agg221

The shape you are trying to produce is a mushroom, that is a single layer of largely horizontal branches. You want a strong permanent structure, with smaller, fruit bearing branches filling in the gaps. I would take the vertical branches out over the next three years, to create more space between them each time, then hope you get some horizontal branches re-growing to fill in the gaps in the structure. Old fruit trees can take some severe cutting back and usually recover, but it will take a fair few years to get the shape back to how it was. Some of the regrowth shoots won't be in the right place - they'll stick vertically upwards like the ones you can see at the moment. These will also want removing as they grow. While you're at it, it would be a good idea to remove the grass from the base, gently by hand as you don't want to damage the bark or roots, and create a weed free circle about 4-6ft across. Give it a good mulch of well rotted compost and it will help it to grow back well. Alec

I have mis-placed my phone - think it's in the car but the battery is flat and I have spent the weekend doing more useful things than looking for it. I'll look for it at lunchtime tomorrow as it gets me out of the office! One of the useful things I spent time doing was playing some more with my side axe. More chestnut split out with wedges, then froe into smaller sections and hewn to make the sides parallel before final sizing in the thicknesser (yes, I know....) It's rather like the viking ship plank-making process in miniature. Next batch of tile batten now completed. Alec

If you're ever down near Haverhill, my neighbour will take as much chip as you can get and I can take cordwood. Alec

Hi Stokesley - these were used by both Danarm and Teles. There might be a plate on it to say which it was. I wondered if you might be able to get a couple of really close photos of the handlebar rubber grips and of the air filter/carb. Also of the brass ID plate if present. I'm missing a few bits on my 2-man Teles and am looking for pictures to work out what should be there. Is your ID because you're in Stokesley, N.Yorks btw? I stay in Nunthorpe when I'm up that way. Alec

Given that the environment will be pretty corrosive it might be worth considering something fairly think section so it doesnt rot through too fast. Although the main steelworks in Workington has shut, I think they still roll crane rails which go down to about 2" high, so fairly light and portable. They should also know which companies they supply to, who should have the matching wheels. Alec

Been away for a few days on business and got back about 11 last night, so I'll take a picture of some tools today - they're mostly forging related rather than woodworking related though. Cracker on here makes and sells green woodworking tools. As it happens, the place I've been away to is the BSW sawmill (ex Howie's) in Dalbeattie, which is the extreme opposite of this thread as it's the largest single site mill in the UK. The speed and volume were staggering and interestingly it does mill round curves (up to 25mm per linear metre) to follow the grain of the log and improve yield and stability once seasoned. Some of the discussion over dinner was around timber supplies and it's fair to say that they're worried. Figures are from memory, but it was something like 10million cubic metres of softwood used as timber in the UK every year, of which 4.5million cubic metres are home-grown. There are two problems arising with security of supply. The first is a change in government policy. Whereas 15yrs ago there were tax breaks to encourage people to plant forestry trees. Now, the focus is on mixed species amenity woodland. Although this makes it very pleasant to go for a bike ride, it isn't a lot of use for forestry and since the commercial value is so low, it's not worth anyone's while to do the early stage management (thinning, removing mis-shapen trees etc) so the trees can't be processed by sawmills. The second problem is that if all the biomass plant approved gets built this will take 50million cubic metres a year. The subsidies available already allow biomass plants to compete against sawmills for supply - apparently virgin sawlogs are already going for fuel. The likely outcome is that timber prices will rise dramatically over the next 15yrs. For conventional builds this just means housing stock gets more expensive, but it cetainly makes hewn structures increasingly attractive for anyone who can do it. Alec

'03 Volvo V70 D5 (2.4l turbo diesel) with 158k on the clock. I find it's a bit temperature dependent. In the winter I do about 45mpg, summer 53mpg. Currently running at 51.7mpg. This is mostly on short runs - no more than 15miles. It goes up a lot if I do long trips, nearer to 56mpg average. I do deliberately run it as gently as possible, lots of anticipatory planning to avoid braking, use of neutral on long downhills and very careful lines through roundabouts to avoid losing speed where possible. I still do 70 on motorways though as the instantaneous readout doesn't change much between 55 and 70. Only costs about 1mpg. Alec Alec

