Squaredy

My son has just chosen his GCSE options and although initially thought he could do history, has now been told that to do history he must give up Latin and Computer Science (both of which he really wants to continue).  So instead he is not doing history, and I have told him he can do it online.

He is highly motivated and has a deep love of history so I have no doubt he will do well.  Can anyone recommend a good online provider?

He is very good at researching history in books and YouTube etc, but of course he will need to learn exam technique and how to phrase his answers and essays in an appropriate way.

Any suggestions very welcome.

And finally I have connected my inverter to the new mains grid connection.  Rome wasn't built in a day, remember.

The last major step is to connect the Woodmizer to the inverter and see if it will run it!  Hope to do a temporary job on this tomorrow and if it all runs good I will do it properly next week.

13 hours ago, Billhook said:

It was split by my Lockdown splitter three years ago into mainly 4 inch square x 16 inch.  It is bone dry but still heavy, there is absolutely no smoke coming from the stainless steel chimney.  It does not feel like pine, could it perhaps be a slower growth rate making it more dense?  Or perhaps just a different variety of Leylandii.

13 hours ago, Billhook said:

It was split by my Lockdown splitter three years ago into mainly 4 inch square x 16 inch.  It is bone dry but still heavy, there is absolutely no smoke coming from the stainless steel chimney.  It does not feel like pine, could it perhaps be a slower growth rate making it more dense?  Or perhaps just a different variety of Leylandii.

13 hours ago, Billhook said:

It was split by my Lockdown splitter three years ago into mainly 4 inch square x 16 inch.  It is bone dry but still heavy, there is absolutely no smoke coming from the stainless steel chimney.  It does not feel like pine, could it perhaps be a slower growth rate making it more dense?  Or perhaps just a different variety of Leylandii.

Certainly growth rate will affect timber density.  Usually leylandii grows incredibly fast.  But, there are many varieties of dwarf conifer which may or may not be a type of leylandii, so maybe.  

12 minutes ago, Tree Top Arborists said:

Thank you again for replying guys.

 

The slabs are based in Buckinghamshire at the moment.

 

I appreciate the help with everything. That makes a lot of sense. I assume kiln dried is the preferenece for expediance but is that the best way forward?

Ideally to kiln dry timber for interior joinery you air dry it fist, and then finish it off in a kiln.

Now it is possible to kiln dry straight from freshly sawn, and a lot depends on the species and thickness.  I have never tried it with beech, but maybe some Arbtalkers have.  The risk is if you dry it slowly (say three months) the cost of kilning may be so high it is just not worth it.  Or if you try and dry it quickly the timber will distort and crack badly and even honeycomb inside.  Softwoods usually are a lot easier to dry quickly.  The denser really hard timbers (especially oak) take a long time to dry.

23 hours ago, Tree Top Arborists said:

Here are some pictures of some of the spalted Beech

Good to see some pictures.  Personally I price by the cubic foot, but many people do not.  My prices vary from about £30 per cubic foot to £60 plus VAT.  

You are correct about value being higher if dried.  Or to be more accurate you will struggle to find buyers if not dried.  All the slabs I sell are dry.  After all, not many people want to buy a slab for use in two or three years.  Also if they know what they are doing they will understand that a slab may well look lovely when freshly cut, but when dry it is likely to cup, distort and split, so may end up as firewood.

So my advice (as someone who has sold many slabs over many years) is put them to dry thoroughly and then advertise them with good photos.  Ideally when they are dry get at least one side planed or sanded to show the grain and clean it; otherwise they just look mucky and you can't see the grain.

1 hour ago, Tree Top Arborists said:

Hi everyone.

 

We have a variety of slabs for sale in varying lengths and widths. Species range from Beech(spalted and non spalted), Cedar, Oak, Yew, Cherry and Pine. We can supply individually or in bulk. If anyone is interested please do not hesitate to get in contact.

 

We are also looking for other places to distribute this so if anyone has any leads, that would be most helpful. 

Why don’t you share some photos so people can see what you have?

1 hour ago, Thesnarlingbadger said:

Hi people, sorry this is on the panther milling page (couldn’t seem to fine a more appropriate place).

 

 We felled an oak dead oak back in November last year. The oak had been dead 15 years and was somehow still standing. Completely straight and I have left a length 14.3m long 1.1m at the base end and 70cm at the top end. 
 

 Would anyone be interested in the timber?

 

 My customers would like to make some money from this so it would be best offer.

 

 Access is slightly limited with a gate wide enough for a standard van (unlikely be able to get a tractor through). 
 

 It is in Stanton drew south Bristol. 
 

 Pictures below. If anyone is interested let me know.

 

 Cheers Eric 

 

 

I don’t wish to seem negative, but:

1) the oak in the photos has not been standing dead 15 years.  Maybe one year.

