Mike Dempsey

I am not a tree surgeon, I mill up logs with my Alaskan mill and kiln dry the wood to make things out of. If this oak was a decent size and worth planking I would plank it ok. The branches and other bits of trunk not suitable for planking would get logged up for my firewood. The brash I would be prepared to pile up and the owner could burn it when dry. I don't see a problem in that at all. As I am short of oak at present I would be prepared to do it at short notice as well in case someone else was going to get the wood!

You could always join NTS Scotland and save yourself £18 quid on membership for a family, compared to NTS England.

Get some ratchet straps around your timber or it will warp!

That will keep you busy for a wee while! All it takes is a little imagination and a few quid. There are a few specialist companies out there supplying parts for van conversions so it shouldn't be too hard to get what you need. Still in the middle of restoring my own Talbot Express motorhome, just don't know where the time is going these days.

Havent used it myself but it is popular in woodturning circles. One difficulty in using it is getting a finish to adhere to it once the bowl had been turned. Don't know how widely used it is these days but when I started turning it was all the rage about 20 years ago. Mike

and the bodywork should be a bit thicker than the tinfoil the new mercs are made from!

I'm not difficult to miss. I am the wee Scottish ginger guy with a beard and a stand full of stuff made from wood and most of it laser engraved or cut out with the laser!

Its possible that the emergency stop/stop button is needing an anti clockwise turn to get it to pop out so then the start button will work. I have this on my Sedgwick MB planer thicknesser and is a good safety feature if you have inquisitive visitors who like pressing buttons despite being told to leave things alone. My big saw bench is a Griggio panel saw and came with every accessory possible. About 9K new, the Royal Conservatoire of Music, Drama and Dance in Glasgow got a huge grant to refurbish their theatre workshops and sold off all their machinery for peanuts. My saw cost £350 as the previous buyer paid for it and didn't pick it up! I didn't realise that there were four huge concrete slabs in the base which should have been removed in order to get it in the van without a hernia. As luck would have it there were plenty of workmen around and it took seven of us to get it in the van. At my workshop we used a local factory's fork lift truck to stick it inside. The van also badly failed the mot the following day on the suspension side and I just scrapped it. The saw has managed to cut down 45mm sheets of mdf which weigh 96kg each so its quite impressive in use

The event is a Crafter's Roadshow in The Bridges shopping centre on the last Friday and weekend in June. CS is a company that organises the events and small craft businesses can book in with them either fro the Friday only or the Sat and Sunday or all three days. They are Glasgow based and organise them in the bigger shopping centres in Scotland. Last year they ventured south of Hadrian's wall and organised them in Sunderland. They are looking to do some in the Metro Centre and in the main shopping centre in Leeds possibly. I have been doing them for about 6 years now and like doing them as you pick up regular customers and the footfall is far bigger than any craft show. You can check out their facebook page or website for details

That's why I love having my workshop away from my house on an industrial estate. My wife doesn't have a clue what I have and when I got it. Think she has only been in the workshop 3 times in 7 or 8 years. That's the way I like it as well!

I always use ratchet straps with stainless steel fittings when drying timber in the kiln. I open up the kiln after about 4 weeks and retighten them if necessary. My wide boards always stay pretty flat and I don't get a lot of splitting in them. Mike

I have a Talbot Express Highlander Mk1which I paid £1k for from my brother who no longer needed it and had no where to store it. The moho has a toilet, shower, gas cooker, fridge freezer and is a 4 berth. I have added power steering and have a patch of damp to repair on one of the walls. I am going to strip of the aluminium sealing strips and reseal them and them paint the roof with Cromapol. I am also going to paint the walls as they are a hideous grey colour and it currently looks like wallpaper. I discovered the tyres were 17 years old the other day so all five will have to be replaced with 8 ply tyres as the van is 3.5 tons. Its only done 75k and as its a 2.5 diesel theres loads of life left in it. The moho is 24 years old and is pretty good for its age. The talbots are great as spares are available pretty cheaply and lots of 2nd parts are available from breakers. There is also a good Talbot owners forum with a lot of folk in the trade being regular contributors. My reason for buying it was for going away to 2 or 3 day craft events and not having to get up dead early or pay for a hotel overnight. My target for getting it moving is the end of June as I have a 3 day event in Sunderland (I think I might be a bit optimistic there!)

