Mike Dempsey

How about drawing your circle on one end and using a narrow and low tpi bandsaw blade to cut it out vertically, breaking through from the side to start it. You can reglue it once it is dry and then cut out your shapes in the side. Silver birch when wet is quite soft so it shouldnt be too difficult. Mike

If the garage is shut off for the duration, expect a bill for the loss of business. That wont be cheap:w00t:

great game, brilliant result:thumbup:

This is the same one as mine. Logosol arent the maker though, they are just selling it.

Try googling vacuum kiln. Den Socling makes them in the states although a couple of blokes made one down south (Englandshire). Very technical and expensive, but its the fastest method of drying wood for furniture etc. Wouldn't be used for firewood purposes

I use a sauno kiln mechanism but I built a kiln to my own design. Built a frame from Doug fir and the sides from 9mm ply. infilled the sides with 150mm insulation with 200mm for the floor. Coated all the inside surfaces and door with fibreglass which was a bit expensive and time consuming but it only has to be done once. The yanks suggest using aluminium roofing paint but it has to be done every year. The door I made up from d fir with plywood skin and again infilled with insulation. I had all the doug fir so that cut a bit of the cost down. I am about to drill a 100mm hole in the workshop wall as it currently vents into the workshop. I used a dehumidifier to condense all the steam coming out from the current load and I collected about 250l of water from about 2.5m3 of 45mm thick oak. That's a serious amount of water but I was only wanting a measurement of how much came out. In future I will vent through the wall. Forgot to say I used 10 closed cell foam up against the bit where the door closes to act as a seal. I couldn't find any mechanical means of shutting the door properly so I just use 4 ratchet straps to pull it tight shut. Works for me. Mike

The original mills are brilliant. I have now been using one since 2001 when I bought mine at the APF show in Dumfriess. The build quality is really good and I hate to think how many trees I have milled in that time. My kiln is constantly running this year and my leccy direct debit has doubled to 150 a month. Not complaining as my timber bill would easily have hit 15k if I had to buy timber in. I am also getting the thickness I want which also isn't the easiest thing to buy without getting a whole tree milled at that specific thickness. It is hard work, but its rewarding hard work!

Its my own laser and very expensive. Could get a decent chipper or a bandsaw mill for the price! But its only as good as the person operating it. The graphics side can be very complicated and I still struggle some times after doing all sorts of work over a ten year period

I am a big football fan but no longer go to any Scottish Premier league games. I dont like the hostile atmosphere, drunkeness and swearing which seams to be almost compulsory for a lot of fans these days. I prefer to go to international u-21s, schoolboys etc. I was at the recent Scotland Women's game against Iceland recently at the Falkirk stadium and it was a really good atmosphere even though we got beaten. Lots of women and girls and families out for the night. Much better place for me to take my 2 girls to, and only £7 for the 3 of us with a free programme!

I normally try to blag a ticket or 2 from a mate who exhibits there as he gets a couple of free ones for each bay. Usually take my 14 year old daughter and her pal. I love to go around the competition tents for stuff like the chickens etc. Brilliant day out. Theres nothing else like it. Even if its raining theres so many roads and good drainage that there is no chance of getting wet feet!

Thanks Steve, but have you varnished your plinth yet?

They actually arent spray lacquered. Cant remember why I took a photo before spraying them. They have been engraved by a laser.

Some of the latest coasters that I made recently

I filled it out a couple of weeks ago. Ive emmigrated to Oregon!

Thanks Steve, not too often do I get to meet a fellow Arbtalker.

If you have somewhere to store it then stick it there. The woodturners love yew and would pay good money for it, certainly better that firewood money. They can use anything down to about 2 inches in diameter. Seal the ends with wax to minimise any splitting. Put some ads up on ebay and gumtree and contact any local woodturning clubs within a 50 mile or so radius. If you can offer bulk supplies to a woodturning club, that would help to shift a fair bit of it at a time. Go onto the AWGB site and you will get the names and contacts for the woodturning clubs and get in touch. You would be amazed how many woodturners there out there. Even a couple of ads in local supermarket noticeboards or facebook could yield good results. Or you could just burn it in your stove! Mike

DPD are brilliant. You can track the driver from job to job till he is at your address. Spot on with the timings as well. I can almost set my watch by their accuracy. They give you an hour long slot and they always arrive at mine within a minute of the start of the slot time. Never had a problem with lies about deliveries either, cards not put through the door etc. Mike

If you are planning on making chopping boards from it I would scrape and brush it clean as advised above. I now spray all my timber with dettol and dont have much of a mould problem. I moved from 1/2 inch stickers to 3/4 inch stickers made from poplar a few months ago. Definetely helps to inprove the air flow around the timber. It means though that I get 2 or 3 less boards in the kiln. I also use stainelss steel ratchet straps in the kiln to keep the boards nice and flat. Be careful when cleaning the mould off as well. Its not very nice to breathe in and I used to feel really crap with flu like sympoms for about 3 days when doing it in the workshop. I now use a facemask and do it outside if there is any mould on a board to minimise any affects. Mike

He is, and so is his wife so that makes it worthwhile.

It was partly the client's design and he wanted to put the barbed wired around the poppy stems. The barbed wire played such a big part in this theatre that he wanted it included. The alternative was to put it around the edge of the 'gravestone' and we thought this looked a bit better. Its the first time that I have spray lacquered rusty barbed wire. At least he supplied it and has the cuts and scratches to prove it. He also got caught acquiring it from his landlord's field. She also has a poppy and she might order one as well.

I was asked recently to design and make a memorial for a mate whose great uncle and wife's great uncle had both died at Flanders, co-incidently about 3 miles or so away from each other, and 2 years apart. He wanted to incorporate 2 poppies from the Tower of London and some rusty barbed wire. This is what I came up with and used sycamore from a local estate which I milled and kiln dried. Its spray lacquered before the laser engraving and has hanging plates on the reverse although it sits up ok. Mike

I absolutely hate that. Yes it is very ignorant, but then thats what most of the population are these days. If I am in a big queue I will answer the phone but finish the conversation as I am about to be served and chat with the assistant serving me.

Spoken like a true Still Game fan!

I am putting £20 on Burnley winning the title next year!