teepeeat

Hi Rick

Apologies for the very short, simple question - posted in a bit of a rush with my mind on other things.

Luckily, you seem to have picked up on what I was after and made some very interesting points.

Like many, also found the program very inspirational on many levels.

I dont have your technical knowledge or experience of these things, but am looking to build something in the future and am therefore asking a lot of silly questions.

As I said, a number of interesting points, but just wondering if the time taken to scribe joints and pack floors etc can be offset against the time you have spent hewing and squaring timber?

Have you seen the detail of Ben Laws joints - one was called the 'butter pat' joint. Blimey - just realised how well named that was as it just popped from some dark recess of the head from a few years back looks exactly like a pair of butter pats

Anyway, it seems to be a good solid joint requiring minimal removal of wood, presumably to limit weakening the timbers too much? Will look it up and post something if you havnt seen it.

As you say, round vs square timber will depend on personal preference, but would have thought only to a certain degree as it may also be dictated by what timber is available.

In Ben Law's case it is predominantly coppiced sweet chestnut, but I guess he is also looking at expanding the market for coppice products which does cloud the arguement slightly.

I have to admit I do like the aesthetics of the round wood and was under the impression that it would reduce the overall labour required in a low tech build??

Regards

Terry

PS, your build is doing a fair bit on the inspiration front as well - for quite a few on here besides me.

It came up I'm my searching

, can't find the video but as always with mythbusters people weren't sure how realistic it was, apparently there's a navy training video showing/describing it but I can't find that either, and some people mentioned it was synthetic rope that was dangerous in shipping, so not really any use for me.

 

I can't help but think that all the hype about winch ropes snapping and cutting you in hand is a bit over exaggerated and probably helps plasma type rope sales!

Bit of an issue in the marine world - numerous sailors and even more fisherman not with us anymore due to both wire and synthetic ropes popping.

A trawl through MAIB (marine accident investigation branch) reports should give a bit more detail, albeit only covering incidents in UK waters or on UK registered vessels. Seem to recall some more recent events reported by the Marine Safety Forum.

Rick, did you ever consider building using timber in the round - ala Ben off grand designs?

vapormatic is about the best quality in my opinion, even when brushed on it leaves a really good finish, painted my landy winch bumper with a bush and you can hardly tell it wasnt sprayed

I know a few people in Herefordshire who are a bit tight with their cash, but thought it was just them. Seems it is a bit more wide spread :lol:

Cheers Tony, much obliged

if any of you guys are interested theres an event coming up you would all probably enjoy.

 

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Cant seem to open that Tony, do you have a web site?

After a quick google seem to be a few of these going on around the country.

Which event does the poster refer to?

its not ament to root as quick underground in the damp

Pity - seems a nice idea to have a tree root out of your coffin

Should have known Tony would be good for a book recommendation - cheers for that Tony and LWWoodlands as well

Nice thread Backpain. Looking to learn a lot more on this subject.

Any recommendations for a good book for identifying UK wild plants.

We have all sorts growing around us that I know nothing about.

Lots of sound advice above. I am not professionally in the tree game, but do deal with newbies at work on a regular basis, so a bit of general advice.

If you are new to something, dont rush at it, go steady. You have the tickets, but not the experience. Be humble, ask questions, know your limitations, be open to learn - I regularly read comments on Arbtalk from clearly experienced people who admit to learning something new.

Dont judge people based on their day rate - the lowest paid on site are there to do a necessary job.

see all your posts above and raise with the planning department - they also seem to take an interest in what goes on in these matters and are currently looking for any excuse to charge a planning fee.

We got stopped putting in a track along the edge of a muddy field as it was agricultural land and needed permission to do it!

Ty, I suspect in this case PeteB might be referring to the manufacturer stiffing him after he had honored the warranty with the end user - his customer??

Just going off on a tangent, but do you specifically want to carry everything, or would a hand cart or converted golf cart be an option. Gives the possibility of taking other gear that might be useful in some areas?

As it reads, its undoubtedly wrong...however its a newspaper story, theres likely other aspects that the reporter has decided to omit in favour of the terrorist reference...it makes better reading that way

Steve - sad to read your comment; sadder still that it is accurate and needs to be said.

