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Depends. If I really want to be sure not to lose anything off the end then I stick some old gloss paint on. Otherwise, I usually don't bother. I've used bituminous paint too in the past - anything that will stick and slow down the rate of moisture loss will do the trick but I don't want something that might melt again afterwards as it's liable to smear and mark the boards, or to soak in which means you're sacrificing the end anyway to get rid of it and you might as well not bother to paint it then. Alec

Our Stour (Suffolk/Essex Stour as in Constable country) went today too - worst I've seen yet, equivalent to when the snow melted in Feb 2009. This is the view from our bedroom window - the river is normally 300ft away.

Does it have to be by post? There are a few Stihl dealers listed for chainsaws in and around Lincoln who should be able to get it in if it's still an available part and you have the number. Maybe ring up to order and then go in to collect?: Dealer Locator | STIHL Alec

My daughter (3) really likes it, but would like to know where the Gruffalo's child is please.... Alec

Rob - you're the expert on this, but to the best of my recollection you can't get sprocket nosed bars over 36" in 3/8"? If I'm right, .404" is much better as sprocket nosed will decrease power loss more significantly than any of the other factors. Alec

I'd very much agree with Big J - in this case size is everything! I'd make the lengths as long as you can handle, probably limited by your rails/ladder. I'd rather have a 20' board, even if you're cutting it down later, as it allows you to cut around the defects and get the most out of it, assuming it's straight enough of course. I've often milled thick stuff - 3" and 4", but then I'm not selling it so I don't mind if it takes a while to dry, and realistically if you don't have a kiln then you're either selling it green or what's another six months in the overall process! Alec

I don't sell anything, but I don't buy any timber either, as in from B&Q or the like. I mill everything from bits of boat to bits of house (entire extension - even the tile batten has been cleft from sweet chestnut) and some nice stuff air drying which will become everything from longcase clock cases to bedroom furniture once the extension is finished. It depends on what you enjoy. If you really enjoy the milling aspect, making rustic furniture won't take very long so you'll mill a lot. If you're into cabinetmaking you'll spend very little time milling compared with working it but then you can get the best out of the colour and grain. Alec

That's going to make some long planks! More realistically, probably worth cutting it down to slightly more sensible lengths or you'll be doing a lot of refuelling in the cut. I would be inclined to do as you are proposing and through-and-through saw it. Take your thicker planks from nearer the outside, thinner ones nearer the middle, as they'll tend to warp less. If you don't have any specific uses for it, I might think about going to 2.75" rather than 2.5". It isn't any more useful as it stands, but if you find yourself ultimately wanting 1" boards it's a lot easier to get them by re-sawing a 2.75" piece. If you're selling it rather than using it then I can't comment on what people might buy. Looking forward to the pictures. Alec

I co-owned and rebuilt this one:

I use the same method as Big J. I'm using the guide rail and end clamps from Ripsaw and they're excellent for this as they're very adjustable and rigid (also come apart in 5' sections which is handy for transporting). I reckon on being centred on the pith at both ends, with the bar running right through the middle within less than an eighth of an inch. Of course the pith wanders around more than that down the line, but it's a good true starting point. I've been doing some true quartering of feather edge, straight from the half log, and the portable bandsaw has been excellent for this. Alec

The stop-cock for my house. Fortunately not with a stump grinder, but there was a dead elm stump in the front garden which must have been a good 30yrs old and dead for long enough that one weekend whilst clearing up I leant on it and it fell over. No wonder nobody knew where the stopcock was - must have been buried for at least 40yrs. Alec

I did one once with a fully hydraulic bandmill. It took us the best part of a day to do a butt slightly over 2'dia x 14' length, with a very practiced operator (not me!). It hasn't put me off ever doing it again, but you would need to have a very good reason. We did a lot of slightly dodgy wedging and clamping to hold it, using offcuts. I haven't come across the mill extensions - I'll have to have a look as they sound like a very good idea, particularly now I have a big enough saw (090 - bought but haven't got yet) to drive the thing through wide enough butts to make it worth it. Alec

