agg221

You need someone to confirm this, but I think the 048 uses the same 52mm pot and piston as the 038 Magnum (and the 045). Aftermarket 52mm 038 pot and piston kits appear to be available (on the inevitable ebay) for about £50 inc. p&p. If the pot is OK you can get a 52mm piston for about £18 inc. p&p. If it's running and the scoring is light, check the plating in the bore as if it's not damaged keeping the original pot is quite viable. Alec

Another option would be to look for a decent secondhand saw. The problem you have with buying a new saw is that realistically you will notch up so few engine hours that, relative to someone using the saw several hours a day, you simply won't spot problems for years that they may find in weeks. That means it will be well out of warranty anyway before a low-hours problem shows up. On the other hand, a used saw will not notch up hours quickly, so you should get years of use out of it relative to someone who is running it day in day out. Secondhand can be risky if you don't know what you're looking for, but you could ask Spudulike if he's got anything in that he's gone over. Alec

When I did my back I got fed up with 'wait for it to get better' from conventional medicine. I also admit to a mistrust of that view, as it's what my Dad was told when originally diagnosed with a frozen shoulder, that turned out to be melanoma, which by the time it was correctly diagnosed had progressed and become terminal. Not knocking the doctors involved, as it was a pretty rare instance, but nonetheless it's made me very wary of leaving things on assumption that they will mend (plus I am impatient ) I went to see a chiropractor, who made my back feel better in one visit, then instigated a programme of increasing gaps between sessions (a couple of days, progressed to a week, progressed to fortnightly, to a month etc). I appreciated the baseline assessment, and the attitude of making things better, not extracting the maximum possible amount of cash, together with sensible exercises which I still do (and she sorted my neck into the bargain when I happened to mention it was a bit stiff). What I really appreciated was that it worked. I would agree that it's hard to know whether any particular practitioner is good or bad though, particularly being relatively lightly regulated. Alec

Basically, as Jonathan says. There are a few points of detail you'll need to agree with your purchaser however. If everything is a perfect cylinder then it doesn't matter where you measure. However, they'll taper, so the normal is to measure in the middle. The measurement assumes the butts are straight, with no defects such as rot-holes from old branches - if they're not then you'll need to agree on an allowance. You can see why you have to be careful on the above. Say you have a 2ft dia butt x 16ft long, with a gentle curve in it, causing a maximum deviation of 8ins. Clearly you can't make clear boards 16ft long, so it wouldn't be fair to calculate the volume as 36 Hoppus feet. If you based your calculation on maximum straight boards you could get out of it, you would calculate a girth based on the ellipse 24x16in, which gives a volume of 28 Hoppus feet. However, if the buyer only actually wanted 8ft maximum length, cutting it in half would halve the impact of the curve, so you end up with a volume (sum of the two lengths) of 33 Hoppus feet. This may look complicated, but in practice the variation in price on the above is only about +/-£20 in £150, and it's handy to have a buyer, so my inclination would be to make the calculation in the way which is most favourable to the buyer. This will keep them happy, and mean they never feel they've been short-changed. It will also make them more inclined to bother with the slightly trickier bits, which will probably mean you sell more in the long run. The key however is to agree what method you are applying. Alec

I agree. The rings usually have a little step at the ends, which lines up with a peg in the groove. So long as you put the ring the right way up, lining the ends up with the peg, it's pretty simple. I find I can work the ring in gently just by holding the pot between my two hands, fingers pointing down towards the piston and compressing the ring with fingernails. I then check visually that the second ring lines up with the peg, and do the same again. I do tend to put a good wipe of 2-stroke oil over everything before I start, just to make it easier to slip in. So long as you remember to put the gasket in first, have everything clean so no bits of sawdust fall off on it, and make sure the piston is the right way round, it's probably one of the simpler jobs. Have you fished the lump of piston out of the bottom of the crankcase or the muffler? On the subject of the crankcase, while the pot is off, I find you can get a sheet of kitchen roll, hook one edge over the edge of the crank webs and then turn the crank using the flywheel to drag the paper through the case. This picks up the gronk from the the bottom of the case quite well - particularly any metal particles. Alec

