Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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As I said before - really stunning! I showed the customer with the pippy oak that photo yesterday, and he was really impressed
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The olympics are a bit like an orgy - great fun unless you are hosting it.
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Lots of useful suggestions coming up - thankyou! I've never really been able to sleep without waking in the night. On the few occasions I have, I few like a new man in the morning. It takes so little to keep me awake too - stress, worrying about money, sore stomach (as I've had for the last few days). I'm going to ask my wife to kick me every time I look like I'm dropping off on the sofa!
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Air drying makes for better boards. I've just not had the space or means to lift stacks until now. On the down side, I managed to mash two fingers under a board for the first time ever today. Quite nasty deep gashes just below my finger tips too - I'm an idiot for trying to catch a sliding 100kg oak board. Live and learn though. Jonathan
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Finally finished sorting out the log. Yesterday saw the milling of several beams from one section and the cutting of 1.5 tonnes of turning timber. All sold now, so not a complete disaster. Milled the last length that the woodmizer operator removed from his mill. Cut to 2 1/8 inch, pulled out one nail and hit one more. Not a major hit though - only took about 5-10 minutes to sort the chain again. So all things considered, it could have been worse. Took three times as long as it should have, cost twice as much to process, but at least I've recouped some of the initial cost and I've a nice stack of 90 cubic foot of Oak to go in the kiln in a years time.
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Sleep - something you take for granted until you can't get any/enough (much like good health I suppose). I can't remember the last time I had a good nights sleep. I wake up throughout the night, and find myself falling asleep at 8pm on the sofa because I'm so tired. Even then, it doesn't translate to a good night's snooze. Any tips for getting sleep?
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Are you a tree surgeon, or involved in the sale of certain gentlemanly escort services?!
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Christ, I wish it was mine, but it's just a google image! My uncle has two though, the 11kw and the 6kw. The 11kw literally and completely heats a 150 sq m house all winter (German winter too). Jonathan
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We have a 7kw villager, and despite popular consensus, it's been a good little stove. An overnight burn is achievable with a good bed of embers, and it's more or less been our sole source of heat for 3 years. How a stove performs depends on the user I find. My neighbour has the exact same stove, but no real idea of how to efficiently burn (regularly shuts it down too early to 'tick over' - the stove is very sooted up and I assume her flue is too). I've come across very few folk that pay much attention to exactly what the fire is doing, and wonder why their chimney is blocked. Regarding stove recommendations, as is always the case in such threads, I recommend the make my uncle has two of - Bullerjan. They are stunning and highly efficient stoves that make excellent centrepieces for any large room:
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In a similar vein, my wife is an architect - very handy for those instance where I've dropped trees through buildings and this and that!
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Milled it in part today. What an absolute cow! I've never even had a log with half as many nails in. 5 were were pulled out of the first length that were visible from the outside. There were at least another 6 inside. The second length was even worse and the woodmizer operator refused to mill it past a 2ft x 2ft beam. Brass screws 16ft up the tree! I'm going to mill it thick with the chainsaw mill tomorrow to get it done. I'm going to have to saw it one way or the other to shift it so I figure it's better to mill it. Gutted!
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Very good, the last page!
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Andrew - PM Tommer9 regarding you MS361. I believe that in years gone by, he infact married just such a saw, but is presently, regrettably widowed. He got one of those mail order MS362s, but it's just not been the same.
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I pay £11 an hour (£100 a day for 9 hours).
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Regarding the saws, bigger is definitely better. If you have a maximum of a 24 inch cut, an MS660/395XP would just about cut it, but you would still be better with 120cc. I've used the Alaskan extensively. It's a good mill and good value for money. By far and away the best results are achieved with it when you have a person on each end of the mill. I just don't think it's possible to steady the mill sufficiently with one hand (the other being on the throttle). Jonathan
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Not to my personal taste (I like rustic, but only in moderation, and in contrast with clean lines), but the quality of the finishing is excellent, as is the piece of wood!
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Love sycamore for firewood. Burns cleanly and hot and dries quicker than just about any other species.
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If you start dicking around with fancy pants cuts like that in the woods David, I'm giving you the sack!
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The one I use is very accurate, and calibrated too: Delmhorst J-2000 Wood Moisture Meter Package *NEW* | eBay The hammer probes also allow you to measure the MC in the middle of the log.
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If only people would get the idea of seasoning themselves when they have the space. A friend of ours is installing our Rayburn for us, and relies entirely on his for all his heat and for the majority of his cooking. Until now, his firewood supply has been entirely sporadic, with him often splitting semi seasoned timber for the evening's fire. In return for installing our Rayburn, I am sorting out his firewood supply for future years. We are currently at around 38 cubic metres and counting!
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Bar steward! Think of me in terms of housing. Whereas you are a compact little cottage, well insulated (by which I mean not wasteful with heat, not porky), I'm a large, sprawling mansion with no insulation and all the windows open. Without the many many sandwiches, I would wither and end up looking like an especially well drawn sycamore!
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Stupidly, horribly, unseasonably, inexcusably warm today. 16-17 degrees and humid. I look forward to winter every year - nice cold crisp days, no more feeling like the only appropriate amount of clothing is no clothing, and we're into November and getting warmer weather than we had in June. Boooooo!! Jonathan
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Looks good there David. Let's see how much metal we find in the log - it's sure to keep Andrew the woodmizer operator amused! Thanks for posting the photo - I'll follow it up with photos of it getting milled next Wednesday. Jonathan
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We are milling a fairly large batch of good quality Elm from around 600 yards from the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh on the 17th of November. The logs are 16-18ft long, 20-28 inches in diameter, excellent colour, virtually no shake, pippy and burred in places. Can mill to order and deliver by pallet (£65 a pallet). Price is £18 to £22 a cubic foot (£637 to £778 a cubic meter) and can be cut to any thickness required. Get in touch if you are interested. There is about 240 cubic foot available. Jonathan
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I did a week a couple of years ago as a complete novice, digging, planting, staking and tubing each sapling. Was up to just over 200 a day, but that was on fairly tough ground.
