agg221

Not quite the original question, but I suggest thinking about what type of building you want to construct and keeping an eye out for suitable trees as you wander around the wood. If you build a plain box section then of course all you want is straight bits of appropriate length, and you can pretty much do this with uniform section timber. However, if you want something a bit more individual of the classic timber-framed type then curved sections are useful, as braces and as the cross-brace in trusses. These take a bit more finding, so it's worth keeping an eye out. Your original post suggests a fairly modest-sized construction, which would suggest you won't need many trees to do it. If so, I would use the oak for structural timbers where possible due to its combination of strength and durability. If you are in a position where building control aren't interested then a very traditional construction method of a low (6-8") masonry wall using lime mortar, over minimal foundations, followed by a proper frame could work well with minimal impact. You don't necessarily need huge sections for framing - boxed heart is stronger and you just need a section big enough to square up appropriately. Although timber framing is traditionally done green as it makes working easier and saves waiting, there's nothing to stop you collecting up any oak or chestnut that comes out as you go along - it's durable enough and can either be stored milled or in the round. Have you considered using the chestnut to make shingles for the roof or for cladding? You might find the book below interesting for inspiration - it has lots of pictures! Regional variation in timber-framed building in England and Wales down to 1550 The proceedings of the 1994 Cressing Conference 2nd ed. with revisions. edited by D.F. Stenning and D.D. Andrews. Published 2002 (I borrowed it from the library but will eventually buy a copy): Alec

The 08 still makes about £50 on ebay if you can get it running. No idea why they're popular, except that they're bombproof. I think it may be an 08S in which case it has a bit more power. Alec

It's not mine, but the one I hired to do most of my milling before I got the Ripsaw was hydraulic. I can't comment on fuel consumption etc (wasn't my problem!) but we didn't struggle with 3ft dia oak butts. My only comment was that the log lifting and manipulation hydraulics weren't anything like as powerful as the rest of it - you could mill something much larger than they could handle. We had a memorable time once on the edge of Epping Forest with an oak butt 3ft at the thin end, 3ft6 or so over the flare x 20ft long. We had to use farm forks in conjunction with the hydraulics to get it on, then the same again to do the first rotation. Alec

I'd second the comment on skip tooth. I think it's something about high torque, low revs saws that it works particularly well with - you can take the rakers right down. It's what I have on the 076 and it's much more effective. Alec

They're big enough to be worth milling and Scots pine is general construction timber (aka European redwood). You'd get some nice width floorboards out of that lot, and probably fairly dense growth on the later years at least. It's the kind of thing you need for certain restoration jobs, but I'm not sure where you'd go to sell them as a small lot. Alec

Thanks for that, really. I was aware of the term lambda-1 but hadn't made the connection with a stoichiometric mix. It follows that using a 50:1 mix is slightly richer than a 25:1 mix. This should in theory become more noticeable in engines designed to run originally at 16:1. In practice, I haven't had to re-tune any yet and the plugs look good even after heavy use. It will be interesting to see whether this remains the case now I've finally found an air filter to fit (and the Allen Scythe can no longer ingest whole nettles). Alec

When I first started work (employed) I was on a six month fixed term contract with 12 days associated paid leave. Any unused leave would be paid off at the end. It was during a previous recession, so jobs were hard to get, and I thought to myself well I might as well not use the holiday, as I would rather have the money when the job stopped, and then I'd probably have more free time than I wanted anyway. At the end of the contract it got renewed for another six months, and then another and another... After two and a half years with no days off, I went to see Personnel (this was before the invention of HR) and asked just how long I could keep rolling days forward. They were staggered by the amount of holiday I had built up (effectively I had the right to take 72 days), and we agreed I would take a week off and they paid off the rest. I'd gone straight from education to the job without a break, so hadn't actually had a holiday in three years. At the end of it, I realised why I had felt so run-down, tired and negative about everything. I was doing a job in a field I was really interested in, but it had become a millstone. I woke up, went to work, came home, went to bed. I spent weekends trying to get my head above water on sleep, I just seemed to need more and more sleep. I realised I hadn't been out in years and didn't know anyone socially in the area after living there for two and a half years! In the six months after I'd been off, I took the leave that built up during that period. I felt much better, went out, got to know people and actually met my now wife of 10yrs. Certainly for me, I proved I could keep going indefinitely, but doing so really didn't make me better at my job, or at anything else. There's a reason holidays are a statutory requirement, and it's not all about 'workers' rights'. Alec

Yes, there's a frame, sort of. The newer ones it's a full frame, with the boards used as cladding. In the older ones the boards are structural, so the frame is simple rails fixed to the corner posts (which you can see externally) and a wallplate at the top. Alec