OK, I'll give it another go, but if it's no better I'll just go and drink some more wine instead I was working on the assumption that this isn't pro milling, so firstly it's about getting it done with a 36" mill and a not very big saw (I have to admit I don't recognise Husky numbers, but I would know a 3120 and there isn't one in the OP's sig.). As such, it's more likely to be own-use than sale, and definitely air-dried rather than kilned. I've always found the sapwood on oak to be extremely vulnerable to decay when seasoned this way, so treat it as sacrificial. As such, if you have to lose it to mill the butt then it doesn't matter - it would only fall off or get eaten by woodworm later. What I was trying to describe was how to cut a log in quarters when it's wider and deeper than the mill allows. The standard Alaskan has a maximum depth of 13". The maximum likely width is 30" on the set-up in the OP's sig. so the biggest you can do straight into quarters is a 26" butt, except that by the time you've run rails over the top it's more like 22". This is governed by the depth of the throat of the mill, not the width. If the butt isn't too far over 30" wide I reckon it's worth sacrificing the edges (again, assuming it's for own use this would be waney or be sapwood that would drop off later anyway, so it's no great loss). It also only sacrifices the edges on the very middle bit. Correction to the above is that he has a 44" bar, so rather than needing to take it down to a 30" cant it's a 36" cant. The first point I was trying to make was to take all dimensions out from the centre rather than from the edge, so that all cuts run parallel to the pith line. The first thing I was describing was making a 30" wide cant (now read 36"), so it's as wide as the mill can handle. The second thing was that by skimming the top of the cant so the cut runs all the way along, you don't need to run over guide rails, so you can take a full 13" depth out (throat being limiting here). What's left is a little over half the log, but close enough that if you make the next cut through the pith, the board you've just taken off is quartersawn. If that's a bit thick, you could take two boards to the pith. You can then take another board (or two) off the same, also quartersawn, from the other half of the log, ending up with the top 13" thick 'D' and the bottom 'D' which is a little bit thicker, as you didn't skim it straight. The picture I'm after is Trollspiel's in this thread: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/41065-1-4-sawing.html It's the cutting pattern in the bottom half of the diagram I'm referring to, so you roll the 'D' bits up on edge, so the cut face is vertical, and do the same process again, to create quarters. Freehanding is far harder I agree, but it's not impossible if you snap a chalkline down the length and then mark it in well; then run it across the end, through the centre. If you run a very shallow cut in on the end, then gradually angle back to about 45 degrees the bar is running mostly in the existing cut which works as a guide. It's not perfect, but it can be trued up without losing more than half an inch or so even if you're not that good. To illustrate how accurate this can be, it's not milling or chainsaw work, but I had to split some 2.5" thick, 2'6" wide elm boards in half to yield two 1" thick boards and did them with a hand saw this way. They were 6'6" long and came out flat enough that a single pass through the thicknesser left them flat. Oh and is it worth it? I agree with you entirely that it's very rarely worth it. Commercially, almost never. But, if you've got a project in mind it might be. When I find a suitable couple of brown oak butts, 10' and 14' long, I will be quarter sawing floorboards for my living room, because I can and because they will look stunning. Does this make it any clearer, or do I just reach for the bottle (cheers!) Alec

Hi Jonathan, Didn't make sense as in wouldn't do it that way, or as in don't understand what I'm on about? Alec

Yes, but it's wasteful. How large is large? I note that you have a 36" mill, so assuming you also have a 36" roller-nose bar, that gives you a maximum of about 30" if you take the dogs off. If the heartwood is not much over 30", pick two opposite sides that are fairly straight, roll one upwards, skim it off to 15" from the centre, roll the log so it's lying on the side you've just cut and do the same. Then roll it upright and you have a 30" wide cant. Skim the top off again, but this time just to lose the bark and so the cut runs end to end (not necessarily in heartwood throughout), parallel to the centreline (measure up from the centreline at the thin end and set to that) to give you a flat surface. Set the mill to maximum depth and make a cut with no rail. Remove the D-shaped bit, then plank down to the centre, then just beyond, following the standard 'cross' type quartersawing pattern. You now have two D-shaped bits left. Prop one up on edge so the sawn face is vertical. Skim the top (parallel to the heart centreline as before) and repeat the above process. The corner bits which are left can, in theory, be set diagonally and quartered, but to be honest I'd leave them as thicker section blocks or non-quartered planks. If the butt is significantly over the size of the mill, say 40" or more of heartwood at the narrow end, it's easier to take the mill off and freehand it with the saw into quarters, then set the rails up on the face and true it up Don't try to skim it true, go to skim depth (deepest dent) plus one plank, then flip it over and mill one plank thick to true it from the other side - otherwise you'll almost certainly hit your rail mounting screws. Even with the dogs on you can get through 78" with a 36" bar. If it's bigger than that, you need a bigger saw! Alec