Dont think the press has ever been squeaky clean, but they do seem to have plumbed new depths the last few decades.

mmmm - how much does topography effect prices - ie steep sloping site vs flattish

Also a site with access to a road vs one with none??

Another idea for income from the patch is glamping perhaps - seems to be popular at the moment.

Good comments Will

An unfortunate human trait is that we make a decision about any particular issue based on 'facts' or whatever and then defend that point of view regardless of any new information.

We need to remember that science has only learned so much and there is a lot more to learn before we know how everything works, so we need to be adaptable in our views.

Human history is littered with the fall out of arrogant humans making decisions based on scanty information.

Human learning is like trying to get to the top of a mountain and just when we think we are getting to the peak we realise it is just another ridge with a good few more to the top. As we tackle each ridge it consumes us, it is all we can see and we lose sight of the bigger picture.

As things get more and more complicated we tend to get more easily lost in the limited detail and lose sight of the bigger picture and grasp at any handy 'facts' to steady ourselves.

I don't think our conscious minds are able or even designed to cope with it all. There is a lot more going on between our lug holes than many would like to admit (not enough facts about it probably ) and we need to harness intuition or what ever it is to guide us rather than a very limited set of facts.

As I said a few days ago, we are along for the ride and nature will decide what is going to happen to us while we are still arguing about it all.

Pumpy, youll be well aware of the nutrient poor nature of our modern crops then?

Tony, this is hardly surprising.

Take a patch of healthy earth, do your best to crank as much growth out of it in an unnaturally short period of time. To compensate, feed it a bit of artificial fertiliser based on current, incomplete scientific knowledge and nutrient deficiency is bound to be the result.

Look at the agricultural revolution in India in the 60's and the fallout and current concerns. This has helped create a huge population who will not be able to be fed when nature shows her hand.

Complete disregard for natural cycles and time scale because we are such a clever bunch arn't we.

As they say, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I am not saying we should not be learning and experimenting, but the current human preference is for squeezing material wealth out of every scrap of knowledge we gain.

I don't know what but I suspect they gather CO2 % evidence from old ice and growth from fossil wood and somehow relate the two.

Have to say Tony- going off grid isn't going to help if the problem is caused by something else. We need to get rich/ get technical and get able which isn't going to happen if mankind goes down that route.

That isn't to say we shouldn't recycle etc- thats so patently a good idea

Also local food usually tastes better- look at tomatoes

But do you really want to give up pineapples/bananas/mangoes/avacado/dates/figs/the list goes on. Lets face it you will need to go vegan.

Humans want choice- they want interest. They may want to holiday in UK for a year because they think they have to because of the recession but ultimately they want the experience of other cultures and climates- snowboarding in Canada etc etc. Canoe down the Amazon- the list goes on and the more we do of these things the more of these experiences we feel we need just to be happy.

Meanwhile you are stuck in your 50 sq. mile world- you won't be pissed off will you? You are racing away in your head at the moment and that is stimulation enough but will it last. I'm not attacking you but questioning whether it will really make you happy.

Oh the dilemma of the tree hugger..........

I think there is enough in the one square mile around my house (or anybody's house for that matter) to stimulate me for the whole of my days on this earth - socially,culturally, scientifically or in any way you can think.

Why do you feel travelling the world and doing all these things is what we should be doing?????? Will they really make you happy???

I have tried that for a bit and found it very unsatisfying and would be happy to stay around home for ever more - if I could and is in fact what I am working towards within this very crazy world we are living in.

Your previous comments regarding capitalism concern me. Our current version of capitalism is hardly a good, democratic one. In fact it is complete pie in the sky. Perpetual growth in a finite world???

It worked sort of OK for a bit when a handful of people benefitted at the expense of the majority, but now that the majority want their share, we realise the problems and this is the biggest logjam in getting things going in the right direction regarding Tony's original topic of climate change.

The current financial crisis is the natural evolution of an unsustainable capitalistic system that has been twisted and turned in every possible way to squeeze a bit more out of it, but there is nothing more to squeeze.

Amazing

People here live in a democracy and they don't believe in the power of it.

It may not be instant- it may not be perfect but things do change.

OK greed doesn't change and the basic human condition remains constant ish but

If everyone shrugs there shoulders and says what can I do then theres no hope.

