Big J

Just make sure you don't forget!

It's actually coming from me! Problem is that I'm not really able to dry timber that thick in my kiln.

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Hi Kav, If elm is what you are going to need, I have lots in my yard, including slightly lower grade stuff that might be ideal for it. Am I correct in reading that as 4 square metres of Elm required? Jonathan

Not something that anyone is going to argue with, but the innovative aspect of this mill is the way it flips through 90% very easily. I have an early model phototype, and can attest to the fact that if you are wanting to cut smaller dimensioned timber, the flip aspect of it is ideal. It's as quick as rotating a log on the woodmizer. I only use mine as a wide slabbing mill, as the bandmill does the rest. It's additionally very useful for breaking logs into halves for further sawing. The quality of the cut is what sets it apart from the normal Alaskan mill. As the saw is locked into a frame and on rails, the finish is almost perfect, with none of the trademark deeper gouges causes by small jumps of the mill with the normal Alaskan. I would strongly recommend one as a means of producing a reasonable quantity of good quality timber. It is effortlessly easy to operate, and doesn't leave you needing hand, wrist and elbow transplants at the end of a working day in the way an Alaskan mill can!

I've dried quite a bit of cherry, usually from green in the kiln. I find it to be an easy and fairly well behaved timber. However, if there is inherent stress in the tree (ie it's growing with a lean, or there is a bend in the stem) it seems to open up more than with some other timbers. Not much that can be done about that though. My best advice would be mill it in a couple of months. The best time of year to mill is undoubtedly November and December as you are introducing the vulnerable fresh sawn timber to a moist cold environment. It will have a very gentle start to drying, and will subsequently end check and shake far less. I don't seal the ends of any of my timber as I rarely have issues with end checking. It will do no harm though. Once milled, stick it well, with a sticker on the very ends of the board, and then at 18 inch spacings inbetweem. It's crucial to ensure that the stickers are perfectly lined up - any deviation results in crooked boards. Air dry for about a year and then either take to a kiln or bring into a warmer environment to allow the final moisture to escape. If milling thicker than a couple of inches, you'll need to air dry a little longer. Additionally, where possible it's far better to air dry under cover. A barn is ideal, though never cover it with tarp or anything that isn't moisture permeable. Do take some photos if you get the chance!

I had one of the oregon sawhorses. Good principle, though not original. Mine fell to pieces fairly quickly I must admit. Lack of steel in construction seems to be the biggest issue. If you aren't having to move it round much, you could try what I do. I have a huge oak round with four holes bored for fence posts. 4 4x4s whacked in and you have an instant log holder to the same effect that is much more robust. As there is no metal in the construction, it doesn't matter if you clip the bottom. I can do a cubic metre an hour on sawmill offcuts, cut and split with this.

Humbled! Thanks for the recommendations chaps! I've got a pretty large stock of kilned timber at present as well as some air dried stuff coming ready too. Kilned: Elm - lots of, though mostly straight and pippy, not burred Sycamore - some 1.5 and 2 inch Ash - some 1.5 and 2 inch Spalted beech - lovely 1.5 inch boards to 28 inches wide Cedar - loads in 1, 1.5 and 2 inch thickness Air dried: Oak - quartersawn 1 inch, flat sawn 1.5 and 2 inch Lime - huge 32 inch wide boards 3 and 4 inches thick Ash - 1 and 1.5 inch thick Alder - 1 and 1.5 inch thick PM me if you are interested in anything

Excellent! Nice to see the fruits of your labours. I've only been doing this for three years now, and planting was some of the first work that I did. Obviously, too soon to see the fruits of my labours. However, the two employed foresters on the estate have been here for over 20 years, so they have some nice young woodlands to their names. I think what it is up here in Scotland is that forestry seems to be split two ways - you've got your sitka/hybrid larch and you've got your predominantly oak woodlands. There doesn't seem to be so much birch grow as a crop. It's just so productive and so quickly grown. We thinned out the birch regen in an 8 year old stand of sitka. The very best of the sitka (and from improved stock too) were perhaps 20ft with a 4 inch dbh. The birch (which was not planted - it's effectively a weed in this instance) averaged that height and dbh, and exceptionally was 30ft and 6-7 inch dbh. It quite happily grew 2ft apart and the tree form was lovely. They completely dominated the sitka. I would love to see production statistics for different species over a crop rotation. I'd bet my left nut you'd make more money on birch than Oak!

