Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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JPH - I'm not sure that it is as simple as that for hoppus. As far as memory serves, the hoppus measurement takes into account that larger logs have less waste in them than smaller pieces, so the value changes. I might be wrong though, and I'm feeling too idle to test my theory by working it out!
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I would agree with kernowstu regarding pricing. I paid £7 a hoppus for a good 24 inch butt a little while back. If you can sell it for veneer then you are laughing, but hard to do.
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Alas, but no buggiscopic - that's further down the line! For the time being I have a little Misubishi Compact tractor with a Mcconell forklift attachment. It will only lift about a tonne, but that is fine for 95% of my work. Jonathan
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2 inches sounds like a pretty reasonable thickness. Things to bear in mind are: * Ash is a hard, dry timber to mill. My experience is that the mill will run slow, hot and with more vibration than most other timbers. Ensure that the chain is razor sharp, the oiler is working well (or that there is an auxiliary oiler) and the air filter is spotless! * Keep the tree in it's full length. 6ft isn't a particularly useful size for furniture makers as it's too short for beds, doors and tables on the whole. Let the customer decide where they want it cut! * Have fun! It looks like a nice stick! Finally, regarding shrinkage, I tend to find that timber cut at 1.5 inches will shrink to 1 3/8 in the kiln. Jonathan
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That's very interesting Chris - so basically you are saying fell and leave it a week or two to sned the tree so that it's pulled all the sap out of the main stem. I will give that a go!
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The Oak is certainly of interest - leave it with me whilst I figure out what to use it for!
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Not a problem Rob! It's always a learning curve, and each time I do a decent amount of milling, I always take something from it that I do differently the next time. Quick question - can anyone recommend a good hygrometer that won't break in the heat and humidity of the kiln? Needs to be remotely viewable and happily operate at 35-40 celsius and up to 85% RH. Jonathan
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Quick little update. Almost all timber from the first two kilns has sold (have perhaps 10-15% of it left) and the third kiln will open 3 weeks tomorrow. I decided to use a woodmizer for this kiln, and in many respects it was ok, but it did require the shaving down of quite a lot of logs and due to some metal work, some of the boards in the sycamore were wavy. Anyway, lots of lessons learned, and the fourth kiln fill (scheduled for the start of May) will be better still. All logs going into that kiln will be of ideal size for the woodmizer and I've now got my own little forklift to speed things up. This kiln contains roughly a third elm, third oak and third sycamore. Jonathan
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Still looking folks! All anyone seems to have at the moment is beech and sycamore!
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Thanks for the feedback folks. Decided to go ahead with the felling of the timber next Wednesday. Some really nice trees to take down - 2-3 product lengths of 9ft from each one. I am doing to felling and extraction to roadside myself, so that I can demonstrate the Alstor 8x8 forwarder to the estate forester. Getting the sawlogs at a flat rate of £4 a hoppus foot delivered to my yard ready to fill kiln number 4. I will take photos over the course of the day.
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For good clean Oak, £3 a hoppus foot is much too cheap. For me, I would be happy to pay £6-7 a foot delivered to my yard, so perhaps £5-6 at road side.
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Just a quick one, but if anyone is looking for spalted beech planks, there is a chance that I could mill some top order on a very large log, where to the best of my knowledge, the spalting goes right through without compromising the quality of the timber. PM if interested. Jonathan
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Beautiful piece that!
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Just got some Oregon Fjordlands and I'm very impressed with them!
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That is just grim when you think about it. All the best for her recovery in hospital and for hoping that this suspension of human behaviour by a member of her community doesn't cause her to give up.
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£75 for the Ipad (16GB), £20 a month for 15GB on a 24 month contract with Three.
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Ipad 2 is due out in two days apparently, so they've dropped all the Ipad 1 prices. I had a play on one today and was very impressed, so ordered one. If it turns out that the prices drop further, I can return it on the 14 day returns policy and buy it again. I think it will be a great piece of kit to have - mobile office, regardless of where you are.
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If you don't bring an 090AV, I going to personally turn you away at the border! Always have bits and bobs of work going on, and the occasional bit of milling or kiln filling at the weekends. Good luck with everything!
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As the title suggests, looking for Elm in the Edinburgh area. Happy to mill in situ, or arrange collection or pay for delivery. I've contacts with a reasonable number of tree surgeony types in the vicinity, but more is always better! PM if you have anything of interest, Jonathan
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This is very true. Air around the wood will naturally pick up the moisture from the timber, becoming saturated. If wind doesn't take this away, no more moisture can be stripped from the timber. The effect of sun is that it increases the air temperature, increasing the maximum possible absolute humidity of the air, increasing the moisture removal capacity. So sun + wind = dry timber!
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Temperature and species have a massive effect on the reading - expensive moisture meters have settings to adjust for both variables. It does render the cheap ebay option a bit useless to be honest with you.
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Cutters - how much m3 do you cut a day?!
Big J replied to TimberCutterDartmoor's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Correct -
jcb,hiab,digger,forklift,crane on eBay (end time 20-Mar-11 18:09:13 GMT) Fascinating piece of kit, would have loved to buy it myself, but can't quite afford it. It's right up in the north west Highlands, but a stunning place to drive to to pick it up! Could be a really bargain for someone, especially a firewood producer (think of loading those tonne bags to your truck etc). Jonathan
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Species/Length/Use of logs.
Big J replied to Sam Thompson's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
In hardwood thinnings we cut to 3.5m as it's about the easiest length for the Alstor that we use for extraction: In soft woods, 4m is OK. We generally cut only for firewood though.