Same friend who has the plain C5 Malvern also bought one of the Mark 1 versions of these, with the black face. Also very nice. Mine isn't available as it was a limited edition - the one with the blue face in the link below: Christopher Ward Forum • View topic - Forum Limited Editions Alec

Nice work on the larch. I sometimes take the first cut straight up the middle with the Alaskan as shown here. It means that you know you've got the pith removed and that your middle, widest boards will run with the grain and not be boxed heart, so they'll be as good as they possibly can be. If you don't then you tend to find that you follow the taper of the log with the saw, so the heart runs up through the middle of a couple of boards, causing them to split in the middle. Doesn't matter if you're cutting them in half, but does if you want to keep them wide. It also takes the maximum amount of stress out of the log as quickly as possible, so if you don't get round to finishing milling you're less likely to have radial cracks running so deep from the ends. I wouldn't bother with the chestnut myself, but I'd roll that field maple so that the split visible in the third picture is horizontal and mill dead through the middle along that line. It will tell you whether there is anything worth having in either half then. Alec

I don't fell on my own, but I do buck or mill, almost always on my own. This isn't through choice, it's through necessity. The reason for not felling is less to do with me and more to do with other people. Firstly, they're stupid enough to walk up and see what's going on (I've even had people on horseback!) and the other person is there to shout at them. Secondly, because I usually have trees on sites which are only accessible on foot, and certainly not by car (Land Rover not yet working) I only carry what I really need. That means I don't take a winch, so if something was to hang up, or the saw got jammed and I needed a second bar, or any other eventuality I want a second person to stand there and stop people walking up to the half cut/hanging tree while I go off and get whatever I need from the car. Hasn't happened yet, but I don't want to chance it where other people are involved. Alec

I don't think that's an answerable question - depends on what you want. The CW watches use ETA movements, which are about as good as it gets. It also means there are no issues with spares, since they're one of the largest makers and supply both components and bare movements (ebauches) extremely widely. Probably for all practical purposes the Seiko movement will be as good. CW use sapphire crystals for the watch glass, which makes them virtually indestructible. This isn't the old type of 'indestructible glass' which really wasn't that good. Speaking from experience, I've worn mine climbing/scrambling in the Lake District, building walls, milling, repairing the boat, and it still hasn't got a mark on it. Not sure what Seiko use, or how careful you will be about when you take it off. Main point though is that they'll both tell the time, so do you like it more, by enough, to pay the difference? Alec

A friend of mine has that model, it's every bit as good as it looks. Alec

Yes, I have a few, all fully mechanical with automatic movements. One of them is even a Stihl branded watch, with the old 1960s/70s logo. No idea what it was made for and never seen another one like it. Had a look at the one in your link - that price is excellent - you won't beat it with anything worth having. Not sure I'd go for that strap myself though, personal choice. It's worth having a look at the Christopher Ward website. The new ones are outside your price bracket but they sell their own secondhand ones and something like the Malvern C5 might be of interest. It's a British company, he's the designer, and they use Swiss ETA movements which are very high quality and find their way into many of the top brands (except Rolex who make their own still) This is quite a standard approach that goes back over 150yrs. Their service is faultless - 5yr warranty and if it needs anything they're extremely helpful and quick. Mine went back at 3yrs old to be adjusted as it was losing a little more time than I wanted and was back within a week. With regard to your original questions, they should be serviced every 5yrs, but you'll get away with a couple more without causing any damage. Absolute lifetime is indefinite if you want it to be and keep it well. One of mine is 1950s and keeps perfect time. My wife has a 1930s manual wind that works fine, although some idiot had messed with the hairspring. Fortunately, I know some extremely skilled and patient people who can repair just about anything and they very kindly straightened the whole spiral (no thicker than a hair) by hand. under a microscope, going round and round it with two pairs of needle nosed pliers. Alec

For the same reason I suspect. Can't say as I've noticed them, but then I'm normally too busy trying to avoid the weed/toll islands etc to pay much attention to the trees. Alec

It would be very interesting to see how that compares with my 066 Magnum - it's an early one which is effectively factory spec ported. 24" bar on mine. Alec

I think this might be what you're looking for: Interview: Richard Mabey | Books | The Guardian

Makita do them. They're available on Amazon, or if you keep an eye out they show up sometimes on ebay (mine was a brand new unwanted raffle prize at half price ) Alec