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I'm not sure if this is recommended practice (i.e. it probably isn't!) but if you run down the chain oil and then run a tankfull of petrol through the oil tank it is very effective at flushing out anything that will dissolve. If it's blocked by bigger bits though you will have to take it apart and poke it through. Alec p.s. it doesn't do anything useful if you try this the other way - i.e. put a tankfull of chain oil in the petrol tank......

That's really good. Have they considered Weird & Wonderful Wood - near Bury St Edmunds? Alec

I am - first milling was to rebuild a wooden canal boat, after years of volunteer navvying at the weekends. Cheers - I'll give it a look. Alec

Series 2 owners' club, chainsaw collectors and Just Canals. I was briefly on the Carpenters' Fellowship forum, but then they started trying to charge £50/year - not sure they have many members now..... Alec

I do - best not start a rumour! Alec

I'd say the important specification is that it has a bar, a chain with cutters on, a power source which generates rotation to drive the chain round and some form of connection between the power source and the chain - probably a sprocket. Don't think I can narrow it down much more than the above on the information provided. Alec

Really really nice though, aren't they Alec

Likewise. If they're fairly dry, it looks like you can get away with it which is a real surprise. Otherwise I would be thinking of impregnating them with polyethylene glycol (PEG) which stops shrinkage. I would also agree with comments about re-sawing them rather than trying to sand the marks out from this point. If you haven't got anything suitable already then would suggest a japanese saw - the pull action keeps the cut dead straight and very thin, and the finish is really fine. This is one of my favourite (but worst advertised!) websites: Woodwork Projects homepage The owner is really helpful in recommending saws for purposes, but of the ones I've got, I would go for the S-265 for this and get a really accurate cut, even freehand, with very little post-finishing required. Alec

Someone bought it - was it you? Alec

Not mine, but this isn't a chinese copy and is a good price if all that's needed is a starter cord: stihl 070 chainsaw | eBay Alec

Yes, I could find them in the UK but the pictures were better from the US one, and it was whether it worked or not, rather than whether it was available. If you look at the King Arthur tools site, you'll see that they recommend the 150grit diamond file for carbide chainsaw teeth. Not quick I'll grant you, but then the running time between sharpenings is a lot longer anyway. Physically possible, yes. Worth it for general use, probably not. I would imagine that the infrequent and specialist use which these chains are designed for makes workshop sharpening the norm, hence by grinder the most cost-effective route in pretty much all cases. Still fancy a go for a milling chain though Alec

On the news now - it's gone. Real shame - with Curry's and Jessop's that's a total of 12,000 jobs gone in retail over the last six weeks apparently. Alec

Sweet chestnut doesn't have a lot of sapwood - couple of mm, which is very good for efficient conversion. Oak has loads unfortunately. Part of the attraction of yew is the contrast between the pale sapwood and dark heartwood. If there's a lot to remove then it's worth using the mill, but for a small amount, I find a good side axe is surprisingly quick. I use a double-bevelled Gransfors Bruks side axe, which will happily take about an inch out per cut, so to edge up something about 8-10ft long by taking 3ins off each side takes no more than 10mins, which is quicker than setting up the mill, milling and then rolling it, twice. Alec

Yes - they do it in the UK too. There's someone near me whose yew hedge is clipped annually for free in exchange for the clippings. Alec

This may be too late to help, given the work you've already done on it, but one way to keep table tops or similar flat when made of several planks is to look at the end grain and alternate 'smiling' and 'frowning'. When they try to cup, this means they alternate cupping upwards and downwards so the whole thing stays relatively flat. Alec

It's practical: Diamond Chainsaw Files Whether there's the demand to support it may be more the issue. There's probably not that much carbide chain sold, and diamond files can't be made the same way as conventional files so it's a different manufacturing proposition which probably isn't justified. Alec

You can sharpen carbide tools with diamond files reasonably fast, but you need a coarse file as well as a fine honing one. I have an old set of diamond plates from a polishing room, the coarsest of which is about 120 grit equivalent and will take material off pretty fast. I've not seen a coarse file to suit saw chain, but then I haven't been looking. I've got some round diamond stones for the Oregon grinder which came from the US. What I'd really like is some to suit Rob D's grinder and a carbide tipped ripping chain for milling as that's where it would come into its own. Alec

Hi Simon, I started out with an 064 on a 36" Alaskan with 36" bar. You should get 27.5" through it if you leave the dogs on, 29" if you take them off. I would suggest sticking with this size - the extra mill length will just stress the saw. You could even buy the 30" mill. It will be quite slow, and you need a decent way of sharpening it - cutting speed drops off rapidly when the teeth start to dull as it doesn't have the power to just plough on through. The grinder Rob D sells is excellent for this as it keeps everything uniform. Opinions differ here - but in my opinion for outdoor use you want to use durable timber such as oak, sweet chestnut or robinia. The bark and the sapwood won't last long anyway, so I tend to just take it off. When I'm not in a hurry to mill something, if you leave it lying around for a year or two the sapwood rots off of its own accord. On oak in particular, this usually removes about 3" from each side, so in practice you can mill anything that starts off up to 3' over the bark with no further work. If square edged boards are acceptable, you can trim the top so that the height is within the mill capacity, then roll it on its side and plank away. The real waste from doing this is negligible on anything under about 3'6". Alec

