to do it without even thinking. Either they don't care about wrecking the environment, (for themselves and everyone else), or they just assume it's someone else's job to clear it up for them. Shocking either way.

Cheers Allseasons. I tried Exec Insurance and I was very impressed, for the same reasons as you. I didn't go with them in the end though as Arborisk were only very slightly more expensive so I figured it might be better to use a company specialising in tree surgery insurance.

They need to be at least partially rotted down I believe as freshly chipped wood can be detrimental to the garden as it can somehow suck nitrogen out of the soil I've read.

So I'm about to renew my Arb insurance policy, and planning to try ringing around for the best quote. So far I've got the following to try;- Trust Arborisk Treesurgeoninsurance Lycetts Arbcover Towergateinsurance Any that I've missed off the list? Thanks guys Simon

Good thread lads. I've a Record woodworking vice that I'm in the process of renovating prior to installation. It's labelled No. 52 though it is quick release and has the screw dust cover so I'm about confused about the numbering. The problem is that the quick release spring is broken. Anyone got an idea where I might be able to get a replacement?

No pets so can't be that. The kitchen has a tiled floor, so as you say Sawchip they like moving around on that. The house has suspended floors throughout so I suspect they may be living under there and only coming out at night. Also, the back of the house faces north, and the kitchen and lounge are on that side. It never gets direct sun at ground level, so slugs will obviously like that. I took a kick board off the bottom of the kitchen cabinets and hid a couple of saucers of slug pellets under there. Hopefully they'll find that first and never make it any further out. Haven't seen any for a couple days so maybe it's working.

Buggered if I'm going to leave the heating on all night just to keep them at bay. I'm not spending money on the dirty little blighters. Thanks anyway for the idea Dan. The copper tape idea on the other hand is a very good one. I use copper in the garden and it works a treat. Out there though I make my own copper rings out of cut and flattened plumbing pipe, much cheaper and sturdier, lasts forever.

Coming into the house. Quite often when I go downstairs in the morning I notice slime trails all over the place. It's happened previous years, normally around this time I think. Lounge, kitchen, downstairs toilet. We can put up with them leaving trails on the floor, but it's getting quite rank when they're in food cupboards and on the worktops and chopping board. Anyone else experienced this? Any solutions? I looked around but can't find anywhere obvious that they're getting in. I thought maybe the airbricks to ventilate the floor so put slug pellets around these outside but no improvement. I hate the foul things! It's bad enough that they try to eat all our garden produce, now they're after our food in the house as well.

Sht mate. Plenty of information on their paid for service option though.

Used a lot in the US as fencing material, due to its durability and strength.

Nice wood to woodwork with too. Attractive, even grained, finishes well. Only downside it's hard, don't bother trying to handsand!

As he said. I bought a bag a couple of years ago from b&q or homebase, I forget which. When I got them home and unwrapped I found they were rank! Dripping wet and mouldy even. No way they'd burn. I was outraged, and still am! It was the fact that they had the cheek to label them as SEASONED firewood logs, or some such. They are either ignorant of what seasoned and firewood actually mean, or they are taking the piss by taking advantage of the customers lack of knowledge. They weren't cheap either. I just don't understand why they are allowed to get away with it. What about trade description and all that? I only did that once out of desperation when I first fitted the fire, before I established my own season and store supply of logs. Never again. On the other hand I also remember getting a couple of bags from Wickes;- they were much better, bone dry. Though still expensive obviously.

Very well said that man. I just wish that more influential people like Trump could read and act on that accordingly.

https://www.shiply.com Have you tried this site? It gives you the choice of a huge number of couriers by allowing them to bid for your delivery job. I used it to find a courier for an anvil. I reckon you need a small man plus van type of company.

Bugger! This was what I was afraid of. Yet another example of why you can't believe what you read on the internet. Thanks for the reality check Mick! Looks like I'll have to take a harder line than Id hoped on any holey timber. I've no plans to sell anything I might make, but I'm doubtful that you'd ever get sued over woodworm, even in today's ridiculously over litigious culture.

