tommer9

This is the crux of the matter. Friction, dry straw getting caught in bearings, straw walkers etc etc:001_rolleyes:

Gutted- i have some tools which have come from various sales etc, most of which i dont know what they are for, but i still keep them!

Sounds brill mate. If im in the brighouse area i,ll be looking you up:thumbup1:

John DEAR more like. Expensive and no more reliable than any other. They must have more fires than any other manufacturer. i know of a good half dozen that have gone up in smoke in the last 8 odd years.

I have never heard of elm self lubricating? Lignum vitae, among a few other woods, does that. Elm doesnt burn very well and is very hard when seasoned, and will withstand the abuse and friction/ heat that rigging pulleys on boats will give it. It also doesnt split in those applications.

really interesting post that Al. In this country you would be very very lucky to get below 20% m.c through air drying. There are still many timber framers working over here too, it seems to have realy taken off again as theeconomy grew through the late nineties and last 9 years, and environmental building practices re-emerged in popularity. Interestingly enough we have re-imported from the U.S. the idea of timber framing- albeit using glu-lam beams as much as traditional methods such as oak. You guys have the advantage of a much drier climate than over here, which is why you can get away with using timbers such as sugar maple which would rot very quickly over here. Also as oak is a native species and somewhat of a pioneer species, which will grow in almost any conditions, we have had quite alot of it in the past, and much has been planted for the reason of building too, hence the reason it was the traditional wood used, aside from its strength and durability properties. I think that also most people will use timber with a m.c of 12-13% for internal work such as flooring etc, and most kilns aim for around this amount in this country. For furniture or flooring with underfloor heating a lower m.c is achieved, closer to 6-8%. Quite often if the timber is destined for windows and external doors, the carpenter will allow the wood to re-absorb a bit of moisture to aclimatise it in advance to the normal external m.c of the environment, otherwise there is a danger that there will be movement after fitting and coming into contact with damper conditions. I would love to have the conditions you describe Al, as i have a limited market as i dont have a kiln or access to one of any really viable usefuness.

Steve- get your hazel rods and plane one edge flat. That will be the edge that you groove. This means you will want thicker rods. Not a problem, as you will want thicker ones anyway as if they are too fine it will look weird. Once you have planed the straight edge then get the groove put in with a table saw or router table. You will have to do it like this as you will only have one straight edge(the one you planed). If you take your sticks to a joinery workshop they will be able to do it all for you in about half an hour. Sliding table saws have pretty thick saw blades, but a router in a table wouold be ideal. The only problem with it all is that for a circular saw or router to give a straight groove the wood has to be run along a fence parallel to the directin of cut. Using a hazel spar and only planing one face will not give you a straight edge to run along the guide fence though......so you will need to plane a second straight edge, detracting from the effect that you are trying to achieve. Perhaps if you framed the sign in a standard wooden frame and then attached a half round piece of hazel to the front face (pu glue or tacks etc) you would achieve the effect you are after. Hope that some use.

Having said that, if constructed correctly with knee braces and decent mortice/tenon joints going through the depth of the timber and pegged properly then there wil be no twisting, and TBH the likes of tyvek or Ruberoid can be stretched taut and not require any nasty cls studwork. I would have said that it depends how you are finishing the interior of the structure. If it is to be plastered etc on the inside then you will obviously need studwork anyway, but if you were wood panelling it for example- i have seen very nice finishes in oak structures with reclaimed (pitch) pine flooring- you could just put sheets of kingspan/ celotex etc in the frame and panel over it. It always strikes me as a shame to go to the expense etc of building traditional and beautiful structures to then stick ply and osb to them. What are you using as a roof Dean......had you thought about cedar or oak shingles to really set the building off?

I reckon you would be best off using the oak for the structural bits if you can produce enough for your needs, and the elm could then supply things such as a bit o flooring, or caracter window boards/ seats etc or maybe a table top. I have seen it used as lintels before too. Or you could get some nice douglas for the structure, and clad the exterior in waney edged oak and use the elm for the interior...... Or shall i just make an ever expanding list of timber combinations you could use on a building about which i know nothing?