Excellent. After I finished my GCSEs, the school required that I did a week's work experience. They arranged things like working in a bank, working in an office etc. but you could arrange your own if you wanted. I was in North Kent (near Dartford) and arranged to go to the East Malling Horticultural Research Establishment where I spent a week in the propagation department. It meant two trains, with a 2-mile walk at each end, and it was absolutely worth it. I learned so much in just a week, and although I don't work in the field, I still benefit from what I saw. My younger brother then arranged his at the local firework company - he still works for them on an ad-hoc basis (as do I). Again, it's not the main job, but it was well worth doing. My employer recently changed its policy to make work experience possible, and I took the first one last summer. Really bright lad, very responsible and enthusiastic, and I tailored what he saw/did around his abilities (keeping in mind what I couldn't let him do). I put a couple of hours thought in beforehand to make sure it was as interesting, varied and realistic as possible. I wanted him to leave at the end with a real understanding of why I/we do the job. So many work experience placements turn into a week's worth of filing because it's 'safe' and nobody else wants to do it. That isn't the real job, and whilst it might be convenient free labour it just inspires someone to try and avoid working in that industry. Every industry needs succession planning, and what you really want to find are the people who have real enthusiasm for the job. If someone has an idea that a particular field might be for them, in my view it's well worth the small amount of effort to give them the opportunity to find out (I wouldn't be entirely surprised if my work experience person from last summer ends up being a future employee, or professional customer). Rik, it's great that you got it sorted, and I would encourage others to consider it. You are unlikely to get sent dross - particularly if you are approached directly as the person has put some effort in to find you, so they're clearly motivated. Even if you arrange it directly with a school, you can interview if you like, and refuse to take anyone unsuitable. It can be very rewarding when it works out. Alec

I had a chat with one of my colleagues today whose background is in developing bespoke solvents. At one point his previous company developed a specific solvent for alkaloids (which the taxines are) and, coincidentally, tested effectiveness on yew. He recalls a number of pieces of previous work on the subject of extraction of taxines, this being something people often want to deliberately achieve, so there has been a reasonable amount of investigation. He has said he will have a look at whether there is anything specifically useful in relation to the original question. One point he did make - taxines are far more soluble in acid solutions, so a wine goblet is more likely to extract a significant concentration (due to both pH and standing time) than a chopping board. I'll keep you posted if he finds anything. Alec

Thanks for your comments - good thing this is an internet forum rather than a face-to-face conversation as talking with my very sore tongue would be difficult:001_tt2: Close inspection in the area this evening reveals that I do indeed have both a first strike mouse, that gets in and nicks the Nutella, and a rather slower rat that then doesn't have anything worth eating and hence doesn't bother walking on my nice trap. I could go for the 'wait until the mouse is heavy enough to set the trap off' approach, but I resent feeding it that much Nutella, so I think two traps will be set, side by side in a 'his and hers' configuration. Alec

I don't have a lot of experience specifically of doing this with oak, but I have done a bit - more sweet chestnut. It works, but it does show up all the defects, particularly knots. Here the grain tends to dive or climb, which results in a bit of wastage. If there is any twist at all to the grain, forget it. Obviously you need to create split lines radially, out from the true heart of the tree, which may not be the geometric centre. I find it works best to start by tapping a fairly sharp wedge in so it just bites so only about a quarter of an inch, right at the edge, then knock it out and move it in a bit and do the same again, so you end up with a continuous line across the tree, right across the heart. This tends to start the line of weakness, which then gives you a straighter split. I then drive two wedges into the end, both fairly near the outside edge. Once they start to bite I check that the split is following my line. If so, I keep going. If not, I put another wedge in at the point where it's starting to diverge, to correct the line. Once it's running nicely across the end, I drive the wedges home. At this point, if not before, I make sure that the split is horizontal. I then drive wedges in pairs, one from each side, to try to keep the split running as close to equal halves as I can. I don't start a matching split from the other end, as they never line up, so I just keep the split running to the end. Splitting the halves into quarters is the same, but you don't need the pairs of wedges - a single wedge will run to the centre, although I like to use a very long wedge to be sure it's running straight through - I have one made from a straightened length of transit leaf spring, which is about 15ins long, which seems to work quite well. The biggest bit I've split is about 2ft6in across, on a site where chainsaws were not permitted. It went well enough to be prepared to do it again. Mostly I'm splitting down 1ft diameter chestnut for tile batten. The other thing I would add is that it's worth getting a decent side axe for truing up surfaces if you're using this approach. It can really rip material off the surface fast when needed. Alec

I agree - it's got the big air filter on the top. To tell which, check whether the pot is fixed on with studs running right through with nuts at the top (TS760) or socket head capscrews (TS510). Alec

Ideally immediately. The boron is soluble, so wanders around in the wood, carried by the water present before seasoning. Very little remains on the surface, but any woodworm that try tunnelling will be unpleasantly surprised. Plus, if applied before kilning it helps to stop mould growth and hence blue stain. Alec

Hi James, Video link would be good. I'm happy with the quality of sharpening from my local shop, but there was one point where I was running full thickness elm boards through all day and the knives were needing sharpening on a daily basis! Elm is really hard on them. It would be useful, and quicker, to do it myself then. Alec