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I have recently arranged shipment of a large item from the US to the UK via Transglobal Express: Transglobal Express - Cheap Parcel Delivery with UPS, TNT & DHL International Courier & Worldwide Parcel Delivery Service | International Couriers It hasn't arrived yet, but so far the service has been exemplary. Easy to use on-line quote site, reasonable price, and I even got a courtesy call from them to check whether there were any special requirements after I'd booked it. Interparcel this is not! I think the largest on a standard quote was 2.4x1.8x1.2m. Alec

Hi, afraid I'm not that close, but if you're ever up my way (North Essex) you're most welcome to drop by and do some milling. I like the 070, but have never been lucky enough to pick one up at anything approaching that price! Alec

Slight derail, but for what it's worth a Ripsaw mill really comes into its own for this kind of job. Walnut seems to be something people want in thinner boards so the thinner kerf is useful for minimising waste on the butt. When it comes to root balls, the saw bands are sacrificial and seem to cope better anyway with the odd bit of grit. Just for the record really, in case anyone else is contemplating ringing up an interesting bit of timber in my area for want of access. Alec

How do you find your husband's 261? Alec

Thicknessers are a major advantage. I would think carefully about what you want to make and how many items. If it's a reasonable amount of stuff up to 12" then a decent 'portable' model such as a DeWalt DW733 of the small Kity is a good investment (built like a tank so secondhand is fine, and DeWalt's comprehensive repair manuals, parts lists etc are all on their website to download for free - so nice to deal with a company that actually expects you to want to fix your own tools!). If most of the stuff you want to do is bigger than this, or you won't have very much, I would do as Rob D suggests. Alec

I have no pics of this (fortunately!) but: Six full length hardwood railway sleepers is the most you can carry in the back of a Ford Escort van if you want to be able to steer it. It is possible to tow a 6m long x 1m square section wooden box lashed on top of an 8'x4' plant trailer with a Volvo estate, legally with respect to overhang etc, but it doesn't half get snaking easily if you go above 20mph. Alec

Yes - I have been running one of their kits on my 044 for the past couple of years, for milling. It hasn't notched up that many hours in total, probably about 50litres of fuel (Aspen you'll no doubt be delighted to hear), but obviously some long, hard runs. I did at one point stick a 36" bar on it and mill a 2' Norway Spruce, which was hard going and it coped. I haven't pulled it apart, but the muffler was off thanks to stripped threads on the case, and I had a quick look. A couple of minor scuffs, probably due to overdoing it with the 36" bar, but no damage as such. I think that's also where the pot and piston on my 066 came from, which hasn't done as much work, but what work it has done has been fine. It cuts lightning fast without bogging down and compression is good, so it can't be that bad. My limited experience is therefore all good. Oh, and not that it probably matters to you, but I've also rung them up and ordered genuine Stihl parts from them that aren't on the website, with good service at reasonable prices. Alec

It doesn't seem to make much odds whether you have a healthy diet or not. Mine was full of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrain bread, not much red meat etc. before the intolerances started. If anything, it's probably less healthy now since it contains more heavily boiled vegetables and less fibre. Yes intolerances can be triggered, sometimes by odd things. Mine were triggered by a particularly nasty virus at a time when I was stressed. It had me running to the toilet every half hour or so for ten days, and when it was over I was intolerant to things. My daughter's was triggered by antibiotics. Mine started 18 months ago. Having got the major triggers, I now sometimes have several days in a row without it. I'm looking forward to finding the others though so I can go back to fellwalking, which I don't dare do until it's predictably fixed. I like really hot food, and for a while couldn't have curry, Chinese or Thai. Once I'd worked out that garlic was the problem, I found that our local places all cook to order and they were quite happy to prepare food without it. In my case, chillis, black pepper and ginger are all fine. I've also found that Domino's will do pizza without cheese. A bit odd, but still perfectly edible. The point is, once you've figured out the key triggers, you can probably eat pretty normally but with a little care. I still miss a nice bit of blue stilton though! Alec