Rick, if you hewed the finished face visible at the back in the second picture then you're very good...... I found out about the point about the adze from a blacksmith I know. I have forged a few things and met a few people, and my particular interest is in tools, definitely not fancy gates! There are a couple of industrial smiths still around who did apprenticeships in the 1950s/60s, with smiths who were old then and were taught effectively victorian style forging. One of them made a living out of making tools and anchors. He also knows how to work real wrought iron, properly, and we spent a week with him which was really useful. I did push him though - he eventually agreed to show me fire-welding of wrought iron to high carbon steel, which he admitted afterwards he hadn't done since his apprenticeship about 50yrs earlier! The other was an industrial smith and latterly made some tools and jigs for one of the last of the apprentice-trained builders of wooden canal boats who died about 20yrs ago. It was this second smith who told me about the curve for adzes, which he'd been told about by the boat builder when he'd done one of his. He latterly adjusted one for my father, which gave me an opportunity to learn about the approach to hardening and tempering on an adze. There are a handful of these people still around and I find it so useful to talk to them and draw on their experience, which they have been happy to share - I think they find it a relief not to be asked about making scrolls yet again! One day when the children are bigger I hope to go and do the course at Gransfors Bruks. Alec

I am told that rim sockets hold up better to stop/start cutting while spur sprockets hold up better to constant, heavy load, as found in milling. I've tried both for milling and this seems to be correct. Alec

Look like nice boards - I've moved a few 3" slabs and you certainly feel it! Another trick for levelling. Carry a few coach screws in various lengths. If you're using an old Stihl then use M10 (17mm heads), new Stihl use M12 (19mm heads). That way they match your bar nuts so the same wrench will fit. They're good for sticking round the curve a bit - either directly under the rail or to support a thin board resting on the screw and the crown of the curve of the log, or straight across to screws on the other side of the log. They're infinitely adjustable, and don't fall off - just don't forget them when setting the depth of cut! You can always make the first cut deeper by the depth of your first plank, then flip the section over and mill the plank off from the cut face. Alec

b101uk - Pete Bannister is right on this one. The property in question is the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), expressed in mm expansion per mm length per degree Kelvin in temperature. The number quoted is usually multiplied by 10 to the power minus 6. Expansion is non-linear over a wide temperature range, so CTE is a temperature dependent property, but within normal environments it's pretty linear so a value to 2 significant figures is reasonable. Ordinary construction steels are about 14, concrete ranges from 8 to 12 (depending on aggregate used) and wood is about 4 to 5. Absolute expansion doesn't matter so much, it's differential expansion that matters (subtract one from the other). For concrete, this gives variation differential thermal expansion from 2 to 6. To put this in context, in a 10m length of reinforced concrete, increasing from 0degC to 30degC the steel could increase in length by up to 2mm more than the concrete. In pre-stressed concrete, the clue is in the name. The steel is put in tension so that it puts compressive stress in the concrete. As it warms up, the stress reduces, however the initial imposed stress is deliberately high enough that the stress is not relaxed below the design limit within the anticipated temperature range. As temperature decreases, the stress increases. These factors impose practical design limits on the maximum component size you can make without expansion joints. Coincidentally they have a similar effect on train tracks, which are also pre-stressed, so there's a maximum length of welded rail you can make and in the record heat of summer about 5yrs ago (when it went over 100) there were some trains that couldn't run as it was outside design specification for the UK. Hope this clarifies! Alec

Some impressive skill in that video! I spoke to the person I thought might have pictures of the stem post. He can't find any at the moment, but might have some unscanned prints so will have a look through. In the meantime, he did find the picture below. When you fit planks they never line up perfectly as they're slightly different thicknesses and don't follow the curve perfectly when they're bent in, so you have to edge them off. The straights are fine with a plane but the internal curves need something else. You get a sense of what still needs doing if you look at the top plank at the end, where you can see it sticks out a bit, and the slight excess depth on the hudding (rebate) on the side of the stern post. Not standard technique as you'd normally use a huge slick for this, but I don't have one and this worked well enough. The house is quite early - c.1500 give or take 10yrs. It was extended in the 1970s in blockwork (which actually looks OK as it's been rendered) and I'm extending off this, using more blockwork but a properly constructed roof and internal walls. I'll also reinstate the upper part of the current 1970s gable end wall, which is otherwise being removed, in similar fashion. Another thing on adzes is that you want the blade curve to match the swing arc too. Imagine drawing a circle, with the centre at the top end of the handle, the radius being the length of the handle to the blade outer face. You would want the curve of the blade to lie on the circumference of the circle. That's why in standard work adzes the shorter handled ones have sharper curves (same doesn't apply for things like coopers' adzes for difficult internal access). You can get them forged to the right shape, then re-hardened and tempered on the blade by a decent smith. Alec p.s. I am really enjoying the Gransfors axe!

