Big J

Agreed. If you are paying tax on that you aren't doing your taxes correctly.

I have CS30 and 31. I got my tickets on a job offer and then just started hardwood thinning and haven't stopped since. I have no qualifications relating to sawmilling or timber drying and am self taught (and have been the recipient of much help and guidance along the way from more people than I can remember to whom I am very grateful).

0.4hp and a few hundred grams

Stunning figure. My best advice would be to dry them as much as is possible before selling them. The value increases hugely. Burr oak is hard to dry, so do this: Find a very solid piece of ground to stack them ok - somewhere that will not subside. Concrete would be ideal. Run two heavy bearers parallel to the stack which the stickers can sit on. Stick the boards excessively - every 9-12 inches at most. Ensure there is a sticker on the very end of the boards and evenly spaced in between. Ensure sticker lines are perfectly vertical, place the poorest boards on top, put one final layer of stickers on and then a few (evenly spaced) paving slabs. Don't let the stack get direct sunlight, but it needs to be sheltered from the rain with decent air flow. Then sit on them for a couple of years and sell for much more than they are worth now!

They are nice boards and well sawn The pinkish tinge is quite common when the oak reacts with air. It's not brown Oak, and it's not something to worry about as it fades to the same colour as any other Oak. I would describe the boards are reasonably heavily pipped verging on burred. Pricing wise, I'd punt them at about £45 a cubic foot plus VAT. Whilst they are visually attractive, they are structurally flawed in places, and these defects only get worse with drying, not better. Get them sticked under cover, with no direct sunlight and a reasonable air flow. Leave them for about 18 months and if you wish to kiln them, do so at that point. Otherwise, shave about £10 off the cubic footage price and sell them air dried. Jonathan

Fascinating ideas brought up in that video. I'm intrigued by the idea of a woodland croft in Scotland and the thought of being able to use all of your brash and green matter from forestry activities to provide your dwelling with heat and perhaps power is enticing. The bonus of vast amounts marketable compost at the end is excellent too. Whilst there isn't a vast amount more heat available from a chip pile than burning it, there is comparatively no maintenance. Could run a kiln drying firewood by heating it from chip from the material that is too small to sell. So many of you out there sell firewood and have chip mountains it seems a no brainer.

Some people will do anything for a nose job on the NHS! Glad to hear that it wasn't more serious - make sure to post some before and afters once you are healed up so we, the public, can judge as to whether it was all worth it!

Welcome to Arbtalk Oli. First off, I know a fair number of people with the Sauno steam kiln and most seem to operate them without much trouble. I myself prefer a system where I can go in and check on my timber at any given time, so I use the kiln detailed in the kiln construction thread. That said, a furniture making friend with whom I do a lot of work and share a workshop has one, so I intermittently use it. In an ideal world, you would only kiln the same species at the same thickness with the same starting moisture content. Every species takes a very different time to dry and a mixed kiln is going to have a variety of final MCs. Try to avoid mixing Oak with other species as it just takes longer. Also, try to air dry everything for at least 6 months, and Oak for twice as long. 12% MC should be achieved at an RH of around 25%, though with oak it would be lower (around 20%). That is at 32 celcius though, so some adjustment might be required for 38 celcius. End sealed boards are fine in the kiln to the best of my knowledge, but I don't do it so can't say definitively. Jonathan

New G class 6x6 video on Autocar. Excellent cinematography/car porn, depending on which way you look at it! http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/video-mercedes-g63-amg-6x6-tames-desert

All this talk of stable temperatures of 60-80 celcius has got me thinking - has anyone run a central heating system off a chip pile? I don't know how long a pile will maintain it's temperature for, but I love the idea of piling up a monster pile in autumn and that supplying enough heat for the winter!

Kiln construction is very easy, albeit oak is a pain to dry. Might be worth building your own - I wrote a fairly long thread detailing how

Why?

I used to have an MS361 and it was indeed a lovely saw. Only sold it as it had the annoying easy tension side cover and was a touch too large for our work. I use a 550xp all day in almost exclusively hardwood and it's superb. It is just much quicker than it's Stihl counterpart.

Very good. I am pretty sure that it's the same model that a furniture maker friend uses with great success.

I would say that the MS362 is perhaps the worst regarded of the modern Stihl range. When you compare it to it's predecessor, it's limp and wooly. Go for the 560XP.

Where is Peckerwoo when you need him?! Looking at the longer range forecast, yr.no ? Været for Norge og verden fra NRK og Meteorologisk institutt is saying fairly heavy snow for almost all of next week for us. Total precipitation of 45mm, which translates to anywhere from 4-18 inches of snow. We are always the last ones to get it too. Anyone any further information on it?

I suppose there is the question - if a chimney fire is well controlled in a lined flue, is it really an issue? A useful (lazy?) alternative to sweeping your chimney!

Had an entertaining chimney fire with the Rayburn the other day. Happened a total of three times now and always when I leave the vent open for a touch too long. It can quite quickly set light if you're not careful - the hazard of having a fire that's on constantly. The fire always goes the same way - flue sets alight, burning off the creosote, which condenses at the cowl, which then sets alight, burns away like a candle wick for a couple of minutes, dislodging aforementioned creosote which falls back to the Rayburn. I just shut all the air down and keep an eye on it until the flue temperature returns to normal. Wouldn't like to have an unlined flue though, lord no!

Treat with borate solution - I've never experiences any woodworm issues on any timber with the exception of spalted beech.

It's no 3cx, let's put it that way!

JCB Prosmart (awful phone by the way, never get one). Runs Android but with some irritating little bits missing from the operating system. I assume this is one of them.

My bloody phone won't send a text to 112 as it regards it as an invalid number. Stupid smart phones!

Thanks for all the information there. Perhaps the first 'course' could be run as more of a workshop. 4 or 5 Arbtalkers talking about and demonstrating various methods, techniques and tips for efficiently dropping hardwoods. I'll speak to one of the local estates and see if they have licences in place anywhere for us to work in. Afterwards, I should be able to form some sort of plan for learning outcomes and all of that!

Very good! What sort of cut rate does that width of cut allow? Also, what's the standard method of handling such monster slabs? I've just given up on big boards now due to moving and handling issues.

Bit big isn't it!?