Beautiful structure that dean. I keep telling myself i will build one with the oak i have got.......but i always seem to sell it instead!

Elm was used for the keel, but masts have always been the likes of spruce, white pine and douglas.Very straight stems that are not knotty which a square beam is cut, removing sap wood, and the round mast shaped out of that by the mastmaker. It is the rigging that stops the mast from snapping. As i understand it Dean, elm is good when permanently wet- groynes on the beach, keels of boats and in the past as pipes underground before the advent of metal ones- or when permanently dry such as flooring and furniture etc. I have a feeling that exposed to the cycle of drying and getting wet from the weather it may struggle a bit. I have not heard of it used as cladding for example:001_smile:

To be able to just fill in boxes for make, model and required bar length would be tops! Maybe sub boxes offering diferent makes of bar and chain too

I've just bought a new hyauchi........dont know why i wasted my money now:001_tt2:

Thats because it isnt. At least the two that another member of this forum bought last septmber and about 2 months ago were very cheaply and poorly built. Switches falling apart, plenty of plastic etc etc. I would still consider them though, as having ironed out those probs both saws are fine now, and TBH although the recurring switch problem was very boring, it didnt affect the fact that the 346 is a powerful light saw. My local garden machinery shop have lumps of wood off me periodically to demonstrate different saws to potential customers....maybe you could get your dealer to give you some sort of demo of a few machines?

Had to have another look mate i liked it so much. I have to say that when i first saw it i thought it was cornwall. The blue stone could have easily come from either of 2 quarries in north cornwall, and the stone the barns are built with could also just as easily have been cornish. Uncanny similarities. Given the quality of the stonework i was starting to get a bit worried for a moment too until i saw where it was.

that is quality treework mate.......... :scared1:

Check out the land rover hi cap thread alistair started. Thats cheap for what it is.

Thanks for the replies guys, food for thought. I will do some quiet digging about it.

What he said.

Been reading this thread with interest, and i couldnt agree more with whats been said. I am a stihl man myself, but TBH in your position i would seriaously think of a 346xp husky, very light and powerful saws. As for bar size, you really dont need the weight of an 18" bar for what you describe, you'll just end up with knackered arms at the end of the day! I would also say that you should be able to get your saw from a dealer for almost the same price as the internet- there are dealers out there who dont differentiate between the two anyway, and for example i have seen ms361 saws for sale for around 560 i think, so dont be persuaded to pay anyting like book price, that is a dealer taking the p***. I think that it is beneficial to get a good relationship with a local dealer, which generally occurs when you buy a saw off them..... You can find details of Jonesies show in the ad banner at the top of most (if not all)pages of arbtalk at the moment:001_cool:

Very very nice work mate.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes anyway. Just been out to look at a line of about 18 mature p.radiata which are growing up on the verge of a bridlepath, next to a boundary wall of a field. The guy who called me wants a load of work- i estimate about 2 weeks roughly fo 2 men, getting rid of the massive amount of growth into his newlt accquired field. The trees have been pruned (presumably by the council) on the bridlepath side, but cant have been touched for years if ever over this guys field. Consequently he has lost a strip of field amounting to probably 1-2 acres. Is there any legislation etc which means he can get the council (who own the trees) to pay or help pay for the cost of the work- dot they have a duty of care in any way etc etc. I have said that not counting the half a dozen or so dead standing ones and a couple that have fallen over he is looking at min.3k to do it, and he is running scared now:ohmy: Wondered if there was any grant funding (although i assume not) from FC or similar bodies. The work need doing badly regardless of his field state, as the trees are extremely unbalanced and one has fallen already, but he doesnt think he can afford it with the cost of the overall purchase etc at the moment. Any help much appreciated guys and dolls.

Its the bit where he is jumping up and down as if psyching himself up to cut down one of the larger() trees, and looks so proud when he has finished. Made me laff anyway..

Just found this video. You may have already seen it, but i tought it was worth posting. I think its may be someone having a larf......[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1LGAn2HQV8]YouTube - Arborist Tackles Dangerous Tree Felling[/ame]

Shaping up to be a pretty smart bit of kit there rupe! Looking forward to seeing the finished article.