agg221

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

I agree with you Geoff on the 'no pickup' thing. I've just picked up a relatively late 090 - notably it still had the old Stihl logo on the starter, with the metal tag label on the top. I'd say mine is 1980s - this saw looks much more modern. The 090 is definitely still about as a special, mostly in Brazil etc, but I'm not sure about the 070 as it has less practical use. The 090 is still the biggest saw made, with enormous torque, so will run a huge bar. The 070 doesn't give you anything useful over an MS880 so very little point in keeping on making it. Alec

I'm suspicious. Not saying this is wrong, but I'm skeptical. There have been some chinese copy 070s around. The bar and chain are Stihl, but they're in very modern packaging - is there an overlap between the end of the 070 and that style packaging being introduced? The 070 is shown in very fresh looking polystyrene, which generally goes yellow with age, but no cardboard box. Why not? Is this a non-AV model - how late were these still being built? It's got all the safety stickers on it under the handle - when were these introduced relative to the model becoming unavailable in Europe? Just sounds a few warning bells, that's all. Alec

Which saw did you go for? The classic book is Chainsaw Lumbermaking by Will Malloff. It's available for a much better price via abebooks.co.uk than anywhere else, or get it from the library. I can't remember whether it covers seasoning or not, but the key points if you have minimal kit and control over your environment are mill from October to March, stack with stickers in vertical lines, about every 2ft down your boards, and do it quickly after milling. Stack in the shade, with an air gap all round, in such a way that rain can't run in on the board surfaces. Let it air dry for six months per inch of thickness. Hope this helps. Alec

Return will, to a large extent, correlate to onward processing skill/appeal of product. There is an assumption I sometimes run across that the value of a butt must be very high, because the finished product you would make from it could potentially be very high. This doesn't take into account the time, effort, external costs and skill (=training/practice which you then recover against the job). I quite often hear on butts 'but that's less than I could sell it for as firewood'. Yes - that's true, but that's because in selling a butt you're not putting in any effort, whereas if you turn it into firewood you are doing all the cutting, stacking, paying for the space while it seasons, then delivering it. If you value that time and fuel cost/wear and tear on kit and compare it with sticking the same butt on someone's trailer and taking the cash, then doing something else with the spare time and cash (like firewooding something less desirable for milling) then overall you come out on top. Boards will only sell to someone who wants to use boards, but that is someone with time and a hobby, or someone expecting to make the cash return on their own time, so they will be deducting the cost of the material from their labour. As such, you get a fair return for your time and effort, if you are efficient, but you will get a pretty poor return vs. a commercial sawmill with a much more efficient set up. You also have to take account of the fact that they will want a particular number of boards, of a particular size, for a particular job. You have to guess what those may be sufficiently in advance of their (unstated) need, so the boards are ready when they want them, or mill to order, or have a large stock hanging about to cover all eventualities. The oak is about the right size for beams - the ratio of diameter to length would be good. It will take you less time than boards, so you will make less cash per tree, but more trees processed per day. Posts will not make much - it wastes a lot of the value of the length so it's a cheaper product. Less niche though (selling a single beam relies on finding someone wanting exactly the right size - a pair of gateposts however don't have to be box heart, and can be sold more readily. You'll get most value if you put in still more labour and turn it into a product - nobody is doing any on-processing so no more margins to account for. However, that takes more time, and more skill, with more risk of getting it wrong and generating more waste. You also need to dedicate more time to sales of end products. Hope this is of some use? Alec