Coming back to the original question, I was talking to someone at the Uxbridge clock fair a couple of years ago by the name of John Birkett. He makes and restores clock cases and I was looking at one them (the one in the style of Tompion and Banger shown on the page in the link below). I was trying to guess a date - I guessed c.1700, he said he'd finished it the day before! Gallery - John Birkett - Clock Case Maker & Restorer of Antique Clock Cases He reckoned that 'proper' cabinet makers found it very hard to do what he does. The point is that it isn't perfect - there are defects in wood which show through, sometimes immediately, sometimes over time. A cabinet maker tries to treat wood as a perfect, homogenous material, with the beauty derived from the form he creates. It's a totally different skill to work with 'defects' and make the most of them. The clock cases excepted, where the attention to detail in wear marks, stains, appropriate shade in the interior etc, with dents etc in all the right places is meticulous with the intention of replicating an appearance of age, most 'use of natural features' seems to work best when it's not competing with the form. This means simple shapes and structures seem to work best in showing off the natural form of the wood, so big slabs and blocks. You need something far more plain grained if you want to show off your own jointing, shaping etc. which I think is why the frames and jewellery box work well. Alec

Would you advise stopping at five, or going for the seventh?

We experience most of the local wildlife courtesy of the cat, who is prepared to try most things once. I didn't appreciate the enormous rat left halfway up the stairs with a broken back. She's left them alone since, or at least dealt with them outside. She leaves hedgehogs and frogs alone now, and having proved she could leap high and fast enough to catch a bat she's decided they're not worth it. Hopefully has given up on the slow worms after the last one hissed at her in the hallway. Fortunately she doesn't seem too keen on the grass snakes - round here they're up to about 5ft long so it would be impressive to see her dragging one in, although unlike with the weasel I might need something larger than a welly to get it back out in. Alec

Sort of self-evident, but pruning saws in general, being thin and tapered, can often be used to access a much neater finishing cut position relative to collars, or especially in drop-crotch pruning. Because all the energy comes from you, there's a tendency to try to economise on number of cuts, and go straight for that slightly awkward angle. Also, because all the energy is coming from you, you can't out-cut the rate at which a branch tears. The combination is a risk of messy cuts and saws pinching at the last bit, leading to twisting and uncontrolled exits/snapped blades. If you resist this temptation, and cut most of the branch off first it has two advantages. Firstly, you can take the weight out. Secondly, you can choose an easy position to make the first cut. Because this isn't the final cut, you can also afford a deliberate step, so make the undercut about half an inch in towards the bit that's staying, then the top cut slightly further out. This controls splitting. I like to leave a bit I can get a hand to, and handle the weight of. Probably about a foot long at 3in dia, six inches long at 6in dia. This stub can then be easily manipulated by hand when making the second, final position cut, avoiding pinching or the blade exiting suddenly. The above is classic fruit tree pruning stuff Alec

You've posted this in the milling forum. Are you thinking of selling butts or processed timber? Size, species, location will also all have a bearing, as will quantity. If you can fill in some of the detail you'll get a more refined answer:001_smile: Alec

Cat has put paid to most of the rodents in the sheds. She has now turned her attention to other things. I don't recommend having a live and very angry weasel in the bedroom. Alec

What does the underside look like, or any other unstained part? If it's very white it's spruce. If it's slightly pink it's Scots Pine. My guess would be the former, as you haven't got any of the heartwood/sapwood variation you would normally see with Scots Pine, but it could just about be either. Alec