2) It is not normal oak by the looks of it.  Possibly turkey oak or red oak.

3) The value if it were a good oak stem would be minimal.  Especially as it will have to be milled in situ.  If I am right about the species, value is even lower.

4) I think most people capable of removing it would want paying for a day’s labour at least.

8 hours ago, Just_me said:

Hi all, I hope this is the right place to ask. I’m looking into buying large amounts of timber from Forestry England. Well large for me circa 500 tonne. They use an auction type way of selling. As I’m new to this and only bought from suppliers before, I’ve literally no idea what price per tonne to bid. They don’t seem to be the same as other auctions where you can see the current bid. It seem more of a ‘sealed bid’ type of affair. 
any advice or guidance re prices for softwood and hardwood at roadside. Tia. 

I have used it just once.  Most of the paperwork hassle was avoided by using timber hauliers who were used to dealing with FC.  I did still have to prove I had £10 million public liability insurance.

As for prices, the FC do publish average prices once a year I believe, so this might give you an idea.

26 minutes ago, doobin said:

You're looking for a full free lift, or 'container spec' mast. Not that commmon as most side loaders are used in open yards.

 

They are cheap enough machines secondhand as there is not much of secondary market for them. I'd look for another secondhand machine rather than to spend a lot of time anbd effort trying to swap the mast with another.

Thank you Doobin I am sure you are right.  The only reason I am tempted to do a swap is the fact that the one I have on loan is clearly a very sound machine.  I am always wary of buying old cheap kit as it usually ends in tears...  But I will probably end up buying a low mast one as you say.

I have this Lansing sideloader forklift on approval, and it is a great machine except it has a mast which sticks up way too far for me.  I need the type of mast which you can use in restricted height areas like the second photo.  With the one I have, at the same forks height the mast sticks up about three metres higher!

It is a long shot I know but do any of you fellow arbtalkers know of someone who has a duplex mast from one of these machines they are selling?

These Lansing sideloaders are quite common (common for sideloaders that is) and to my amazement I discovered they are made in Wales.

5 hours ago, Johnsond said:

Do you genuinely think. Heroin, Crystal Meth, Fentanyl etc etc should be legal ?. 

Do you think them being illegal stops people getting them? 

And if you accept that supply of drugs such as you mention still happens on a vast scale despite being illegal, are you happy that all this business is managed (quite literally) by criminal gangs?

It is called ring shake.  Not common in oak thankfully.  Can be a huge problem in sweet chestnut.  Also had it in elm.

It is not fully understood what causes it, but in chestnut is much more prevalent in older trees.

3 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

I don't have any experience with ponderosa or radiata, which I have not seen planted commercially on scale, more species trees.  Logepole pile used to get planted in commercial blocks as windbreaks.  The timber was never amazing - slow growing so small by time of harvest and not very straight.

 

Scots pine and particularly the heartwood is great stuff and very durable.  And yes I agree much better than spruce and very similar to larch in the same condition.  Of course small sappy pieces of either species with the bark left on will be rubbish.

Interesting.  Sadly the pieces I have which have confounded my expectations of fast rotting are of an unknown variety.  

I mean I don’t know the exact species, not that they are new to science.

I have always considered pine timber to be non-durable.  I have noticed however a number of instances where it resists rot surprisingly well.

I am not talking about pitch pine or oregon pine (Douglas Fir) but the types of pines we get here in the UK - I guess: scots, lodgepole, ponderosa, radiata.

Can anyone guide me - are certain ones known to be durable?  Or are they all more durable than I imagined?  

I would have said they are not much better than spruce, but I am thinking they are actually closer to larch.

What do you think fellow Arbtalkers?

On 28/03/2024 at 19:19, Billhook said:

Thanks for the replies 

 

The wood came from some large trees and had been seasoned for about three years so there was less resin but it was still quite heavy.  Little bark and quite stringy on the outside of each log. I felt that this stringy layer burnt fiercely and may have coated the remaining log with a black ash which subdued the fire 

The air vents were fully open, normally half shut down for Ash and Sycamore once the fire is going 

I think it is good advice to mix it with the Ash and Sycamore 

 

 

 

 

If leylandii (or indeed any cypress) is quite heavy it is still wet.  

4 hours ago, waterbuoy said:

Yup - I had no idea just how bad things are until I was asked to join the Parent Council. 

 

Whilst our situation isn't helped by a very self-serving and weak new headmaster who has effectively sidelined the former leadership tem, it is the overbearing desire to protect the 'rights' of the minority - in this case the trouble makers who do not want to be at school - which is undemining the moral of staff and pupils alike.

 

In the cae I described the unruly child was not actually suspended by the school - the police took her away for interview, she took a day off (I am told) and was then welcomed back into the school - to the surpsie (and dismay) of many.