I had some luck a few years ago when someone dumped a few carrier bags of rubbish near where I park my van at home. The stupid woman had only left a bank statement partially sticking out the top of one of the bags! I phoned the council and passed on her details and they sent out someone from Environmental Health. He didn't half tear a strip off her and she had to come out and remove it all under his supervision or get a £200 fine. Made my day that did. Recently they have become so strict about who can use the recycling centres I can see there being a massive increase in fly tipping. They have height barriers to stop anything over 7' tall going in and if you have a car and trailer they are all over it to ensure you are not a business. All our recycling centres in Fife shut for 2 days during the middle of the week apart from the 3 main ones and they all shut for an hour for lunch. This was just implemented on 1st April so I need to see how that goes. Bloody Austerity

I had mice in my attic and in the void between the living room and the floor of my daughter's bedroom. I settled on buying a Pest Bye rat and mouse repeller on Amazon for about £25 or so. Absolutely brilliant. Didn't take long to shift them and a few months ago I took it to my workshop and its cured the mice problem up there. They haven't even returned to my attic after about 6 months of not using it in the house. If they did I would just go and buy another one and leave the workshop one in place. Mike

I love the old buildings particularly the ones that incorporate a lot of timbers. When you consider that there were no chainsaws, power tools and spirit levels a few centuries ago, they were masters at their crafts. Don't think many of todays modern buildings will be around in 50 years time, never mind 500 years. One of my all time favourite buildings is the 'church with the crooked spire' in Chesterfield. The green oak they used twisted with the weight of the stones, slate and lead and actually looks a bit like a spiral. You can actually go up inside it which is amazing and have a closer look. Well worth a visit id you are ever in the area.

I was down in Stratford on 4th January to pick up a power steering kit for my Talbot Express Highlander motorhome. Lovely part of the country. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain when I went out for a walk about 8pm so I didn't really see a lot of it. Didn't do any Shakespeare at school so I probably don't appreciate him as much as some folk. Didn't do a lot of Burns either even though I am Scottish and was brought up in Scotland!

Still Game starts a new series on the 8th March

Its whats known as olive ash

And when you start selling items the taxman no longer recognises it as a hobby but as a business, and it will be subject to tax and NI like the rest of us business people!

Any item coming into contact with food should be made from a close grained timber such as beech, sycamore or maple. Oak is an open grained timber and is most unsuitable. It should also not have any finish applied to it. This is very basic knowledge and should be adhered to as good practice. Whether its a chopping board, rolling pin, mortar and pestle , food particles will get trapped in the open grain and will be very difficult to shift. All that is required to clean any of the above items from the woods I suggest that should be used, is a wipe with a damp cloth. I do know one person who makes chopping boards from elm and oak (and leaves the bark on!!!!!) and uses his own finish which includes tung oil. Doesn't alert anyone to this fact which could lead to an interesting situation should some one use it who has a nut allergy. Mike

If you are just looking for a workshop stove try technik stoves in Herefordshire. Solid build in thick steel with the added advantage of top opening which allows you to put sawdust and shavings straight in. No connection, just a happy customer with a 20kw stove and a caframo fan to blow the hot air into the workshop. Mike

Not cheeky, just being practical and professional. I have been supplying this sort of stuff for years!

Hi James Just noticed this post. I could laser engrave them for you if they aren't bigger than A3 in size (450 x 305mm). The beauty of laser engraving is that there is a colour change in the wood due to it burning the wood and the engraving stands out a lot better than if it had been carved. Mike

I move logs all the time with a hand winch. This allows me to move it into a better for milling and all I do is attach it to another tree. The logs I am moving are anything up to 4' dia oak all at 8' length. I think my winch is rated for 4 tons and the cable is 11mm dia. There is no other way for me to move them as its not always possible to get my mates landrover and winch in. Mike

One thing that bandsaws are prone to is fine dust clogging up the motor windings causing it to overheat and burn out the windings, even if dust extraction is used. I have just had to replace the motor on my Startrite 352 and it was chogged up with fine dust despite the fact that I use the biggest Camvac extractor with 3 motors. I used to strip the motor down every year and blow it out with a compressor air gun. This year has been so busy I forgopt and then had to pay the price.