In simple terms, you can go one of two ways. The first is to talk to your local planning people. If you're lucky, you live in an area where they will still do a site visit for free. You can then talk through your plans, find out what you can and can't do, with or without permission (and whether it is likely to be granted if you do need permission). The second is to do what you want, and hope that either nobody notices/cares, or that it would be OK anyway, either because it is OK, or because you have enough clout with the local planners to make it OK even if it shouldn't be (see various retrospective planning awards to my parents' next-door-neighbours including raising the ground height with a 10ft bank just outside their windows). Which option you go for will depend on the type of person you are, and how much you want it/are likely to be able to do it legitimately. I know of various structures which were put up so long ago that they have been legitimised by their presence - in the days before the law changed I even knew of one person who acquired a whole building plot by fencing it for 7yrs (my Grandfather as it happens) and another who acquired a whole smallholding when the Chinese diplomat owner got expelled from the country! There is a third way, which is to believe what you hear from the man down the pub/on an internet forum. Hope something above may help! Alec

Cheers - unusual grain for oak and you've done something to smooth off the bark? Alec

Will do. Alec

What species is that table top? Alec

If you're still looking in spring, let me know. I suspect one of ours has died as it shed its leaves very early. If it doesn't leaf out, it will be available. Alec

It's the Granberg precision grinder - Products for the category: 12 volt grinders It's not just about bar length, although undoubtedly sharpening a 4ft bar by hand does become somewhat tedious. There are two key advantages. Firstly, when milling it makes an enormous difference if your teeth are all absolutely identical in length and angle, which is nigh on impossible to maintain by hand over time. Uniformity leads to much faster cutting and smoother boards so less waste. The second advantage is that you can sharpen with a grinder where you haven't got room for a full file stroke. Once the mill is bolted to the bar you can't take the chain off or access the chain properly to sharpen both sides without taking the bar back out, which gets annoying. The grinder overcomes this. For its price it's an outstanding piece of kit, which will coincidentally speed up the recovery of ordinary chains which have hit nails, flints etc. (should you need to justify to yourself why you're spending yet more money....) Alec

They really really don't like it, even light reductions, so prepare the customer for it to die. I saw a huge walnut killed off by a reduction where the largest cut was no more than 3ins across. Pruning time is mid-summer, cut the thinnest branches you can get away with and hope. Sorry Alec

For the past hour or so, if I click on the Unread Posts link I can see new posts have been made, and who made them, but if I click on the topic I can't see the most recent post. Alec

Basically, the Alaskan mill is the same (can't remember if it's the Mark III in the book but it doesn't really matter), big powerheads are the same and wood is still as big, ugly and awkward as ever. Not much to update. People have played with chain options to increase speed, and tried thinner bars to decrease kerf, but they haven't really made any significant difference. About the biggest advance I can think of is Rob D's precision chain grinder! Alec

From experience, I wouldn't. If you need the extra size you really want a 100cc+ saw. An 075/076 will do it cheapest. Alec

I like those - interesting design and very clean lined. Alec

Oh yes, I want one! What do you reckon it would do with a suitably geared up 090 bolted to it..... Alec

I did indeed get a lovely saw - it was an ebay job and I picked up in person, paid cash. He was happy for me to crawl all over it with a spanner and screwdriver to satisfy myself it was what it said, and it most definitely was. It had belonged to his wife's uncle apparently and had been offered to him along with a couple of the other 'undesirable' saws when the family had had the ones they wanted - it then just sat in his shed gathering dust and bird droppings! It looks to have done very little work and will be perfect for milling. I've figured what's wrong with the one in the listing. Found this on youtube: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu5hzfHk8v4]STIHL 070 CHAIN SAW NEW ( WITH 36" BLADE) - YouTube[/ame] If you look at the comments you'll see two relevant ones - firstly it doesn't have the registered trademark symbol next to Stihl on the top cover. Secondly it doesn't say Made in Germany on the label on the starter. Also, my own observation, I've never seen a genuine Stihl clutch cover where the letters aren't painted black. The font on the label on top is also too heavy. It's not right. Alec