Strangely enough, yes. I had a really complex interaction to manage between architect, listed buildings and the engineer. I had to get on with things during this period and that meant making parts to the then current design. At one point, the only way to span the upper opening was to use an RSJ, so I made a 'beam cover' U-channel to cover it. A re-design (by the engineer who worked out that the architect's drawing could be improved on) meant I didn't use it in the end, so it got cut down into three planks. I made it from a green beam, milled it square, then cut a slot each side to leave 2" wide sides and a 2" thick base. I then hollowed it out with an adze. Worked fine. Alec

Yes, I had a good discussion with him about which side axe would do what I wanted late on in the day. He was happy to talk through, and demonstrate, the differences between them in speed of work and finish achieved, which ended up drawing quite a crowd. Then when I came back to buy the one they had with them he ended up borrowing it from me to explain aspects of blade sharpening profile to someone else. I don't think he got a lot of rest! Alec

Chris, I'm not the specifier of mine, just the implementer! However from my position I agree with what Pete Bannister has said - which I think can be summarised as there are easier ways, but if you decide that this is what is right for you it can probably be done. If you decide the aesthetics justify it then I would talk to a decent engineer - happy to pass on details of mine if you need them as he was very accommodating, e.g. it's easier for me to mill nothing bigger than 9"x9" so he designed the whole thing around this. He's also very good at knowing what's allowable as bearing length, what section you need for fire regs etc. You also need to take species into account in all the above - all the stuff I didn't want to find out! It cost us £500 for all the structural calcs for the foundations, walls, collar and purlin roof and removing the gable end wall and designing the replacement supporting structures, which I thought was good value for security of design and the ongoing point of reference for bits I don't understand as I go along. You can definitely create 'T' shape load bearing beams, with flitch plates, as we discussed this at one point for ours. This was for using the stem of the T for halving the span of the joists and in the end we decided it was easier just to use 6"x3" joists. It's worth noting that, although you want decent quality timber for structural reasons, hardwood is not subject to a certification scheme, unlike softwood, so you can use any decent timber you can get your hands on. I have also found that if you work with Building Control they can be extremely helpful. If you work against them they get really official, which doesn't help in the long run. Delabodge - no photos of my beam with flitch plate at the moment I'm afraid, as it's buried at the bottom of the pile of timber for installation, partly because it's one of the last pieces to fit as I stacked it all in reverse order to make it easier to get out when needed, and partly because it's too heavy to put anywhere else in the pile! As such, all you can see at the moment is the end of a beam with a slot in it. I'll take some photos once I've got it out, which will be somewhere in the autumn if the roof goes well and the rain holds off (ever). Alec

Only down-side to elm is that it is very prone to severe woodworm attack. If you can find some without it, great, then treat it heavily to stop later attack. Timber dries at about an inch thickness every six months, so a beam takes a long time to air-dry. Most of the time the thing you're supporting has a certain amount of give - a tiled roof can flex a bit, as can floors, ceilings etc. If you have a poured concrete roof that isn't going to like it, so I'd be concerned about the effects of any movement. How big are you thinking of going? You could do what was specified for my first-floor beam where I'm knocking out the gable end wall of the house. I'm using a 9"x9" beam but it has a steel plate (flitch plate) let into it. I cut a slot from the top, going about 7" in, using a chainsaw, controlling depth and straightness using bits from the Alaskan (if i had a mini-mill this would have been even easier). This accelerated seasoning a bit - in yours I'd be looking to use something dry anyway. I then dropped a piece of 10mm steel plate in to the slot, which is bolted through every couple of feet. You could do this and plug it to disguise the bolts but I'm using square nuts and washers and painting them black. If you did this and made the plate full depth at the bearing ends (where it won't show) this would control the depth absolutely with the steel, so it wouldn't risk movement, and would give you the aesthetics and reasonably restrict thermal bridging? Alec

Hi Rick, I don't have any pictures of the canal boat stem - I was too busy making it. A friend might though so I'll ask him. In the meantime, I took a couple of pictures. First one is of some 4"x2" where I was using up a length that was too bent for anything else. They'll be buried in a wall as studwork so appearance wasn't the issue, but as it happens I rather like the rustic appearance. Second picture is of the tools. The adzes have different length handles because one is mine and the other is my wife's. If you're going to stand on the workpiece you need a handle length that when you use a natural stance and an easy swing hits the wood a few inches in front of your feet. Too long and the angle of impact is wrong. Too short and you hit your foot. TWMarriott probably has a lot more experience of this than me though. I couldn't find one the right length for my wife, who is only 5'2", so I found a piece of ash with the right grain to follow the curves. The small axe was made by Garant. It's OK but very light, so works nicely single handed but won't shift heavy stuff. It's what I've been using so far. I succumbed and bought the bigger one today - Gransfors Bruks side axe, and it's really nice. I made the 4"x2" on the left with it and the extra weight and curved blade made it much easier.

