Mike Dempsey

I love watching the curling and its probably the one winter sport where we have the best chance of picking up medals. The speed skating looks a bit scary as it looks like they are about to fall over any second and get a good sore face!

Ian I have left boards in a cool part of the workshop like that. Sticker them and tie them together with a ratchet strap. Don't lean them against a wall or they could take a bend in them. Might be easier to do it on the floor and then prop them vertically. Should turn out ok.

Take a spade with you. There seems to be plenty of gold up there judging by the number of gold prospecting programmes on the telly just now!

I use a 66 with a 36" bar with Stihl ripping chain and find it does me for about 90% of the logs I mill up. When I have a big log to do I give a mate a shout who has an 88 with a 56" bar. The trouble I have doing logs which are 30" wide or so is that the planks become very heavy and hard to move. I am fortunate that I have a van to shift them in but getting them to the van is hard work. At least when the two of us are planking up a big log I only have to lift half the weight of the plank. BTW normally my planks are a maximum of 2.5m long so they fit in the kiln.

Good to see you back in action Bob. Just glad it went to a good home where it will be appreciated.

The local councils could probably make as much money of litter fines as they do with speed camera fines if they put their mind to it. Soon cure the problem I reckon

When the last time that anyone heard of a litter lout being fined for dropping litter? Its about time a few laws were enforced. I get litter from McDonalds near my workshop and I'm about 3 miles away from their nearest place. Their litter appears to be very mobile!

My youngest daughter is learning to play the violin and guitar! She is in P7 and has been doing the violin for 20 months now and getting better every day. Was a bit difficult to listen to her practising at first but as time has gone on she has got better and can play a few tunes. She goes off to the high school after the summer so hopefully she make faster progress. Neither my wife or I play any instruments but I would love for one of my three kids to able to play to a decent level. Why don't you offer to pay for music lessons on a regular basis for your partner and see how serious she is and give her some encouragement when she is practising. It could also be a lot worse than a violin. A local lad plays the bagpipes. He has been playing for about 6 years or so and he is really good now. Just glad I don't live next door!

Steve, you are looking from it as a customer's point of view, ie want to pay as little as possible. On the other hand as someone who mils up timber, I wouldn't want to sell it as low as that. £16 - 24 is a good range as Big J stated.

I have a dislike of a lot of large corporations, for the way they treat their suppliers, the way they treat their workers on the ground level, for their brain-washing advertising, for the goods/services they supply and last but not least for the local taxes they don't pay. The American corporations take a particularly aggressive stance to anyone who dares to criticise them, quite often to the point of critics being homeless and being made bankrupt. The endless stories emanating from the US with regards to the largest company in the world, Walmart, are particularly shocking and having been going on for decades. Monsanto is another company who will stop at nothing in promoting their gm crop seeds. Is it right that they can be the only supplier of seeds in third world countries to poor farmers who grows his crop of rice or whatever but then has to buy more seed again every year due to the fact that any seed kept back to grow next year's crop will be sterile. These farmers don't have any choice where they buy their seed as there will only be one supplier in their area. These are people who are barely managing to keep themselves and their family alive from year to year. Last year there was a ninety minute documentary on the Discovery Channel on Monsanto and their likes, about how they treated people in the US and how they are all tied up with the politicians and the White House. In 1995 there was the famous 'McLibel' trial. McDonalds sued two people, Helen Steel and David Morris, for libel after they criticized them. The trial lasted for 2 1/2 years and the two defendants were denied legal aid even though they were just two ordinary people. McDonalds tried every dirty tick in the book to win and the single Judge, Mr Justice Bell found them not guilty. In fact, the verdict was devastating for McDonalds. " The judge ruled that they 'exploit children' with their advertising, produce 'misleading' advertising, are 'culpably responsible' for cruelty to animals, are 'antipathetic' to unionisation and pay their workers low wages. But Helen and Dave failed to prove all the points and so the Judge ruled that they HAD libelled McDonald's and should pay 60,000 pounds damages. They refused and McDonald's knew better than to pursue it. In March 1999 the Court of Appeal made further rulings that it was fair comment to say that McDonald's employees worldwide "do badly in terms of pay and conditions", and true that "if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well become high in fat etc., with the very real risk of heart disease." You can read the full story on this website The McLibel Trial To look behind the companies' public face, the one they want you to see, you can check the facts out here Corporate Watch : Homepage : Latest News from Corporate Watch and here CorpWatch*:*Index Reading Private Eye can also keep you informed about what they are up to. Some people call me cynical and negative, I like to think that I am well informed and don't accept advertising blurbs and press releases at face value. There are many ways you can run a business and I realise that you have to make a profit to survive and develop and to make progress. Thank goodness that the majority of companies aren't run and promoted like some of these examples and others on the websites. BTW I am not anti-American, Easy-Lift Guy, I have relatives in the US and there are many fine and honourable companies in the States, some of whom I do business with. There are plenty of UK companies who have a track record which is abysmal and continue to get away with it due to corrupt politicians and a corrupt system. I have probably taken up too much space to reply but I feel that in order to give a proper reply that I can back up my post with hard facts. Mike

When I rule the world my first act will be to make Muckdonalds illegal and if anyone wanted to blow up their places with dynamite they would get it free of charge! That's how much I hate them. BTW you could add coca cola and Disney and any other American corporation as well. Mike

Hi Bob Found the spare rest in the shed. The length of it is about 250mm. The width of the hole for moving it in and out is 13mm, for a 12mm bolt. The hole dia for the tool rest itself is 19mm. Slightly different from your toolrest but should be interchangeable as they are made by same company. If you want it can you pm me your contact details and I will post it out for the cost of postage. Mike

I have an extra tool rest holder from my mates lathe possibly. It was a Record CL1 so it should fit ok. Its a while since I have seen it so I will have a hunt for it in the workshop tomorrow. Failing that I would put a wanted ad on one of the woodworking forums or contact record. It would be far cheaper than welding it. Will let you know tomorrow night. Mike

I make it about 150 cube and if chainsaw milled would yield about 130 or so, taking into account the saw kerf of about 6mm. Still a good haul if you have a mill.

If anyone is looking for a big saw for their workshop and doesn't mind a bit of a restoration job then this may fit the bill Wadkin table saw pz 452s very rare Must see Look | eBay Personally I like my fingers and wouldn't go near it!

I take 2 plastic ice cream tubs with me in the van. One of them has shavings from the planer thicknesser and the other has old wooden business card blanks in it. Both are bone dry and it doesn't take long to boil my Kelly up using them and have a brew

I can laser engrave names, logos etc on plastic bits of tools and machinery. As long as I can fit it under the laser head and its plastic, it will engrave!

It would make a cracking milling saw

My resolution is to get back all the stuff my mate has borrowed over the last several years. I will need to empty my van before I visit his house though. My other resolution is not to let him take away any tools from my workshop and if he needs to use something he has to use it in my workshop. That way I will be able to use my own tools in my own workshop when I need to!

How about Old Trafford stadium, as they certainly aren't using it for football this season:laugh1:

Maybe just using it to dismantle her Christmas tree!

My brother is a keen trout fisherman as is his neighbour. I give them whisky cask oak for his smoker. As yet I haven't had any samples for my troubles!

Whats to stop someone checking out how this firewood drier works and is put together and just copies it. I don't know if it is patented but it wouldn't take much to make a few changes so it isn't a copy. They could then dry their own firewood cheaply and also keep the RHI dosh!