Like I say Nuclear armageddon was avoided and believe you me that was a serious concern mid to late 70's. I mean people were really worried about it.

Why can't we control CO2 -it's only a gas

I think you're taking the easy option and saying 'poor me-theres nothing I can do so I won't do anything'

Maybe what we learn along the way about controlling our atmosphere will come in useful when Earth has the next extinction event.

Keep the faith

It would be nice to believe that we did live in a democracy, but we dont.

Democracy is supposed to be governance of the people, by the people for the people.

Lets look at who we are governed by - a handful of people who are at best selected by local party structures, but increasingly imposed on us by party central office's. Hardly democratic. In fact party politics itself is inherently undemocratic because any MP dilutes the representation of his constituents by showing allegence to a party.

I accept, that pure democracy has its problems just as pure communism or any other idealistic system and pragmatic measures need to be put in place, but I would not call our system democratic.

The current Levinson inquiry gives us some interesting insights into how things work behind the scenes. We are also all probably aware of a number of 'inconsistencies' in our local government practices where ever we live in the country.

The reason people dont believe in the power of democracy is that they know, either consciously or intuitively that it is corrupted.

What I find particularly interesting in the west is that we bang on about the blatant corruption in places like Africa, while a far more sinister form of corruption takes place behind the scenes under our very noses.

Its all about power and control at the end of the day rather than good governance.

Anyway, this is a bit of a hijack, so back to the main thread.

WorcsWuss, places in league tables dont give the full picture.

UK population of approx 62m out of 7billion means that that less than 1% of the worlds population is producing 1,7% of the emissions - ie more than our fair share.

Agreed, things are changing and I dont disagree with a lot you are saying, just that we put out more than we should.

Dont think those numbers include what the Chinese et al put out on our behalf to support our addiction to cheap goods.

Tony, always a good topic for debate.

You say that starvation is the number 1 threat facing the human race, but by all accounts global warming will have a far more significant impact and I believe that a significant reduction of the human race will in fact reduce any effect we may be having on climate change. The two will work hand in hand.

The current human population is propped up by artificially grown food and artificially cheap energy supplies and when these come to an end in the not too distant future the house of cards we live in will come crashing down. Not good for us, but cant be a bad thing for every other species and organism on earth. As others have said we are just ants and easily wiped out the way when mother nature sees a need. We are just along for the ride.

We tend to look at everything in the short term while nature thinks and works long term so we are way out of sync with nature and we humans will definitely be the ones coming off second best.

In response to some of the other contributors:

The picture of a future London - not that different to today really, bit of a tip and having escaped the place wouldnt want to return

The person claiming politicians listen to their constituents and adjust policies accordingly is either living in cloud cuckoo land or needs to tell me where he lives so I can move there ASAP.

Marko - nice quote from Ghandi, he was a smart one.

Some people heavily involved with Live Aid in the 80's admit that they should have done more wrt birth control as deluging the place with food just ensured that there were more survivors that the land could not support in the next drought cycle - as has been the case.

Worcwuss(?) - the UK might be geographically small, but is apparently responsible for approx 2% of the worlds CO2 emissions due to our excessive footprint. Cant find the source for that at the moment.

Our local ramblers association love to wear high viz vests when walking around the countryside, and they wonder why my 250 dairy cows think 20 or 30 people in high viz is an exciting thing to explore and lick?

Mike/Stereo, I smell a business partnership for you two - Ramblers attract the cows, so just attach Stereo's blades to the cows in some way!!

I'll take the first two off the production line please

PS Im sure my neighbors will be after one too - what commission are you offering?

A fine yet small example of small limb too much weight.

Just wondering how many pies you had for lunch before swinging on that one???

missed this thread before, but explains what I had a few weeks ago then after strimming as we definitely have a bit of hog weed as per Deans pictures.

Another helpful thread.

At risk of a slight derail, can anyone recommend good general books for finding out what we have sprouting out of the ground, Curious about exactly what I am strimming away - probably all sorts of interesting stuff amongst it and might be useful for tracking down any other nasties.

evening all - just wondering if anyone on here can recommend a supplier for Makita chainsaws - my wee DCS340 needs a few bits. Online ideally as not very close to town