agg221

Yes, really. It was the liner sections in the bow of my boat. Can't find any specific pictures but in the picture of it in the link below, if you look at the bow you can see gunwhales are around 7.75" wide which is covering 2" of hull plank, 0.75" of shearing/felt/chalico and 5" of liner. The bow section of the liner is around 9' long. Samson · National Historic Ships UK You can see how the bending was done in the link below, for some of the hull planks. You can see that the bow planks needed both bend and twist. Samson | Historic Narrow Boat Club Thames barges typically have 3" hull planks, which are also steam bent into position. Alec

The thickest I have bent is 5" dry oak, normally 2". There is no substitute for time. I allow 2hrs/inch. I like an insulated box to keep the heat in (I use an old fridge freezer with the boxes knocked through and slots in the end. If you leave it less time it is more likely to crack at defects. Another trick to reduce this happening is to screw a strip of clean, knot free timber cut with the grain around the outside of the curve before steaming. Alec

Now tracked it down. It's the fenland black oak project for the diamond jubilee - there's a thread on here called something like huge oak tree milled in the fens which also covers the drying process but I can't post a link from my phone. Alec

I am somewhat envious. I would like to get my hands on a bit to make a box I designed over 25 years ago! It seems to be commonly found by farmers but unsurprisingly the chain from farmer to mill is hard to create. Have you seen the millennium table project? Alec

Lemonwood is very easy to come by - try a Google search for lemonwood bow stave and the top result is Bow Supplies - Barebow Archery (hickory isn't bad either but is slightly harder to work). Whether you regard £40 as expensive or not depends on your point of view. For a clean, even stave without defects which has been properly seasoned and will last a long time as a bow before following the string excessively I would regard it as a reasonable price. If however you enjoy the process of making bows enough to not worry about making replacements fairly frequently and don't mind the odd failure when tillering then certainly hazel will give you a cheaper option. 'The Archer's Craft' by A.E.Hodgkin is a useful read when setting out on this for the first time. Alec

Gumming on cherries (sorry, to give its new technical name, ooziwooziglobulosis ) is often a consequence of bark damage. The damage is often caused by bacterial canker, typically in the crotch of the tree and particularly common when the tree has been 'top worked', ie grafted at the desired height for the crown break. In your case, I don't think it's that. The bark looks otherwise clean and unmarked. I strongly suspect therefore that there is a point of mechanical damage under that gumming - maybe caused when the stone went down. As such, I would be inclined to leave it alone and not worry too much about it - at least the stone is permeable and removes competition - not the ideal mulch but not too bad as long as it hasn't raised the ground level too much. Alec

Have you done this before? If not, I suggest buying a lemonwood stave for starters. Hazel is unlikely to be found seasoned so you would need to wait. Yew is quite tricky to pick out the right bits with suitable heartwood/sapwood, the right rate of growth and also understanding which defects are OK, which can be worked around and which are critical to remove or avoid. When a bow breaks it is quite spectacular with a lot of stored energy and it is far more likely to happen (after an enormous amount of work) if you start with something difficult. Lemonwood is even grained, available in fully seasoned staves and ready for you to start working on. Getting hold of some decent lengths of Lawson's cypress is a good option for making arrows out of - it's known as Port Orford Cedar which is the preferred wood for the purpose. Alec

If you're not sure which way the forces are going, banging in a plastic wedge behind the bar as soon as the saw is deep enough in to allow it will stop the cut closing up - best done in anticipation as once the cut starts to close up you can't always drive the wedge hard enough to re-open the cut. Worst one I had was the first thing I felled. A parkland grown dead oak for milling. I needed 7' lengths and it was 14'2" from the ground to the crotch, so I was cutting dead on ground level, through all the buttresses, around 4' across. I had a 25" bar so it was tight. The only reason I was tackling it was that it was completely open so it didn't matter which way it fell. I picked what I thought was the heaviest side, cut a textbook gob, then worked in from the back. I had picked the wrong side. I was most of the way through when the tree sat back to one side and no amount of driving steel wedges was going to shift it. It was getting dark by then and my only other bar and chain (36" with ripping chain for milling) were about 65 miles away so I removed the power head and left the bar and chain. The tree was pretty unstable but there was nothing I could do. I taped up around the fall zone with hazard tape and put up signs in case anyone walked by. I rang the farmer to warn him (he kept cows in the field) but he just laughed and said if it fell on them they were insured! Following morning I went back and re-cut, veering about half an inch downwards. This time I drove wedges as I went and got through fine. The tree eventually went, at right angles to the hinge! It was a perfect 1" wide hinge, absolutely parallel, the tree just wasn't having it. Since then I have always driven wedges as I go if something is not absolutely certain and have not had another stuck saw since. Alec

Well I had a look yesterday. They are the right size and shape but only got half a dozen at most (the boat only needs about 10 this shape so I didn't cut that many spare). Alec

They will definitely be sized for 125mm width as they were collected for boat frames and that's the right size. Length will be the issue as nothing is that big on the boat. Deflection makes sense. I will have a look in the morning and see what is in the pile - how many do you need? Alec

