sime42

Very good ideas in theory but rather odd in practice. Have you been there? I have; it was all quite disconcerting. Not bad, just disconcerting. The blurred lines between pedestrian spaces and traffic spaces, between commercial and domestic areas, between municipal and private spaces. Maybe it's still just too new, needs time to weather in.

It means cutting off the lowest branches all around the tree so as to visually "lift" the crown. (Increase the height of bare trunk before the crown starts).

A bit of timber and a bucket are surprisingly effective for mashing apples, small to medium quantities anyway. I had a 6" x 3/4 foot log, with conveniently placed branch stubs left on. I also tried a plaster mixing attachment on a drill one year. That was good but no faster than the log really. Cheers for the tip about the swinging top beam. I'll try to remember that. I'm planning to make a bigger press at some point with the big machine thread from what I think is an old fencing strainer. Vigo do some very good stuff, for a price, they're not cheap! I've got one of their small countertop basket presses.

Thanks. That all makes sense. Not something I've thought about before. So Mick was right, top marks @Mick Dempsey!

Ummm. Fair point. We'll just have to wait for @JSN to clear this little confusion up then. Other trees also have a thin crown I'd say, Birch for instance.

[emoji106] Ah, thanks. Of course I've heard of C.F. I read it as Ivy only kills stressed trees and Ash. (I missed the inference; Ash trees stressed by CF.)

Interesting. Why Ash in particular?

I'll get my coat then ............

A lot must end up being used by the "Trees lopped, topped and pruned, drives tarmacked and gutters cleaned" outfits.

I'm afraid I don't have a photos of mine kicking around. I lent it to a mate.a couple of years ago and the bugger still hasn't given it back. It's basically a very simple square frame like in your picture. The "nut" of the screw thread is mounted on the top bar so it forces the plunger down to compress the cheese of apple pulp as you wind it in. I used two bits of 4*2, long axis vertical, for the top bar. However, given you say it's a 20t bottle jack I wouldn't be so confident of sufficient strength, (I was expecting 2 - 5t). Still, you could just upgrade the dimensions of the timber. The apple masher, Scratter, is another interesting project. Always been on my to do list. I was making gallons of cider for a couple of years, the apple mashing was always the bottleneck in the process. Designs I've seen, traditional and contemporary, have been mostly drums with spikes stuck in around the outside, two meshing together like a gear pump or one up against a plate. Seems easier to make and clean to me. I've also seen people using wood chippers to do the job ...........

Nice little project. If you don't get up to speed with welding then 4" by 2" timber should be strong enough instead of the box section. I've got an apple press that I made years ago with it. I also used a car jack, though a scissor jack, screw thread version, probably exerts the same amount of force.

I bought a box full of Borax a couple years back on eBay. For wood preservation, specifically to try to stop or minimise woodworm attack. (Still not got round to using it). I never thought to use it as a medicine, though I remember reading at the time that there are hundreds of uses for it around the house, a lot of them cleaning related. I think there's evidence, or a suspicion at least that it's harmful for young and unborn children.

Has anyone mentioned cold and damp yet, in relation to arthritis? Some friends of mine emigrated to SW France many years ago. One of the reasons according to the guy was to help his arthritis. He reckoned it was far worse during cold, damp winters.

How much did you have to pay for them? They were £58 I think for 125 at that place that@Stere found. I know they should be a one off purchase but that still seems a bit steep.

This is another good point. As a nation we wash and dry cloths too frequently in the main. Treating them more as consumables, rather than something to be used and maintained for years. Many issues with this obviously; all that needless energy burnt, resources wasted, microfibers realised into the environment etc etc. The pinnacle of this, Fast Fashion, is just ridiculous.

Where'd you get them? Disposable pegs do my head in as well.

We do. If it's too wet outside it gets hung in front of the fire, or in a spare room by a partially opened window. There is a tumble dryer that was inherited with the house but we've never used it, it's in the shed destined to be sold or given away. I've never understood why tumble dryers have become such a necessity. This is a good example of how we should be looking at ways to reduce our energy consumption, rather than arguing about the best sources, (F.F. or Renewable etc), to satisfy our ever increasing overconsumption.

That looks good. I met a guy who had an even simpler version; just clamp a brick bolster upsidedown in a vice, and hammer the wood against that. Pretty safe and effective for tiddlers. I think that in a year or so when my 2 1/2 year old gets big enough I'll be going down the route that@Stephen P has chosen. I let him use a proper edge tool under close supervision..He's already quite good with a hammer, junior hacksaw, file etc.

Do blackbirds re-use their nests, does anyone know? This was perfectly intact so I placed it back on top of a log stack adjacent to where I found it last year.

I love seeing Goldfinches, one of my favourites. Though I think they should be called Red Finches instead. Used to get them often in my old house garden, but I very rarely see them now since we moved. Don't think I've ever seen a Greenfinch. We get lots of tits, robins and black birds and occasionally long tailed, great and coal tits. Plus too many bloody pigeons, maggies and jays.

I very occasionally do mine in the washing machine. (When she's out or not looking!) I use old fashioned soap flakes as they're very mild compared to normal detergents. I also do it on a low temperature wash, 30deg. They always come out looking lovely, so worth doing I think.

Good idea in theory but maybe not so in practice. You wouldn't want to lose out so you'd have to double the thickness of jam and cream on both halves; you might then end up with more than a mouthful when you stick em together, scones are quick thick to start with. [emoji849]

I saw this guy at the APF too. Spent a good while at his stall actually, chatting too him. I think he was an Aussie or NZ maybe. Can't remember his details though unfortunately. I had a play with a couple of his saws, they were fast. Obviously nothing compared to a chainsaw but impressive nonetheless.

Another way is to buy old. As the cliché says; "they don't make them like that anymore". Thinking of the 50&70 yr old food mixers that were mentioned a couple pages back, still going strong. Or the 60+ yr old Record 53 woodworking vice that I've been restoring recently, (all that was required was a strip down, clean and lubricate). Modern versions aren't a patch on it in terms of engineering quality and robustness.

Agreed. I'm firmly of the opinion that most "stuff" is far too cheap these days.