As promised, I spoke to my colleague and he went away and had a look. No references I'm afraid, as he went through several sources (his professional interest is in solvent extraction, his private interest is in the cultivation of coniferous species, hence he has literature on both). His general conclusion was that the concentration of taxines in yew wood would be sufficiently high that, if extracted, it could be damaging to health. They are not extractable in water at neutral pH, but would be extractable into acids, alcohol, oils and fats. The rate of extraction is not likely to be very high, as the permeability of the wood is low, but you could probably extract enough to have a negative effect if you left, say, a drink standing in a yew goblet, or butter/soft cheese on a board for a few hours. His general conclusion was that he would not be inclined to do it. Alec

Bad luck, it is a right pain (literally and figuratively). You may well find it relates to certain foods, and they could be odd ones - like certain minor additions. For example, I'm triggered by coffee (easy to identify), cheese (fairly easy to identify) and garlic (very hard to identify as it's included in so many things) but I'm OK with garlic oil and it seems to be OK if very well cooked. I'm sure there are other things, I just haven't tied them down yet. The best I've found is to be systematic about it, and try to remember what you ate so you can try to spot triggers. I've also found it helps to identify a set of foods which are definitely OK (in my case, ham sandwiches with white bread, and apples) and when it gets bad, revert to this for a couple of days while everything calms down again. Stress can also be a trigger, which seems to work in conjunction with foods, so for example I can have several cups of tea when I'm not stressed, but know I need to cut down to only one cup if I am stressed. I can also empathise with the fact that it can get you down - it's the unpredictability I find most challenging. When you're sitting around feeling ill, you can sort of tolerate it, but when you feel fine but have no idea if it will strike that day, so you don't dare do certain things in case it does, it gets particularly miserable. I am told that in most people it eventually settles down to become predictable, which should at least help in the long term. There's a prescription medicine called Mebeverine which can also help if Buscopan doesn't cut it. Alec

Sorry for the delayed response - I missed the question continuation on the thread until now. Drying through the ends is the primary drying route. Try leaving a log cut 6ft long, and another log cut as a 6in length, then split them both in half after a year and see which is drier. However, as you've identified, there is also a secondary effect of drying round the rings. I don't have a written reference I can stick up - we've been doing some development work on timber impregnation which is the same thing in reverse, and have been consulting Prof. Callum Hill of Napier University, who has published heavily on the subject but you would need access to Web Of Science (academic journal database) to see references, or borrow books from the library such as: [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wood-Modification-Chemical-Processes-Renewable/dp/0470021721]Wood Modification: Chemical, Thermal and Other Processes Wiley Series in Renewable Resource: Amazon.co.uk: Callum Hill: Books[/ame] To address the question though, i.e. why does split wood dry faster than unsplit wood. Although the fastest route out for water is 'down the straws', there are little holes (pits) between the straws. Some have more holes than others, depending on factors including species, when in the growing season they were formed and whether the species has pronounced medullary rays etc. There is a really nice image of this structure in Scots Pine on page 12 of the presentation in the link below: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=hill%20wood%20modification&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEwQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.itto.int%2Fdirect%2Ftopics%2Ftopics_pdf_download%2Ftopics_id%3D2513%26no%3D2&ei=tW4OUYfbN8qb0QX7-oDICg&usg=AFQjCNGgFYWcJVlDEtuii9_6P8tVz2fQXw&bvm=bv.41867550,d.d2k The pattern (shape and concentration) of pits is largely circular, going with the growth rings (except for the medullary rays which run radially to the centre). If you just strip the bark off, water can only escape either through the ends, or by passing out through every growth ring. Since some rings only have limited holes, they form a bottleneck and this is very slow. If you split a log, the split will usually run right through the centre, so every growth ring is exposed. This means that water can now escape by running round a ring with lots of holes in. This allows water to be transported slowly from the rings with few holes into rings with more holes, then to escape quickly by running round the rings with lots of holes in. So in summary, cutting short lengths has the most effect, splitting has a secondary effect. Hope this helps! Alec

