Squaredy

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Turkey oak is good for milling, great medulla rays

Got any pictures?  I have a couple of stems here I have been putting off milling.  My research has given me conflicting information.  One source I found a while back stated that Turkey Oak is the famous Wainscote Oak as used in Houses of Parliament (which of course has amazing medullary rays) but other sources I found give other info.  Holm Oak I know has amazing rays, but is usually bendy and splits really badly.  I would love more info on this.  Sadly I am a bit too far away from Surrey to consider a lorry load as the OP is offering but I would like to know for the future.

2 hours ago, Lazurus said:

Ok a collegue at work has asked me to make some doors for his newly built cart shed - whilst I have the tools and ability to build them I have no idea about pricing. Been asked for 2x doors similar to the image below from cedar or similar as opposed to softwood, the door frame size is 2.19 x 2.74 m. I have no local supplier of exterior grade timber so ask for any help or guidance on materials and pricing would be appreciated, would like the job but dont know where to satrt as all my jobs are normally in softwood, and easy to work out how much the materials are, then I just bung on a few quid to cover consumables, but this one I would like to do "proper". If not I will pass him to a local company but I would like to see if I can be competative.

Work out timber cost, then add 50%.  Estimate how many days it will take per door and double it and multiply by your required daily rate.  If you are applying paint or any finish add at least a day for that plus cost of the paint.

Depending on how well equipped you are and how skilled and whether you do proper mortise and tenon joints etc, I would say it is 6 days minimum and could be much more.  Timber is surely going to be £300 in decent quality softwood or maybe £600 in Douglas Fir or Larch (if you can find it dry which is unlikely) or £1000 in Sweet Chestnut.  Or tropical hardwoods would be ideal if you like de-forestation so consider Idigbo or Iroko.  I doubt any normal joinery shop would do them for less than £1500 to £1800 in cheap timber.

5 hours ago, se7enthdevil said:

that's the sort of job you leave for a good sized rip saw that will have tct blades. they go right through mild steel.

I wouldn't risk my re-saw on nails or my Lucas Mill!  I know you can get blades designed to cope with nails but normal TCT can chip or get broken off altogether.  At least with a band mill the blade is quick to change and costs about £22 new so not so much at stake!

There is a guy with his own mobile splitter who lives in Pwllmeyrick who is on facebook as Dennis' Tree Services.  He may be able to help you.

28 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Total failure today.
Client wanted a couple of reclaimed beams(10"x16") cutting in to planks.
I texted him the price of hitting metal.
He was fine with that.

Got 4" in to the first cut, sparking and smoking.
Filed the buggered teeth back.
Got another 6".
Another filing.
Another 6" cut, I gave up.
Had a look carefully and saw several more nails,screws etc.
Wasted an afternoon and a 25" chain.
Lesson learned, no resawing ever.
Client was gutted,
I felt bad, so I'm giving him a large slab, as I still had to charge him £150 for a 16" cut.

 

Yeah re-sawing reclaimed beams is rarely worthwhile.  I have done a few recently and charge the same hourly rate for de-nailing as for the sawing.  Inevitably the sawing is just a tiny part of the cost.  A friend asked me to do one in the summer and said he had de-nailed it.  We put it on the forklift and my wife removed another 77 nails before we re-sawed it.  Three hours de-nailing, 30 mins sawing.

I think you will have to enlighten me - what exactly is a soapstone surround?  I have tried googling it but this hasn't really told me what it is.  Wikipedia tells me Soapstone is a metamorphic rock with good heat storage capacity, so is this the key?

I am guessing it is not a cheap option....?  And not good for native wildlife, so maybe not good to promote?

I have just been totally fooled into thinking I was watching a Marsh Harrier, but it turns out it is a very realistic kite.

Do Network Rail employ such measures around overhead wires?  It is right next to the newly electrified South Wales main line in the Gwent Levels.  Would birds pose a hazard to a train?

I am no birdie but I get excited about wildlife, and then my wife spots the string!  She can’t stop laughing.

22 minutes ago, neiln said:

drains were cctv'ed.  minor misalignments of clay pipe not thought to be a problem but sleeved anyway...damage continues years on.  ITS THE F*****G TREES GUYS, really, it is!

Photos would be a real help.

I also suffered subsidence recently but luckily due it being my own tree, the 'solution' was easy - it was removed by the insurance company.  But to be fair although my tree was the obvious cause there was another much more serious cause.  My house is built on shrinkable clay with foundations around 400mm deep.  New builds in my street have 1000mm foundations specified by building control now.  So the real fault lies with the prevalent building regulations 90 years ago.  My house is always going to be at risk.

8 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Only when the wind blows...
Then I'd need a large collection of lead batteries which would need changing every 5-10 years.
That's why I'm thinking of using ponds.
The idea I've been looking in to is as low maintenance and as simple as possible.
The wind and solar pump are always on.
Would still need to use a few batteries as a voltage/current regulator.
Also the ponds would be so much more biodiversity friendly than a row of deep cycle lead/acid batteries.
(You can't swim in a lead battery either)

The best option is to get an old water mill and put a 3phase dynamo on.
Make a tasty sawmill and workshop.