No experience at all I'm afraid - not inclined to carry out the experiment on my own trees! I suppose on timing the choice is between the optimum time to prune the tops (June) and the period of minimum root activity (Autumn). If I went for the latter I would do it as early after leaf fall as possible, to be well away from the time when the sap rises. You could try asking Barchams whether they have any particular issues - there must be root damage when some of their bigger stuff is moved? Alec

Yep, that's the spot. I particularly like the front elevation of the barn. The construction technique on the older buildings is a very efficient use of timber and it really lasts well. The paint is called falun red, and it's characteristic of Sweden. It's made from tailings from a copper mine in Falun, boiled with rye flour. It is a very effective preservative for sawn timber and lasts really well (up to 15yrs). I've bought some to do my shed with! Alec

Cheers Rick, close-up would be interesting. Alec

I think the approach you're proposing will work fine so long as: 1. You have an easy way to create the bevels. 2. Your timber supply has minimal knots. 3. You are prepared to apply something to seal the inevitable gaps. Sawn timber will come out with variation in thickness, sawn bevels will also wander around - I'd expact gaps of up to a millimetre or two. I would suggest the ideal would be to mill over thickness, then fully season and run through a thicknesser, finally cutting the bevels with a spindle moulder if you can get at one, router if you can't. This will give you the accuracy and mean the timber will swell rather than shrink. I'd be inclined to use something to stop the seams, since it won't be permanently wet on one side. Something tar based would be my preference - I don't like setting, rubber based products as they're a nightmare to get out again once they break down. Jeffrey's marine glue is a really good bet - it self heals any cracks in summer when it softens and can be 'repaired' by warming with a soldering iron. You want to run sealants down into the cracks, so you'd need to make up the vat, tip it on its side and then apply at the top, rolling it round to bring each seam uppermost in turn. Difflock's bright idea does work for ensuring a tight fit. I've always known it as kerfing, and a handsaw is pretty quick (you're not creating a full cut) and much less wasteful. You want the parts locked in place, rather being pushed together, otherwise it pinches very fast. Alec

Hi Tony, was this the Dunmow one, or the Audley End one? Alec

I've finally figured out the Swedish construction method I mentioned. It's called board and batten, still in use but much scaled down. The early ones have thick boards 3-4in thick x 8-12in wide. The one I've seen close up is in Linköping which conveniently has Google streetview. I can't figure out how to extract pictures, but to find it, go to Google maps and type in: Agatan 64, Linkoping, Sverige This will put the marker at the junction between Agatan to the East and Apotekaregatan to the South. Heading NW/NNW is Gråbrödragatan. Click on the 'A' marker and click on the picture for streetview. Head down Gråbrödragatan and you will shortly see a red-oxide painted shed on the left, and a small barn on the right. The shed is relatively modern, with even spaced boards. If you look at the barn though you'll see the boards are random widths of between 8in and 12in. Hope you can find it from this! If not, I'll have another go at describing the location. Alec

Hi Marcus, I'll try to find some pictures of the Swedish construction method I mentioned. Regarding saws - if you decide to use a chainsaw mill such as the rip and flip, you could consider an 056 or an 051 as a powerhead. They're a slower chain speed, but the high torque means you can take the rakers down some and they'll pretty much keep up with a 660. My limited experience suggests that slow revving saws may mill best with skip chain - easy for the 051 as the original sprocket fitting is .404". These powerheads are much cheaper, the 051 has good parts availability (don't know for the 056 as I don't have one). Their biggest down side is that they have poorer power to weight ratio, but this doesn't matter if you're bringing logs to the mill. Alec

Wastage here is less about cost, more about time. Setting a log up to get the first cut true I find takes a whole lot longer than every subsequent cut. The more logs you have to set up, the less you cut in a day. It's particularly slow on a set-up where you have to reference position off the log and are dealing with taper, as the height over log is different at each end. Have you come across the Scandinavian construction method where you build walls out of sections that look like railway sleepers placed vertically with 2x2" battens nailed over where they butt together? This would be pretty efficient with what you have available - pick a section that makes 2 out of your average butt end, one out of the second length and it would be easy to cut to length and extract? Alec