Do you know the shapes? I have some dry 75mm natural curves which are not wide enough to call boards exactly but if they are the right shape they may do the job. Alec

You could, which is where your CV assessments and interview records come into play. So long as you can show what aspect(s) of their skills or approach made them less suitable on balance you are fine, apart from the hassle. Around 17yrs ago we had someone try it on on race grounds. We were able to show that their qualifications were not as good a fit as the person who was appointed. It later turned out that they had been making a living out of this and the police got involved. I am not aware of any since and we have had several thousand applicants, so it doesn't appear to be too common. Alec

These are not examples of discrimination. Discrimination in employment is selecting staff on grounds which are not relevant to their ability to do the job to the required standard with reasonable adjustments. A blind person could not drive a lorry so this would not be discrimination - it is ability to do the job. However you could not reject someone in a wheelchair from a call centre job just because you wanted to avoid the cost of fitting a ramp up some steps. However you could if you were based in a top floor office with no lift and no reasonable way to install both primary and emergency access routes. You cannot reject applicants on grounds of things you suspect they may do based purely on stereotypes and speculation. Alec

I can't help wondering whether the root of this is some sort of misunderstanding of a duty of care. It sounds like the situation may have resolved itself but if not one way forward would be to suggest having an inspection by a qualified arboricultural consultant. Although apparently completely unnecessary in this case, it might allay any fears and would show categorically that they had met any obligations - in fact they would have hugely exceeded them but if it makes them happy.... Alec

They are late leafing out and there appears to be some epicormic growth developing. The key question would appear to be whether what has taken out the top is progressing downwards. If yes, you would need to cut low enough to stop it and do it ASAP. If no, I would be inclined to leave it until autumn so you can see what you actually have to work with. Alec

A nice sized stick. Any pictures of the colour/grain? Alec

I tend to be planting in areas where there are issues with rabbits and deer and use the plastic tube tree guards. On small stuff (up to 6') I tend to stake the guard with a single upright stake and then let the tree move within the guard. If there is no guard then I stake the tree with a single upright stake, banged in to the planting pit before planting and sticking up around 3'. It's pretty rare for me to plant larger stuff but where I have it is staked as per Wainy's method. I tend to use hazel stakes which rot off in about 2-3yrs anyway and get taken off. I generally use old bike inner tube as a tie and put a couple of half-hitches between the stake and the tree. One thing I am careful to do is figure out the prevailing wind direction and make sure the wind will pull the tree away from the stake rather than push it on to it, to reduce the likelihood of rubbing. Alec

Likewise - if you end up with any spare then I would very much like a couple (has to be two or daughters will argue about it...!) Alec

Sevenoaks may be doable. Mum is about halfway between Sevenoaks and Gravesend and I owe her a visit. What have you got? Alec

Cheers Paul, I'll give them a try. Alec

Hi, as per title really. I need a small quantity of sweet chestnut as I have run up slightly short on ceiling laths. Ideal would be coppice grown, around 4" diameter x 4' lengths but I'm not that picky and anything between 3' and 6' in length and up to 8" diameter would be useable. I really don't need much - a few lengths is all. If anyone knows of any, please could they let me know. Felled this winter is preferable but older will be OK so long as it is still in the round. Cheers Alec

You will indeed need the grinder. This is because making it involves grinding down the top plates to make the scoring cutters and the process often leaves them too hard to file. However, the grinder is very useful anyway as the key to good milling is that all teeth are identical in length and angle, which is virtually impossible to achieve by hand filing. This will make more difference than anything else as to whether milling is enjoyable or painful. Is Granberg chain worth it? I think so, but the gain is not huge over standard ripping chain. If you are pushing the limits on cut width with saw size, or are contract milling and want to produce good yield, it really is worth it. For a few small back-garden logs, probably less so. Alec

We really enjoyed the Azores - which island are you on? As for pruning, getting the chestnuts to grow away will need some space around them as they don't like being shaded when small. The hazel will be fine with some shade; no idea on tamarillos! Alec

I'm sure others will be along who are better qualified to comment on your specific question, but bad luck on this - we had similar issues with a small plot of land we rented next to ours and the neighbours deciding they didn't like the trees so just cutting some down. The general principle seems to be that the trees are the property of the owner rather than the tenant, so they need the owner's permission rather than yours. It is also now the owner who is owed compensation (technically criminal damage if they didn't have permission), including the cost of any further work required to tidy it up, specified either by the owner or, if there is a TPO, potentially the tree officer. In our case there was eventually a positive outcome. The owner got so fed up with our neighbours causing him grief over the trees on the land that he sold it to us. I haven't told the neighbours, but it will be interesting if they turn up again.... Alec

Yes the 4' (actually 47") bar is only in Duromatic but there is a 59" Rollomatic and pictures can sometimes be funny on perspective. That bar would add a bit to the value if present. The problem with the Duromatic when milling is that it takes power from the saw and is tricky to keep the tension right on the long cuts as things warm up but you have to start a bit slacker so it all ends up too slack. I used to use one (until it got stolen) and it was OK but I did tend to end up pouring oil on the tip periodically down the cut to get it to stay a bit cooler Alec