What you are describing Saul is if I understand you correctly a small version of a pump storage  power station.  There are a number of them in Scotland and at least one in Wales.  I think they should build more.  For that matter I think there could be much better use of hilly areas with hydro power.  There is a fairly small (42 acres) reservoir near me which has been empty for years as maintenance is carried out by Welsh Water.  They should so use the opportunity to install hydro power whilst they are at it.  Even if they only get a small amount of electricity - it all helps.

1 hour ago, Woodlover said:

I have trouble putting much thought to this subject as I am confident that new tech,materials and advances in clean electricity generation will solve this problem long before ever more polluting materials of insulation would, I say polluting in the way of manufacturing and disposal of insulation.

We are better of in the long run to keep what we have and not produce polluting materials like rockwall ect and let the heat escape , as long as we have clean electricity we can waste all that we want? The answer IMO is to concentrate our efforts and cash on generating clean electricity.

You make a very very good point, I also dislike the plastic based insulation materials, they are themselves unsustainable.

But I think you also underestimate the cost of electrical heating.  Currently electricity is around three times the price of natural gas.  So without insulation an average house with a current heating bill of say £1000 per year (natural gas) will cost £3000 per year with electricity.  Unless of course renewably generated electricity eventually becomes much much cheaper.  And of course you are ignoring the extra comfort in a home which does not get too hot in the summer or freezing cold in the summer,

Maybe the solution is vastly improved insulation with natural materials.  For example wool, straw etc.  I am aware this may give rise to problems with mice and other critters, but I assume there are ways around this?  My own house I am toying with the idea of adding 50mm western red cedar external cladding (which I will mill and dry of course).  If I ever manage this I would expect a much drier house and a reasonable increase in insulation.

I don't know enough about new builds to really comment, but I agree old houses need drastic improvement.  Insulation is possible, but to do it properly is very very difficult and expensive.  

My brother lives in a 1920's end of terrace in Bristol, brick built with no cavity.  He has recently had 100mm external insulation added, partly funded by the local authority.  It has been done well, but there are still problems, as windows, doors, downpipes etc were all designed without this extra 4 inches of wall thickness.  On the plus side, the house is now much more pleasant inside in all weather and heating costs have decreased a lot.  It would look a lot better if all houses in the street had been done, but only about half were.

I would love to insulate the outside of my house too but I am not yet sure what if any approach will work.  My lounge has two external walls and a very nice but very cold large bay window and if the rad gets hot enough we recon we have done well if it reaches 20 degrees C on a cold evening.  In the morning it will be down to about 13 degrees after a really cold night.  It is brick built with a cavity, and some damp but a lot less damp than it used to as we have had the cavity wall insulation removed.

As John Seymour said in one of his books, insulating old houses to a high standard needs to become a huge industry in the UK.

11 hours ago, se7enthdevil said:

if it's a gloss finish you want then don't use an oil...

And put aside a lot of time to keep maintaining it.

If you have an Axminster store in your area you can go there and have a demo of Tormek and other systems.  Their staff are only too willing to show this sort of thing in my experience.

1 hour ago, ESS said:

There is no direct headage payment for livestock, SFP is predominantly made up from environmental payments.i.e taking land out of production for the benefit of nature. Why do people think farming is subsidised? because otherwise produce in the shops would have to meet the cost of production which would result in families on low income etc. starving,..the consumer gets the benefit of subsidies also in the cost of their bread, milk, meat etc. Take subsidies away and we would have to increase the welfare payments to those that need them, ...

The main reason woodlands have been neglected was money, or lack of it, until more recent years the cost of harvesting, reinstatement etc outweighed the financial return, particularly for low grade wood. Admittedly the increased demand for woodfuels has seen a rise in prices, but often the return to landowners for low quality small blocks could amount to a few hundred quid.

Why do people think farming is subsidised?  Because it is.  3 billion per year roughly in the UK.

Is cheap food really a benefit?  Maybe food waste and obesity might be reduced if people valued food more?

12 minutes ago, ESS said:

Why do you say sustainable forestry is not allowed? The way I see it the people willing to invest in land, pay their own establishment etc without grants is the thing that's not sustainable.

What direct subsidy payments are farmers receiving for livestock ? the subsidies livestock farmers are receiving, particularly hill farms are environmental payments for reducing stock numbers for the benefit of the birds and the bees, flowers and grouse.

Arable farmers receive subsidy for taking land out of production, buffer strips, set aside, for the same reason as above.

I am no expert I will admit, but farming in the UK makes more money from subsidies than selling their products.  And to be specific, don't small farms receive something called the Single Farm Payment?  A relative of mine who is a cow farmer certainly does and it is very important to him.  So as I said livestock farming is heavily subsidised.  Who do so many farmers neglect their woodlands and work their fields hard?  Because the agriculture is so much more heavily encouraged financially than the forestry.  Wales alone has around 150,000 acres of unmanaged hardwood woodland.  When did you last see a field that has not been touched for 70 years?

