Squaredy

Such a shame that a beautiful tree like that is to be perhaps ruined. But it is so so common isn't it? When they built those houses they had enough foresight to save what was no doubt a nice tree, and it has been appreciated no doubt by the owners for the last 70 or so years, but you can't blame the current owners for being concerned. Having said that, if I were the owner I would leave it well alone except for getting risk assessments carried out once in a blue moon by an arborist whom I trusted. I went to look at an ancient Yew a few years ago (in Cwmbran) with a view to buying the stem as it was being felled, and I was horrified to find it was the largest most magnificent Yew I have ever seen (though not the oldest - I would say 400 years or so). It was in magnificent condition and the stem was 5 feet diameter or so at breast height and then as the multiple stems had conjoined over the years the apparent main trunk actually got wider up to about 20 feet height and was about ten feet diameter before the crown. It was a tree worthy of any magnificent tree book, but totally in the wrong place being in the back lawn of a small house. No doubt when the terraced houses were built in the early 1800s it was just an average large Yew and not a problem, but 200 years later it had become way too big for the setting. In a park or a large private garden it would have been a much cherished specimen, lavished with care and protection. I declined to buy the timber, but as far as I know it was felled.

A log round is almost guaranteed to split eventually unless maybe if it is just a few inches diameter, but even then it may still split. Some species may not like perhaps Sequoia, but Beech is very prone to splitting. I would suggest doing the splitting yourself, so the log does not need to split. Either cut it into two half rounds or four - then it probably won't split. And keep it in a well ventilated place outdoors out of the sun, and it will dry slowly. If you were hoping to keep the whole round and turn it using the full size your only chance is to turn it green, and then finish turning when it has dried.

Thanks!

Hi Blaisey, thanks for that, I will ring you and chat sometime. I enjoyed watching your videos, and as someone else said that is a neat little fork truck, what is it called? I tried following the link but it is dead now. I guess they don't come up too often second hand....I have certainly never seen one and I look a lot for that sort of machine!

In all seriousness in a building with poor ventilation mould can grow on almost any wood. When you get a few days of cold damp weather it can be a killer. Look at the underside of the roof sheets in the morning after a cold night - I bet they will be dripping.

One one possible explanation.... the original poster must live in the west of Scotland.

I am well aware there are many children in need of help both in the UK and elsewhere. What really annoys me is the talk of mass poverty in the UK. Much of the developing world would find this very odd. There are 1.4 million children living in the UK in poverty they say. They don’t usually point out that the definition of poverty that is being used has nothing to do with real poverty. My own kids are officially living in poverty. What nonsense.

Well when it is chopped split dried and delivered to loads of customers I guess that is about right.

I used to agree with this until I looked into it a bit more. Particles below a certain size are just emitted into the atmosphere. Up to a point we will get away with doing this but as more incinerators are built and with all the other emissions I think maybe this is a step in the wrong direction. The UK is not too bad, but even here there is increasing awareness of the harm being caused. Even burning pure wood is now being questioned in the press.

Ah shame, I have quite a few lumps mainly with spalting as well. Don't get offered much sadly. A very local solicitor offered me a large tree a couple of years ago which would have yielded three or four tons of timber and trunk diameter was about two feet. When I pointed out it would cause some damage to his lawn to extract he said he would have it cut up for firewood instead. If you are over the bridge in Wales give me a shout if you want to see my Holm Oak.

I just had a look through some of the great pics on this thread, fair play I love your work Steve. Turning can be rather boring as sometimes people just turn out endless bowls they have no use for, but I love the skittles. I like the way you also nest bowls - good way of avoiding waste. Wood turning is always going to be wasteful but at least with nesting, the block gives you three bowls for the price of one! Have you ever tried Holm Oak for balls? I am assuming the balls have to be pretty heavy. I love the grain of Holm Oak and guess it would make amazing balls?

Also think about what Ash and Spruce are good for. Neither good for cladding. Both could be used as construction timber but not where they will get wet. Really you need something better for cladding. You can treat Spruce of course but it will look for every opportunity to rot. Ash will be a bit better. Ash is great for interior fit out and furniture but will need drying.

Oh my goodness....did that fish used to be your missus???

Cash waiting for dry boards.... even Alder, Birch but also Beech Sycamore and Oak. Fancy turning that stock into cash?

I'd love to know where this information comes from about the other uses of timber. Hawthorn and Apple used for construction? And Sycamore for boatbuilding!?!

I would look at the current offerings from Norwood. If you do this you may realise you are unlikely to get £6500 for a mill that has been out of production for quite a few years now. I know someone near me trying to sell a Lumbermate 2000 for about £3500 and had no interest. I know yours has extras but a buyer may not need these. Have a look at completed listings on ebay and you will see what they actually sell for. I am not looking to buy one by the way, so I have no axe to grind. Good luck with the sale anyway.

Yes agreed but depends on species also. If you are lucky to have lots of Ash in the mix maybe a bit more than if it is oak or softwoods. Big J put a post on here recently offering free Ash for firewood as it was awkward bendy stuff, so a lot depends on exactly what is on offer. Post a few pics and you may get a few more views.

Yes totally we have that in hand.

Trying to keep our old girl out of the rain. Been meaning to make a lid for her for a while. I got reminded the other day when loads of water poured out of the starter motor. Dunno how it seeps in but it does. Hopefully most of the rain will be kept off now. she just runs our Jappa processor so no need for going on road etc.

It is one of the very first telehandlers so very old. I also operate an old telehandler but a Sanderson. I am guessing it will all be old school mechanics not electronics which is good when it goes wrong. What you need to think about is who will service and repair it. And will it need a safety inspection. If if you are not really experienced with machines like this get someone who is to look at it with you. Especially with 4 wheel drive lots of moving parts and hydraulics to maintain. And yes a telehandler is great for shifting logs around.

That sounds awesome. Have you got pics of your home made processor... or is it a carefully guarded secret?

I was wondering if anyone would comment that maybe high petrol and diesel prices actually will benefit us all in the long run. Well said woodworks.

I also have a love of open fires. I would say though if you want a cosy room a large open fire is a really bad idea. The Victorians worked out that the ideal width of an open fire is 16 inches. Any wider and it just gets less and less efficient. A six foot wide open fire will be great at extracting huge volumes of air from the room and keeping it cool and draughty. But it may look really nice. If you want an open fire the best type is probably a Baxi Burnall, which is about 20-30% efficient. I was brought up in a house with one of these and it was lovely and could get the room cosy, though not to the extent a woodburner can sadly. They are still available though I wonder for how much longer.

Yes of course I could charge them like this. In fact I have been doing them in pairs with a 12 volt charger for a couple of days. It is quite a faff. So I need a simple plug in system so we can charge them easily every night. As I said I have now ordered one which will remain permanently connected and mounted on the vehicle. So at the end of each day we simply plug it into the mains.

Look into price of wide blades and sharpening. I remember seeing a 4 inch wide blade struggling on two foot diameter Larch yet I know similar logs cut with a 32mm wide blade with no problem. Yet wide blade cost £120 each and £30 to sharpen.