Mike Dempsey

I think that all party manifestos should be legally binding should a party get into power. That would immediately cut down on the crap and lies and voters would get a more realistic view of what the parties stand for and their intentions should they form a government

Up here in Fife the Council have been very pro-cycling for years and have built hundreds of miles of cycle tracks. Its really good and they have published loads of maps and leaflets as they are not only targetting locals but the tourists as well. I go out quite often with my youngest daughter who is 13, and we chuck the bikes in the van and then go and explore another part of the county. On the other side of that though the local bike racing club cycle around the town in a group of about 40 or so and take up half the road. They seem to spend an awful lot of time in the industrial estate where I have my workshop, riding around in a big loop circuit which I have to cross and they seem pretty oblivious to any other road users as they dont stop at junctions. When you add in the normal half dozen learner drivers who circumnavigate the estate and reversing lorry drivers doing deliveries and pickups, it would seem to be the ideal recipe for multiple deaths. Its just a matter of time!

Get a hold of your local councillor for the area. Make sure they know your feelings on the area and that he or she will be on your side. You will need their support if it goes to a planning decision for housing

It doesnt have to be sanded as its supposed to be a rustic box. They originally wanted pine but that doesnt engrave very well. There is a lot of engraving on the two sides of the box (its actually a frame as it stands upright and there is no front or back, how to confuse a designer when you ask for a box and then specify for a frame!) The front of the frame has engraving on the top and bottom edges. I use the bandsaw blades from Tuffsaws and it leaves a very good finish. I may just chuck the poplar through the drum sander when I see how it comes off the bandsaw if its a bit woolly. At least with it being a bit lighter than beech or sycamore my back should be saved a bit of work. I also found out the other day they want to make a film of it being made, and for that I am going to seriously tidy up the workshop and be careful where everything gets stacked as I dont want to kill the cameraman. This will be the second film I have been in for this distillery and I hope I dont have to pose and look like a pratt as I did in the last one. Might even have to go and get a haircut and trim the beard as well. Hi Simon, I havent forgotten your request. I did spend a bit of time looking for the right images but didnt find one I liked. I havent forgotten about it and there another couple of avenues to explore. If you could send me any images you have I will take a look at them.

Thought I would put up some pics of the poplar I milled last weekend. I used to think it was a pretty boring timber with bland colours. How wrong can someone be!

Too many guests that are totally out their depth and make absolutely no contribution. Its like the BBC are trying to promote people that are on other BBC shows. No talent and definitely no sense of humour

Thats what I thought, but wasnt sure. Hope it drys within 4 to 5 weeks. The first batch of 100 boxes I will be using sycamore and the remaining 400 will be the poplar. Thanks for the reply BJ

I bet leaving him where he was stuck gave you great pleasure. I hope being stuck there for 24 hours gave him time to reflect on his manners and how he speaks to people, but probably not. He will still be an arse

Got a job where I need to make several hundred boxes for a distillery which has a lot of laser engraving on them. Tried some doug fir for the engraving and some other pines but it looks pretty crap. Thought of using poplar which is nice and light and there are a few logs lying around waiting to be milled. I cut some thin slices up on the bandsaw and dried them on the stove top and then stuck them in the laser. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Crystal clear and consistent throughout. I have spent Easter Sunday and Monday milling up 4 logs and even managed to persuade my 19 year old son to help fill the kiln last night! Now to the question. Has anyone kiln dried poplar before. The logs have been down about 4 years and are still soaking wet and heavy. Do I treat it just like softwood and run it a bit harder than I would normally do beech/syc etc. This is a bit of a rush job so time is of the essence here.

Looks like a snp landslide from where i'm sitting:thumbup:

You cant with out piles of tedious paperwork. I lasted about 4 years with one of the first group Chain of Custody schemes in the country. After the company I originally was with was taken over several times, I ended up with more paper work and bigger bills. Thats when I said no chance and left it. All the trees I mill up are windblown and fell into part recycled or something like that instead of virgin timber. I believe its all changed now but I cant be arsed getting into it again. All my business and personal customers understand I am using 99.9% windblown trees and therefore they are eco-friendly and are more than happy with that. Suits me fine.

Did you remember to seal the ends of the planks? Hard to tell from the photos if you have.

This thread has just reminded me to see if I could get an ignition coil for a cs2900 which has been kicking about the workshop for 6 years or so. Went onto ebay and bought a complete saw which the seller said is probably seized. Cheaper than buying a new coil with the added bonus of a few spares chucked in. Good result

Thats a cracking log to start with. Maybe you should have a practice on a pine or something not so valuable to start with. For a 1m dia log as well I would also use an auxillary oiler as well, avaiable from Rob D on this site

Looks like a nice piece of firewood to me:thumbup:

The original problem was that I had set the top speed to 9000 as it said in the manual I got with it (ex army saw) and when I was milling sycamore with it the other day I thought it was running too slow. I have now adjusted it up using a tach so all is good now.

I reported him last night. The mods must have missed that

I dont have access to my manual just now as it on my pc at home and I am in my workshop. Could someone post the high, low and idle speeds of a husky 281 xp. It wasnt running very well yesterday and and I want to check it with the tach and retune it if necessary. Many thanks

If you are using a 3' bar or more an auxilliary oiler would help to lubircate the bar and chain

Im in Glenrothes Rachel and I would agree about the Irn Bru ice cream at Luvians. Its the best Ive ever tasted anywhere and I think all my kids would agree.

Funnily enough I have one of those and when I showed it to a mate years after getting it, he pulled his one out of his workshop to show me. I used to run a large community centre and my janitor gave it to me after finding it on the flat roof part of the building. Keep forgetting I have it and I have some brambles to cut up so I might just use it in anger for the first time this week.

Take you more than an evening!

Think you might need a bigger description/explanation for the benefit of us older members:001_tt2:

How about this then. Little bit pricey but it looks good. About Us - ALL Power Labs