Are you absolutely certain its not condensation on the inside of the roof which is then running down? Does it show wet from top to bottom, and across the full width, or is it localised? If you're prepared to overcoat afterwards, you could try a bottle of food colouring or water-based ink, applied strategically (e.g. on the outsides where you think water is coming through) and see if you get traces on the inside. This will give clear indication as to where the water is penetrating. Alec

I am now wary of Shiply. There's a 'booking fee' which only shows up once you've selected a quote. You have to pay it (in addition to the shipping costs) before you book the carrier. If the carrier fails to show, getting your booking fee back is next to impossible. Having had two bad carriers, both with good feedback according to the Shiply system, I have gone back to TNT or Parcelforce, through one of the clearing sites. Alec

Since the planned date is next weekend, I thought I'd bump this as a reminder. Planning on the Saturday (9th) if that's OK with everyone. I'll drop people who've expressed an interest a general PM later today, with directions, contact details etc. I've got 97 messages in my mailbox, so will have to go to email pretty quick or I'll run out of space! Alec

We have a river at the bottom of our garden and the place was formerly a water meadow. Also grew up with it, being in a valley floor on heavy clay, so everywhere I go seems to be wet! Drainage works, but only if there's somewhere to drain it to. You are looking at either a French drain or a field drain - depends on how bad it is and how quickly you want it to drain away. If there's nowhere to drain to you would have to go with the sump and pump route. Either way is a lot of work, and it will (briefly) be very messy, although some fresh turf and one good downpour later and you'll barely notice. Planting with it is a much easier route. Willows do suck up enough water to make a difference (although as has been said, not in winter). Any tree/large shrub will make a difference, so the death of the other trees will have made it worse. Bog garden planting is the easiest route - most of the primulas will do well but particularly the candelabra ones (yellows, oranges and reds). Most plants with big, lush leaves will work, as will many of the decorative ferns. There are several irises that will give height and colour (white, purple, cream and the yellow flag iris). There's a good selection of specialist wet area plants at Burncoose Nursery: Damp Areas Beside Water ? Bog Plants - Burncoose Nurseries - plants by mail order direct to you - Camellia, Magnolia and Rhododendron Specialists Your local nursery is also a good bet (not garden centre) as they're likely to know what does well in the area. Alec

Caius Petillius Merula

Have you tried starting it up from cold and opening up the rad cap to look for bubbles? The pressure in a diesel is so high that if the head gasket is starting to go between the cylinder and the water (i.e. not into the oil ways directly) you don't get water signs in the oil for a long time, or any water loss (last time we had this it did about 20k before it really went). Make it work hard though and you can get a localised pocket of boiling, which upsets the temperature gauge. Alec

Personally, I would try to cut to heart centre, i.e. set up the ladder the same height above the middle of the growth rings. This will make better boards overall, as the centre part (where they are widest) will then have the straightest grain and the core of the tree will only run in one board. One way to do this is to use a short length of floor joist or similar, coach screwed to the short end of the log. You can then fix the ladder end down on the top of this, which gives you a good, solid base. Don't forget to set the mill deeper than the coach screws! (not that I've ever done this....) Alec

It does pay to swap, but watch out for one trick I nearly got caught by. Companies all operate different policies on maximum no-claims bonus. If you have a long no-claims bonus (say 9yrs) and swap to a company with a 3yr maximum, when you move again at the end of the year and are looking for new quotes, you only have 3yrs no-claims to move from your current insurer. This means you can't always get as good a deal. However, your old insurer will usually hold over your no-claims bonus for a number of years without you renewing with them. This means you can get a renewal quote from them which is still valid, and the information on which your policy is quoted will come with it. This is the evidence you need of proof of no claims. So, as long as every couple of years you go back to a company with a long no-claims maximum, you can retain access to whole of market. Alec (who has just done this and got away with keeping 9yrs worth of bonus)