Classic Hand Tools (from Ipswich). Had a good range of other quality stuff too. Alec

Ended up going Sunday in the end - did anyone else go? I thought it was excellent again. A really relaxed atmosphere, good range of things to see and everyone was only too happy to talk about what they were doing. Solved the joint design problem for my rafters with the timber framing people, had a good look at the oak shingles, decided I really would have a go at making a jig doll and gave in to temptation and bought a Gransfors Bruks side axe. No.1 daughter got far more out of it this year and is very proud of her scrap wood box! Her favourite was still rolling down the hill though. Alec

I don't get why people are worried about using wooden arrows with a compound bow. The peak load is still only about 50lb, compared with a traditional yew longbow of up to 100lb (more for the ones found on the Mary Rose). It's also delivered much more smoothly. Had a play with a yew longbow today - a modest 70lb draw weight but still felt it! Alec

I'm afraid you're in for a hard time with this one whatever you do - other than hire somebody to dispose of it with larger equipment. A stump grinder would be the obvious way. You can hire these to use yourself, or hire with an operator. Your post suggests that you are very new to using a chainsaw and have not had any training (formal or informal)? If that's the case, I would suggest sticking to simple cutting with the bottom of the bar resting on the thing you want to cut. I would suggest that you invest in a file and file-guide (only a few pounds) and learn to sharpen the chain as if you're going to use the saw again you will need this skill anyway. Also, forgive me if you've already done this, but please do buy and use PPE as just because it's small doesn't stop it from being lethal. If you do decide to tackle the stump yourself with what you have available, once you've got the chain sharpened, I would pressure-wash the stump so it's as clean as possible. I would then lay the bar on the cut face, pointing straight towards the middle, and cut down as far as I could towards the roots, without breaking through. I'd then move round and do the same again, to make a series of wedges. I would then drive in a steel wedge into a cut, from the top near the outside, to split it down that line, then do the same with the next cut and carry on round to break it into small pieces. Other options: - if you can lift it, take it to the tip whole. - drag it to the corner of the garden and let it rot down of its own accord (which will take a long time!) - stick it on every bonfire over the next few years until it finally dries and burns away.

Hi Rick, Sorry, missed your post - I use a small, one-handed side axe made by Grant, which was cheap and works well enough. I'd like something heavier though. TWMarriott's post reminded me that I did a load on both boat restorations using an adze. Both chainsaws packed up once when I was trying to make the stem post for a canal boat (6' long and 13"x13" triangular section), so the whole thing ended up cut out with an adze, including the rebates. Worked quite well, but took the whole day. I'll take some pictures for what they're worth - doesn't show much I'm afraid. Alec

Hi Rick, I'll take some photos tomorrow - it's all bundled up in the shed waiting to be installed. I made it as one of the few bits I could get on with last year during the interminable wait for the architect and listed buildings to get from planning permission (granted Dec '10) to actually being allowed to start construction (Oct '11). I wouldn't say they're perfect, but they'll work. I've been making batten by cleaving out wedges and then hewing both faces to turn the wedge into a rectangle, so some of my lath is cleft (or is it cleaved?) out of the ones that run out - hence up to 8ft lengths. I wouldn't do this for any other reason. Alec

I dug out Ascham's notes on selection of wood for arrow shafts. My efforts at interpreting into modern English are in square brackets: Of arrow wood. Steles [shafts] be made of divers woodes: as, Brasell [?Caesalpinia sappan] Turkie Woode [turkey oak] Fusticke [smokebush aka Cotinus coggygria or Rhus cotinus] Sugercheste [sweet chestnut] Hardbeame [hornbeam] Byrche Asche Oake Servicetree Hulder[?] Beche Elder Aspe Salowe Brasell, Turkie Woode, Fusticke, Sugar Cheste and such like, make dead, heavye, lumpishe, hobbling shaftes. Again Hulder, Black thorne, Servestree, Beache, Elder, Aspe and Salowe, eyther for theyr weakness or lightnesse, make holow, starting, scudding, gaddinge shaftes. But Birche, Hardbeame, some Oake and some Ashe, being both stronge enoughe to stande in a bowe, and also light enoughe to fly farre, are best for a meane [balance], which is to be sought out in every thinge. Of Cornus (dogwood) this wodde is as harde as horne, and verye fitte for shaftes.

If we go it will be Saturday. It's supposed to be a lot quieter, and hence easier to get the children in to the activities. Alec