 

I have been told (but don't know for certain) that the new head teacher sent his children to private school, which if true kind of says it all really.

And is this a school run by the LEA or is it an academy school?  I think it is about time local councils stopped trying to run schools.  But I don’t know if academies are any better.

17 minutes ago, waterbuoy said:

Correct on all counts - the school used to have an onsite police liaison officer pre-covid but that is no longer the case due to cutbacks.  It is probably worse than you state as there is a perception amongst the 'normal' children that those who misbehave then get special attention, to the detriment of everyone else.

 

This makes the top headline in the 'Scottish News' section of the BBC website this morning - again, plenty of discussion on dangers to teachers, but nothing about the children who may also be on the receiving end:

 

Union calls for teacher guidance on restraining pupils

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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The NASUWT says the Scottish government is four years late in providing "concrete guidance" for teachers.

 

I guess most parents have very little idea of just how bad things have become.  No wonder home schooling and independent school numbers have gone up.

I would suggest it isn’t even that difficult to solve the problem either.  Just give each school the ultimate ability to exclude a pupil if they feel it necessary.  It must be soul destroying to kick out an unruly child only to find them re-instated by the local authority the following week.

11 hours ago, waterbuoy said:

Sorry - have been away working on Coll for a couple of days

 

Yes, it happened on school premises - in full view of one of the staff rooms.

So the implicit message from the school to the children is that bad behaviour will go unpunished.  The children can literally do what they like, and unless the police get involved there are no consequences.

All I can say is thank goodness my kids are not in that school.

4 hours ago, doobin said:

Why not? 

Well, Trigger Andy has summed it up quite well.  By the time you have faffed about understanding the customers needs, explained about what happens if you hit metal and then get your head round how you will actually do the resawing; you often find that is an hour or two gone.  The customer sees that the cutting took ten minutes so expects a bill for two and six.

Plus, in any case my kit is set up for sawing logs, which are wet and easy to mill.  A board or two that a customer has been drying for years and years and is now dry, twisted and super hard is the last thing I want to mill.

2 hours ago, Adam Bl said:

Good Morning,

 

I wondered if anyone knew of a sawmill in the South West (Somerset area) that had a vertical band Resaw? 
 

many thanks, 

 

Adam 

Maybe you should say why you want a sawmill with a bandsaw.

 Are you hoping to buy it?  Are you hoping they will do some re-sawing for you?

 If that latter perhaps put details on here as there may be other ways.  Or it might be what you are hoping for is unlikely to happen.

I run a small sawmill, but we very rarely take on re-sawing jobs.  Not because we don’t get asked but for commercial reasons.

9 hours ago, waterbuoy said:

Whilst I agree, the reality is that things have moved on since we (well, me for certain) were at school.  I currently sit on the Parent Council for our local High School, and on Monday we discussed a recent event with the head teacher:

 

One 12yr old pupil was attacked by an older pupil, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head.  All of this was videod by the attackers friends and posted on Insta.

 

School's response - notify police and parents, and then step back as quickly as they could from the situation.  The school say that they prefer to 'empower' families to make formal complaints to the police themselves as that is not their responsibility. (My view is that the safety and wellbeing of the child is the responsibility of the school whilst they are on the premises, but apparently that is not the case any more!).

 

Two days later the attacker is back at school getting counselling and receiving additional lessons whilst the poor child who was kicked in was/is still in hospital.  The family are too scared of the potential consequences to make a formal complaint and/or press charges.

 

I suspect that if it was a teacher who had been attacked then the school and local authority would have been all over it like a bad rash.

So, just to be clear, this happened on school premises?

Is it just me or is there a massive elephant in this room?

Gordano School apologises after pupils hurt in crush

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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The Health and Safety Executive says it is looking into how the crush developed at the school gates.

I mean yes the school should look at their procedures, but are they not going to tell the kids to not push in future?  Is it not allowed these days to ever suggest a child behaved badly?

My kids don’t go to this school but if they did I would like to think the first thing the school would do is make it clear that pushing and unruly behaviour is unacceptable.

54 minutes ago, irish surgeon said:

Hi Guys,  we have a sale of western red cedar coming up, just wondering how prices are over there and will speak with interested partys. Sawn to order from 3m - 8m in length.   Cheers 

I could be out of date, but prices here are high.  My last batch of WRC sawlogs was £160 per ton delivered.  That was maybe a bit less than a year ago.  Decent logs mind.

But, unless you can ship them across the sea does it matter what the price is here in the UK?

Now I have also tried Victordle.  This is where you play competitively with someone else, somewhere in the world.

It is great for knocking back your confidence if ever you start to feel you are getting good at it!  I don't like it much as it takes away the pleasure (for me anyway) if you are under time pressure.

I am pretty sure you can get word processors these days that fit on a small desk.  Something like this...

No need for any trailer, but it will need a power source I believe.