James, nice cupboard. Personally, I feel there is very little point in trying to make something -exactly- like you could buy. It's not just about saving the money, it's about making something unique, which is clearly made from real wood, not made in such a way that it may as well be made from plastic. I particularly like the way the doors are constructed. As an aside, I visited one of the top window and door manufacturers in the UK yesterday. The quality and engineering precision is phenomenal, but the finished product when painted white can end up looking like it's made in plastic as it's just so uniform and smooth. That's not my style. Also worth using the search box to look at TrollSpiel's bathroom thread for ideas. How big are the oak trees you have access to? This will play a big part as timbermillers has said in what quality of timber you get. I have always found oak one of the most forgiving timbers to season, partly because the heartwood doesn't get bluestain fungus and end up ruined. I suggest you either find one which is dead (standing or fallen - doesn't matter much as only the sapwood rots), or get one felled fairly quickly. It's much better to fell trees whilst dormant to get good quality timber. You don't need to mill straight away - it will wait years if you need it to. I have one butt which was standing dead for at least 5yrs and has been waiting roadside for the past year since I felled it for my neighbour to recover enough from his heart attack that he can pick it up for me. The sapwood will rot off, but personally I don't like it anyway as the insects and fungi go for it. It also means the bark has gone, which is good as that is always a pain for milling as it dulls the chain. Woodland grown trees are also less likely to contain stressed wood in the main stem, so less likely to twist too much. Quarter sawing will give you more stable boards, and a distinctive pattern from the medullary rays, but through-and-through sawn boards will dry reasonably flat if you keep plenty of weight on them while they're drying. With through-and-through sawn boards I tend to build my stacks with the ones from furthest out at the bottom, progressing to quartersawn at the top. That way, you have the most weight on the most cupping-prone boards. The art in air drying is steady drying. The water can only migrate out from the centre at a certain rate, so if you dry the outside too fast it tends to shrink faster and therefore crack at the surface because it has become smaller than the timber underneath. You can slow down drying rate by stacking boards closer together (thinner sticks, say 3/8" at the worst time of year rather than 3/4" at the best), in a shadier area, with less air movement and ultimately by covering the sides too (although this is only necessary when you've milled at the wrong time of year in hot weather and desperately need to slow everything right down - you then cover during the day, uncover at night). Ideally, you would mill for air drying between late September and mid-March. However, you can push this range if you are prepared to take more care with your stack. I once milled a large oak in the middle of an August heatwave, having hired in a bandmill at the only time we could get access across the field. The operator ran the mill as fast as possible to avoid leaving a surface exposed, I took every board straight off, stacked them with no sticks directly in the shade, building the pile so fast that the surfaces never dried. I then stuck the outer slabs on the top and sides to leave no surface exposed and picked up in a curtainside lorry, only unloading in the evening and sticking covers straight over, then moving it to stack properly early the following morning and late the following evening, keeping the sides covered during the day and the top all the time right through until the end of September. Didn't get a single surface check, but my labour input was much higher than if I'd milled in October, stacked and forgotten about it! That lot became a floor btw. When using boards, think about the grain. Anything which might cup is best cut narrow (rails). Quartersawn is very stable so makes good wide panels. Thicker sections are less likely to move. If you're milling your own you can pre-plan for this when breaking down the tree, so for example I tend to cut heavy sections first, then switch to thin boards, then back to thicker sections. For structural stuff, on a 2ft dia tree, that might mean skimming the top for a 6" width all the way down, then taking off a 4" thick slice which will be split down the middle for two near quartersawn 4"x3". Then go to 2" boards. When I get near the middle I go for the thinnest cuts I want, then repeat in reverse as I work out again. No true quartersawing, but a few quartered and rift-sawn bits taken to best effect. Obviously for kitchen components everything is scaled down on the above, but the basic idea is still the same. This post is probably long enough! Alec

I use strips of old bicycle inner tube as tree ties. There's enough give to allow a bit of expansion, and if you tie round the stake first, then you can put a series of half-hitches in if you need a spacer between the stake and the tree. Alec