Thanks guys. Useful advice here. Good old Arbtalk. I think the way I'll go is to get some Borax in to start with. It seems better suited to preventing insect infestation rather than treating existing problems. So I'll use it for any fresh untouched timber reserved for woodwork. Not sure of the feasibility of treating structural timber in the house as the vast majority is inaccessible. But anyway I read last night that woodworm in the house is not really too much of an issue as they only go for damp stuff so outbreaks shouldn't be too damaging or long-lived. Hope that's correct! This refers to the most Common Furniture Beetle type, Death Watch is a different kettle of fish alltogether. Ill also try to roast the wood worm buggers out of the original stuff from my father. And then maybe do with the borax as well. Just need to find a folk with a kiln now, another thread required I reckon. Interesting stuff Borax. Lots of household uses historically. Currently in vogue for making Slime, (the kiddies favourite.) I'm very tempted to make some myself, just a case of mixing some Borax solution into some PVA it looks like from a very quick scan. That link you added Macpherson, is for 20 Mule Team Borax. An interesting story in itself. They used to ship it out of Death Valley in 10T waggons pulled by 20 mule/horse teams!

Ah, I just realised;- did you mean a firewood drying kiln? 60 degrees sounds a bit high for seasoning wood.

Yep, I was aware of Borax as an option to consider. I know it's been widely used for a long time and has the big advantage of not being too toxic. I read somewhere the other day though that it's only effective in treating the top few mm cos it only penetrates that far into the wood anything deeper than that and it doesn't do anything.

Good idea with the timber kiln Squaredy. I hadn't thought of roasting the buggers! Just need to find one near here now though. What kind of people have timber kilns? Would sawmills or timber yards use them for seasoning wood?

Evening all So my brother and I have recently acquired a stock of nice decorative timber. This was kept by our late father as raw material for furniture making and wood turning. Most of it he got many many years ago, but over recent years I've been adding to the stock from the arising from interesting tree surgery work. There's all sorts of species like Oak, Ash, Yew, Elm, Cherry, Apple, Laburnum, Robinia, Mahogany, Cedar, Walnut .......... Some of it is 2 - 4in planks, some whole trunks up to 12in, some offcuts, some turned down blanks. Its always been kept dry so no rot but unfortunately a lot of it has been afflicted by woodworm, some quite badly. Luckily most of it seems confined to the sap wood and interestingly the tougher stuff like old oak heartwood, mahogany and Robinia is barely, if at all, effected. We forced ourselves to be ruthless when we sorted through it so probably discarded a 1/3 to a 1/2 of it, a heart breaking task I can tell you! Some of it is, was, really beautiful, such as the burred walnut for instance. We're intending to keep it ourselves now for future woodworking projects. The obvious question is what to do about the woodworm? How best to treat it to stop it increasing the damage to the already infected timber and also to stop it spreading to other "clean" wood. My brother seems to think that the wormy stuff should be strictly quarantined, I'm not sure how cautious we need to be. What approach do all you other keen woodworkers take to woodwormy material? What are your preferred treatments? Or should I give up now and consign it all to the log pile? I hope not. This may be paranoid android but should I be concerned about the wood worm infecting structural timber in the house? The workshop is in the garage, an integral part of the house. Being 1930's ish the timber used in the building was probably not treated. How contagious actually is wood worm? Ta If I manage to get the lathe installed before everything is consumed and turned to dust I'll post some pictures on here in future!

I can't agree more with everything you've said here.

"Cheap"?! Last time I noticed they were ridiculously expensive......£5 - £10 for sometimes a handful of wet logs! I was forced into buying a couple of bags from B&Q once. They were shocking;- almost dripping with water and so damp that they were covered in mould. I was outraged, more so because it clearly stated SEASONED LOGS on the bag. I'm not defending this new legislation BTW. Seems pretty stupid to bugger up the majority of decent firewood producers/suppliers just to catch a few offenders. B&Q, other DIY outlets and most garage chains are big businesses. Is this another example of big business getting away with too much again?

I find a small hand axe or hatchet is useful for stripping the rank ivy off. And a bill hook, (straight bladed), for really shaving off the smaller strands. Also useful for prying away from the trunk. It's normally quite soft when live in my experience, though I like edge tools to be razor sharp if possible. I normally strip off about 12" all around the trunk to leave a completely clear band. I don't normally bother to remove the rest of it from above as it all dies off after a few months and it's a horrible job anyway. Just cut the band as high up the trunk as you need to avoid the buttresses.