I have been reading this thread with interest.  Fair play Jonathon you are good at starting interesting threads.

I think anyone who doesn't see the down side of the high property prices in the UK is being a little naive.  A lot of people have benefited from the high price of property and land....mainly land owners and anyone who owns more than one house especially.  And of course anyone who inherits a house or a share of.  The majority of people in the UK have done very nicely out of this bubble.  I may do one day when my parents/in-laws pop their clogs. 

But you have to feel for anyone trying to get their foot on the property ladder.  That is really what Big J is talking about.  OK he is wanting to do it slightly differently from most, but before the last 20 years of crazy property value increases it would have been probably quite feasible for him to do exactly what he is suggesting.  For an average decent family home in Devon to be worth maybe £350,000 when Devon is full of people in the tourist industry earning maybe £17,000 per year is a huge problem.  The system is broken.  Same problem in London and most of South East England.  Many people can only ever rent (at a rate that means they will never be able to save up a deposit) or hope they will one day inherit.

It is a very sad situation, not for the majority who are doing very nicely thank you, but for the millions who may never be able to get on the property ladder, and are stuck in a cycle of ever-increasing rent.

I for one think that if Brexit means the property market crashes, or at least drops 20% or so this could be very welcome relief for a lot of people.

I also want to just say that it is so ironic that as this thread highlights, the only type of activity that is fully supported and for which an AOC is likely to be granted is exactly the sort of activity that is contributing vastly to global warming and food insecurity.  Sustainable profitable forestry is not allowed, yet unsustainable animal agriculture is encouraged and heavily subsidised.  And when I say unsustainable animal agriculture, I am not suggesting all animal husbandry is unsustainable, but if you take a look at the bigger picture such farming is most certainly unsustainable.

6 minutes ago, Con said:

Chipper. 175 r13 tyre. All it is, I could do it tonight, as I've got the tyre, otherwise it's a bit of a round trip in the morning before I can get going.

Thanks

So it is not going on the road at speed?  In which case balancing no problem.  Go for it but watch some YouTube vids for instruction.  Most difficult part is breaking the bead.

2 minutes ago, Con said:

Hi

Has anyone ever took a vehicle/trailer tyre off a rim and put one back on themselves? Using just basic equipment, pry bar/crow bar etc. Is it possible?

Thanks in advance

Yes have done it several times.  Not too easy and will take much longer than you imagine.  And it will not be balanced.  

Two questions really: is it worth it; and what type of vehicle is it?

1 minute ago, Rough Hewn said:

I think they want the item insured against damage or loss/theft.

Yeah maybe that is all they want.  OP didn’t say and I assumed product liability.

Theft and accidental damage cover should be cheap enough. Proving the value could be tricky if it was pinched.

1 hour ago, Woodlover said:

Its the Statue from "something different" thread...I`ll post a pic below.

 

I could carry out a risk assessment for you for a modest fee....

3 hours ago, Woodlover said:

I have been lucky enough to get a piece I did into an Art gallery but they want me to have Insurance.

 

I have only just heard this via email and will meet them next week to discuss...I would like to go prepared knowing what`s what but on-line just now answering silly questions that don't apply to me or the situation the quote came out at £160 FFS

 

What do you guys who exhibit your work at wood fairs ect do?  I only need 1 months cover for this one event.

What is the piece?  I am just wondering how risky it is but without knowing if it is a 20m totem pole or a turned life size cherry we are a bit in the dark.

I sort of hope it is a life size cherry...

I have just been contacted by a man who is purchasing a property in  Kent (ME13) and wants to find a contractor who can clear a ten acre cherry orchard.  The area is to be re-planted as a vineyard.

It is 400 or more trees around 18 inches diameter so will be a fair chunk of work for a small scale forester.  If you are interested please PM me and I will share the owner's contact details.

I do not have a lot of information about the job, and I cannot vouch for what is involved but the customer seemed to know what he is up to.  

Hopefully when the trees are down I might be able to purchase a lorry load for milling - it would be a shame if it all went for biomass.  It is a bit far from me, but I have heard that lots of lorries from this area head to Kent with logs for the biomass plant, so maybe one can make a detour and come back with a load!

1 minute ago, topchippyles said:

Best voice in cricket is blower ,A close run between him and richie benaud 

Yeah Richie Benauld was awesome.  And in his day one of the best Aussie players ever.

1 minute ago, Stubby said:

I used to like listening on the wireless !   Commentator - " This really is a splendid slice of Victoria Sponge , Oh look there goes a number 57 bus "  ?

Indeed, and don’t forget the butterfly with a limp!

16 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Any one enjoying  the test match ?   Jimmy Anderson did not look too good in his brief appearance .  Get Smith out and its ours I recon .  

I always follow the cricket, but as a sawmiller not an arborist I cannot afford Sky so out comes my long wave radio.  Aggers and the others are great anyway, but I do miss Blowers.