No coopering experience, but some experience of heavy boatbuilding which may be relevant? Creating uniform bevels is hard work! Best I came up with was chalking the faces and planing off where the chalk was rubbed. This worked quite well. I used children's big outdoor chalks, in different colours. That way I could swap around colours for marking faces vs. chalking faces and be sure I hadn't just smudged things over. Coopering and boatbuilding rely on the wood swelling to seal the vessel. This means there are always slight gaps when dry. Not sure how you're planning on sealing these, but the point was you can't rely on the wood to do it, assuming you don't want to sit in a swimming pool! The inner and outer faces never line up perfectly at the same time when first cut. On a boat, it's the inner edges that butt against the frames, so they form a smooth shape. This leaves the outside faces a bit random, and in need of planing up. In a barrel, they're pulled together from the outside, hence the need for an adze as you can't plane the internal curve (unless you have a compass plane). One problem I can foresee is getting the rings on to a vat of that size. I've seen rings heated for wheels in a wood fire, built in the form of a ring. The iron rings are heated until a stick chars and smokes when rubbed on it (it feels greasy). Are the rings on barrels fitted hot or cold? If it's cold and just hammered down until they pull in then I can see it working. If it's hot, that's going to be very awkward to manhandle into place before it goes cold. Be very interested to see some results. Alec

Nice! I feel your pain on rafters - mine were 3"x4"x8ft and that was bad enough! What joint pattern did you go for where the rafter meets the wall plate? Alec

Are you dead-set on milling? Log-cabin style construction should be very viable with this - it relies on dead-straight stems with minimal taper, and notching the ends where they sit over one another. Have a flick through cabinporn for inspiration! If you really want to mill it, I would use a bandsaw as the kerf on a chainsaw mill will really reduce the yield dramatically for thinner stuff. The ideal tool is probably the Ripsaw bandmill but it's tricky to get hold of. I have one, and a few other people on here have contacted me about getting one in the past year or so. Not sure if any of them went ahead and managed it? Alec

I know you said you had a lot of Mistletoe, but at the current spot price for gold that's going to keep you busy for a very long time! Alec

There was a really interesting 1968 Volvo amphibious vehicle on the other week - tracked, articulated in the middle. I tried to convince my wife that she needed it to replace her car as we live in a flood zone and it would also be good for her to get to work when it's snowy. The real bonus is that there are two seats up front and then eight in the back bit, which keeps the kids totally separate! Unfortunately she didn't agree..... Alec

I'll forge you one if you like.... Alec

Unfortunately not in my experience. I used to pick cherries, which meant scaring the birds off, which meant noise (birdscarers, shotguns etc). First day's scaring you could guarantee that the police would be called within under an hour, and would show up asking a lot of questions. The whole thing was completely legal, and the owner of the orchard in question had even been taken to court over it and found to be acting perfectly legally. Irrespective of this, the public complain, the police visit, if you're lucky they are familiar with the relevant finer details of the specific laws that apply, if not you get to explain them. If they get it then great, if not then you temporarily do as they say and get to sort it out later. Whichever way it goes, it takes time. Picking cherries, doesn't make much odds. Trying to get a tree down and cleared before the public show up, time is of the essence. Again, in my experience it didn't make much odds whether you briefed the police or not - the general message doesn't always reach the individuals who respond to the call. As such, I would have been inclined to do as was done here. I've done the same with moving big stuff (40' boat most recently) and temporarily blocking the road for ten minutes. Once it's done, it's done, and there's nothing can be done about it. You get a handful of people to whom it's a minor inconvenience, but it would be just the same if you inform people as if you don't. It's always easier to obtain forgiveness than permission! Alec

Agreed, it's elliptical (oval), but you can shave the tenon to suit for small numbers, which stops it rotating when things dry out a bit after seasoning. The material isn't going to be perfectly round anyway, so it will inevitably need a bit of shaving to shape. Alec

Do you mean the legs are round log sections, like in the second picture? If so, are they well seasoned? If not, the risk is that round timber tends to open up radial cracks, and it does it along the line of weakness, which is most likely to be where you've screwed through. Ideally you want to fix across the grain, rather than into the end grain, particularly if it's green. I can't come up with an easy way of doing this, but I wonder if it would be possible to cut full width slots across the tops of the legs to let angle plates in to, held in place by coach screws. The heads shouldn't show too much if they're on the inner face of the leg, and could be rebated. The other half of the angle could then be screwed to the seatboard, from underneath. If 2.5" screws were used, countersunk into the angle plate, the whole thing would be virtually invisible. In practice, you'd need to set up the holes in the angles and mount them temporarily in the leg tops. Then concrete the legs in, set the board on top (having greased or inked up the top faces of the angle plates to get witness marks) and then take the plates out of the legs and screw them permanently to the top. Finally, drop the angles back into the slots and screw down home. Not sure if there's a better solution, can't think of one with what you're trying to do. Alec