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Having not posted in ages and not milled anything in anger in even longer, I thought this might be of interest... Recent efforts from the 'Beerkan' mill & its little brother my upgraded mini mill. I got a job to mill beams for a porch build from a tree in the clients garden. Huge 4' Oak, must have been 200 years+. I didn't fell the tree, just hired to do the milling. Briefly, I used the 'Beerkan' mill to cut the slabs, about 40" wide, then the mini mill to cut the beams. Worked really well, surface finish was generally excellent (sorry RobD, I haven't tried the hyper skip yet, as my normal milling chain was working well). The 1st and 2nd slab cut (40"+) seemed really fast, 2.3m in about 5mins about 0.45m/min (Granberg milling chain) which seemed really good, for such a wide cut. 3rd slab cut was painfully slow, 1/3 of the speed, chain still seemed sharp, also this was the centre of the tree. I resharpened but this only made a slight improvement on the 4th slab. Slabs 5 and 6 I swapped the chain to a chipper, was slightly better, not as fast as the slab 1 and 2. Couldn't put my finger on the cause of the difference - engine RPM was a bit low 6.5k - 7k in the cut, but this was fairly consistent throughout. However it was cutting well enough, and the finish was good. Mini mill - this continues to amaze me how quick it cuts. It did all the beams, didn't have to resharpen once! Also see more pics and time lapse video here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Phoenix-Turner-466495826726895/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1914463385263458

One for the left handed turner - as one myself being able to turn over the bed with the headstock on the right has been quite enjoyable - albeit here for just a simple bit of chucking. (-could have done this outboard, where I turn mostly, but didn't want to change the jaws over...)

Thanks, yes I run it from a Teco inverter - awesome bit of kit. Castors are 1/4 or 1/2 tonne capacity, so should be a problem for big stuff. Yes made a new spindle, there should be some pics of that in the FB album. I dislike standard threaded spindle noses, as you can only turn one direction, which I find very restrictive. The chucks are direct mounted, so are solidly connected to the spindle and can not unscrew. Colour is anthracite - partners favorite, brownie points earned :-) Cheers

thanks.

One of the first things finished on it.

- yeah the wheels are castors with a ratchet jack foot in the centre - to make it easy to move about as my workshop space in limited, they work very nicely. Outboard; I should be able to turn a cylinder diameter 700mm x 700mm long, big enough. ?

I haven't posted any woodcraft in over a year as I've been building a new workshop - and a lathe at the same time... Few pics and link below for anyone interested. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Phoenix-Turner-466495826726895/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1660691810640618

Thanks. Floor is holding up well, visiting people often comment on it. My floor too ended up a bit gappy, but I anticipated this, as I'd only been able to air dry outside, hence I knew the M/C would be a little high. I compensated for this by chamfering all the edges making any gaps less apparent. It's no piece of master carpentry but it still looks good.

Hello, can anyone near Worcester plane + thickness me some Oak boards, about 10 off, L~2.5m x W~300mm x t~25mm. (I originally posted this in the craft section, but hope for some leads here as I need to find a solution soon) Thanks, Tom

Thanks for the replies, I don't have space to get a planer (much as I'd like to). What I need is some one to plane them for me, it's only a few boards... (FYI, the guy that normally planes boards for me just has a thicknesser which does the job very well)

Hello, can anyone near Worcester plane + thickness me some Oak boards, about 10 off, L~2.5m x W~300mm x t~25mm. The chap that normally does it is away for a few weeks, and I need them done within that time. Rough price and tome scale, any help greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom

Not posted in a while but I always enjoy seeing other's work, so here are some recent creations of mine- More detail here: (New pieces toward album end.) https://www.facebook.com/466495826726895/photos/?tab=album&album_id=467938433249301 https://www.facebook.com/466495826726895/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1124596694250135

Sorry didn't see this until today. Bit I used was a Dewalt 92mm diameter self feed cutter - with extension bar, bought via amazon. -read through the wine bottle rack thread - all discussed there.

Thanks, -it's all turned, apart from the square ends of course. -overhang's not too bad and it's quite symmetrical so no balance problems.

Some great plum... -more here:

Norway Maple, surely? - nice bit of wood either way

Some great turnery above, as ever. Awesome HF's Terry! -Steve what finish are you using on those recent bowls - looks flawless? A few contributions of my own from over the Christmas period - nice to be able to get in the Workshop... A Tiger Oak HF, Cherry rim bowl, and a Spalted Beech OG bowl.

Lots of good stuff being put up... I little contribution of my own. Small O-gee spalted Beech bowl. See more detail here: Happy turning

Nice Burrs MattF, if you don't turn / rough turn them soonish, store them carefully, as they'll take many years to 'dry' as they are, and in that time you may find woodworm have moved in. Easiest thing to do is bag em up, or seal the cut face with some old paint and treat with woodworm killer. Also you should be able to get several pieces from each lump without any special coring tools. Though with a simple coring knife (big supported parting tool) you can cut cones, and although you don't need to be popeye for that, your lathes does need some grunt. Will be interested to see what you do.

Some nice shapes there Squirrel, which tools do you use to turn your bowls - that leave those 'pole lathe type' turning marks, which btw I think work well, or have you in fact turned that lot on a pole lathe with hook tools?

Surprised that worked, I had to use a carbide bit on a drill press on my Cannon bars. Probably be ok with Oregon bars, but drilling through the centre of the sprocket nose might be difficult with a HSS bit, depends if the bearing centre is hardened and what it's made from. FYI carbide drills for metal cutting can be made from sharpened mason bits apparently, never tried it, but you do need a green grinding wheel...

-if you have single phase on site, consider using an inverter, google 'Drives Direct' - the cost of an inverter that will run off 240V 1∼ and output 415V 3∼ and run say a 10HP motor will probably be best value, + you have a load of additional functionality; like speed control, torque boost, soft start, also the running cost would probably be cheapest.

Has anyone got some spare 3/4" chain... Actually I'm only really after the cutters, I use chainsaw teeth for a wood turning tool I use - sort of a big parting knife. -it currently has 2 .404 full chisel teeth side by side, it cuts well, does tend to clog in some woods. I'd like to make a similar tool with a singular larger tooth, which would hopefully clear better. I spoke to Clark Engineering - very helpful, but they only sell loops, quite reasonable - about £40 delivered for a 58 DL loop of 11H 3/4" - but I'd need to break down a new chain for the cutters, seems a little wasteful. So thought I'd ask on here...

2 planks about 100 wide, long as you like, spaced apart by about 20mm. Dead simple, very effective. Sorry no pic, but hopefully you get the idea.

Ivy can be turned, apparently it turns like Sago, though I've never turned either. -Got some a while back for a friend - I should chase him up and find out how he got on. -Some big Ivy that!