All this is good advice, but if you're doing it on the cheap, you can get away with a hand held circular saw for ripping to oversize width, either to chalkline if you've got a good eye, or held against a clamped rail if not. I tend to use a rail for more accurate stuff - a length of aluminium angle or I-channel is good. You can use a router for a lot of the edging and profiling, again run against a clamped rail where a straight line is needed. I would buy Trend cutters and a secondhand decent router and saw on Ebay - you'd be amazed how good a deal can be had on such things (I bought a Makita circular saw with a 4" depth cut for £30 inc shipping). You can get away with cutting mortices and tenons by hand, but using decent chisels and a mallet (if I needed these my local market has a secondhand tool stall and I'd buy Sorby or Marples and get the lot for under £20). If you've planed up accurately, hand sanding is possible, if slow, but a cheap belt sander and random orbit sander will see you through one job (and a bit more). Cost for the above - under £300. Undeniably the above approach will take a -lot- longer, and requires a good eye and a steady hand, but if you're not working to a timeframe it can be done. I haven't done a kitchen (yet) but I've done various other things using the above. For me, the biggest win was the thicknesser. I bought a secondhand DeWalt DW733 on ebay and have worked it hard. With sharp knives, the surface comes out looking almost polished and it's a perfect match from part to part. This is the really tedious bit to get right by hand (I've done it on a couple of boards that were too wide for the thicknesser, using hand planes - quicker than you might think but still too slow if the aim is to use the wood, not to make it). Sticks - you want well seasoned so making your own slows the process down even more while they dry. I use old bits of pallet. Alec

I know what you mean about drilling - but my reckoning was that unless you're certain that it will be regularly checked any form of rope/strap will eventually cause girdling constriction, which would ultimately be worse. Small branches drop anyway, so pegs would be no different. I'm on the Essex side of Haverhill (Sturmer). Alec

Practical - yes. Slow - yes. Frustrating - yes. You're trying to do something where finish is important. The hardest thing to learn when milling is how to get even, uniform boards. This isn't insurmountable, but I would consider: What type of mill - if you're only doing this as a one-off for your own enjoyment, I'd go for a Granberg Alaskan Mark III chainsaw mill - Rob D on here is your man. Chainsaw milling is very wasteful for thin boards, but it's the only realistically priced option for something on this scale. You will also need a big enough chainsaw powerhead to run it - realistically you need at least an 18" capacity, so a 2ft bar, so a 70cc+ saw and mill to suit. If you can, go bigger. If you need to buy this lot, you've just spent around £750-800 or more depending on size. Timber - what can you get, from where? It's much easier with reasonable lengths, particularly for worktops. You ideally want a source of 8ft+ lengths. I would suggest that if you are wanting to use something between 19 and 25mm finished size you mill at between 30 and 35mm to start with. This may seem like a lot of waste, but you will then be sure of useful boards whereas otherwise you may be scrapping a lot. Where are you going to mill? A chainsaw mill is portable but you still need to move the timber back. If you're milling at home or a yard, what do the neighbours think (do you care)? Stacking and sticking - you need space to build a stack, and enough sticks for one every couple of feet on every board. These need to be dry, so you can't just use offcuts. You will then need to leave it for six months per inch of thickness to air dry. This won't get it fully dry in the UK, so you will then need somewhere really dry (e.g. indoors) to finish it off. Alternatively you need a kiln. Finishing.How are you going to get sawn, slightly twisted/cupped and random/variable thickness (partly due to seasoning variations, partly due to learning to mill) boards to a uniform thickness? I would suggest getting the use of a thicknesser is your best bet, ideally with a jointer to do the edges too. As to species - your choice really depending on the look you want. Oak is traditional but you would really want a grain filling finish. Beech is very traditional for kitchens and easily had as it's out of fashion. Sweet chestnut has a really nice golden look to it once fully dry. Sycamore gives you something paler. Poplar is also very pale and looks really good, but too soft for worktops (good for fronts). The only thing I personally would avoid is ash, as the open grain tends to make it look dirty very quickly, unless use a heavily grain filling finish, but that's just my opinion! Alec

Have you tried TNT, cheaper through Interparcel? I've shipped some ridiculous stuff with them, including a 3m long lintel from the northern end of the Forth Bridge to Essex for under £30. Being TNT, I've found them a much more professional outfit than the 'man and van' type sites, some of which can take some of your money as an upfront booking fee and if the courier doesn't show, it's almost impossible to retrieve. TNT does a lot of business-to-business and hence maintains a decent reputation and has suitable insurance. Alec