Just a bit of fun. If you had carte blanche to plant a woodland, what would you plant? Me? It would just be birch and alder. It's something I've given some thought to. We do quite a lot of work for the estate I live on. First thinnings, second thinnings and so on in hardwoods. We seem to spend all our time trying to rescue crappy oak, sycamore, ash and beech stands. More often than not, we cut out lovely birch to make way for mediocre (or worse) oak. If it were me, I'd just look at it pragmatically and financially: Oak woodland: * Requires planting, tubing and staking * Requires regular pruning and pest (ie squirrel) control * Requires regular thinning to avoid tree death * No guarantee of quality saw logs at final harvest * High value final harvest potential, but at least 100 year turnaround Birch and alder woodland: * No planting required, simply spread seeds, allow regeneration * Requires little or no pruning as more or less self maintaining * Can tolerate irregular thinning and close planting * Can be thinned by harvester * Lower value final value product (although most firewood producers would trip over themselves for high quality birch/alder cord) but produced very much more quickly. * 40-50 year cycle time from planting to final harvest. Just my two cents really, but I really cannot understand this prioritising of Oak. In almost all instances (in my experience), birch make stunning woodlands and are so trouble free. So, what would you (or have you) plant (ed)? I would maybe include some cherry or ash as minority species for a bit of diversity, but I reckon I'd be planting 50% birch, 30% alder and less than 20% other species.

I have a fair amount of cedar cut to 1 inch, kiln dried and ready to go, if you wanted a cedar floor. Beautiful clear timber, with a stunning aroma. I think that I have about enough for 20 square metres or so at that thickness. All processing can be done here and boards supplied ready to fit. Jonathan

That first log is particularly excellent, though there seems to be a little bit of discolouration around the heart. Good luck with the sales.

That first log is particularly excellent, though there seems to be a little bit of discolouration around the heart. Good luck with the sales.

That's not a bowl - it's a blinking font!

That's not a bowl - it's a blinking font!

Not a fly fisherman, but just refinding my childhood love of fishing again. I always loved spinning, so that's what I'm doing. We're up in Ullapool for the weekend and I caught a couple of 9 inch sea trout and a minute coalfish yesterday evening. Really hoping for a mackerel or ten, but struggling at the moment. As a point aside, I'm getting sick of all rivers in Scotland being fly only. In the high wind we were having yesterday, fly fishing just wouldn't have been possible. Does my nut in, coming from Derbyshire where no such traditionalism exists.

Not a fly fisherman, but just refinding my childhood love of fishing again. I always loved spinning, so that's what I'm doing. We're up in Ullapool for the weekend and I caught a couple of 9 inch sea trout and a minute coalfish yesterday evening. Really hoping for a mackerel or ten, but struggling at the moment. As a point aside, I'm getting sick of all rivers in Scotland being fly only. In the high wind we were having yesterday, fly fishing just wouldn't have been possible. Does my nut in, coming from Derbyshire where no such traditionalism exists.

I limp and hobble - trapped nerve in back causing constant pain in quadricep. 5 years now, so not actually arb industry caused. Getting the nerves in that back joint killed off next month though - hurrah! I think manual labour will build a body that is more resiliant to the stresses of a physical job, but at the same time you are going to have aches and pains too. I can do a whole days log splitting by hand and do it again the next day, but it's still going to hurt. I suppose the difference is that office monkeys would be incapable of moving for a week after and probably tear a muscle.

I limp and hobble - trapped nerve in back causing constant pain in quadricep. 5 years now, so not actually arb industry caused. Getting the nerves in that back joint killed off next month though - hurrah! I think manual labour will build a body that is more resiliant to the stresses of a physical job, but at the same time you are going to have aches and pains too. I can do a whole days log splitting by hand and do it again the next day, but it's still going to hurt. I suppose the difference is that office monkeys would be incapable of moving for a week after and probably tear a muscle.

I use a combination of hand filing and the Granberg electric sharpener. Both have their place at different times for different saws. I use hand filing for all general sharpening of small to medium saws. I've always deburred my chrome edge, and find that a good edge will last me all day in hardwood thinning without ever feeling that I need to resharpen (today for instance). I use the electric grinder for sharpening my ripping chains (I run a 50 inch bar on the 088) and for recovering damaged chains. Even once recovered, I still sharpen by hand to finish off. As a point aside, has anyone else noticed that the performance of chains straight out of the box it poor? New chain on this morning, cut for five minutes feeling that it was slow and dull. Five minutes to sharpen and 4 strokes of the file on each depth guage and it was cutting like a dream, and all day too (6 tanks of fuel on a 346xp). I've found this to be the case for any brand of chain - even ripping chains. Why don't manufacturers put a decent edge on the cutters and take the depth guages down to a reasonable level?

Hahaha! Why is it that people attribute no value to good firewood sold by honest businesses, yet seem to think that the Leylandii hedge in the back garden is worth a small fortune?!

Seconded on the recommendation for the Makita DCS 7901. I've had one for about a year now (bought used from Rob D) and it's my favourite saw. Whether it's got an 18 inch or 24 inch bar on it, it's a fast cutter, especially with the 8 tooth sprocket. I've used an MS460 a few times, and would recommend the Makita over it.

Congratulations there Hodge! As has already been mentioned, he's a big lad! I was only 8lb 5oz and I'm over 6ft 7 inches!

Just stunning Steve. One of the best lumps of yew I've ever cut. Tom D - that was the one I got from you that was flattened by the larger poplar

Not a bad butt at all that. Bit of a twist in it, but nothing too serious. Milled and kilned a lot of cedar recently, and it's a joy to work with. The trees I bought were a touch bigger and I paid £60 a tonne roadside (had them uplifted to my yard).