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We just don't hold with that newfangled electrickery round these parts (not sure whether I should mention that my elder daughter's sixth word was 'pitchfork'). Alec

Sometimes rabbits seem to leave some of the cambium intact in young apples, in which case they survive (I had this happen in the 1980s and the trees are still doing well). To be on the safe side, I would go with the bridge grafting suggestion - cut the scions in January, store them in the fridge and graft when the weather starts to warm up and the buds show signs of developing. Alec

Very nice. I particularly like pictures 3 and 4 - what's the wood? Alec

A combination of several reasons really: The construction means that the edge can be left harder, so they can take a better edge and stay sharp longer. I find this helps in very hard wood such seasoned oak (I believe there are some window frame companies which use them for cutting aluminium!). The tang, collar and hoop construction makes them extremely robust. I have some old C19 Robert Sorby chisels which I inherited. These include socket chisels, where I find the handle eventually works loose due to slight sideways movement, and mortice chisels which have a tang onto a flat, with a leather pad, which work better but the handle can split. The combination in the Japanese design self-tightens and holds well without splitting. A certain level of laziness (aka speed!) in that the Japanese chisels are sharpened at a single angle, rather than double bevel, so I only have to set the angle once per sharpening. Polishing the backs by design also keeps them clean and smooth running as you cut. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I get pleasure from using them. There is still a culture of craftsmanship in Japan, which extends to the way tools are made. Not quite so true of the fully machine made tools, but I enjoy using something which has been made with skill and care (including a proper wooden handle, with the aesthetics which go with excellence of design. Alec

I was given a small set of 4 standard modern oire-nomi about 15yrs ago, which work nicely for light stuff. I have then bought various random mixed lots on ebay, from Japan, so long as they contain the size I need. This has resulted in quite a few rusty, disreputable looking objects, some of which have turned out to be very nice, hand made chisels underneath. Because I want them to use, I am not so worried that the original black finish has gone, and they may need re-handling (although this is rare). I am mostly using them for heavy cutting in oak, sometimes fairly seasoned, hence the need for heavier blades. I am careful about how I use them, but they get worked hard and I have never had a blade chip - the heavy ones will be blue steel for this reason. Alec

It is raining heavily and very cold here - just come in from nailing down the first half of the replacement shed roof so at least the front part will be dry now. Typing this as my fingers gradually thaw out. Alec

Very useful page Morten. The only things I would add are: 1. You might come across reference to blue steel and white steel. The construction of a Japanese chisel has a thin strip of hard steel laminated to the softer iron body. The steel can be 'blue' (tougher) or 'white' (harder). You can't tell which it is unless the description says, but generally blue steel would be used for heavier type and cheaper chisels, whilst white steel would be used for high end fine bladed and paring type chisels. 2. The maker's name does tell you something. Most chisels are 'signed'. Modern machine-made chisels usually have a stamped in name, whilst expensive hand-made chisels are pretty much always signed by carving the name in. If you are buying new, they will almost certainly be machine-made and stamped in. In practice, since reading the name is next to impossible (unless you read Japanese!) it only matters if you are buying old secondhand tools and want to try to work out what you have. Obviously if you buy secondhand tools with hand carved in names and rosewood or ebony handles it is clear that somebody went to a lot of trouble, which typically means the blades will also be excellent. Alec

Thanks for the info on the Dunsley Baker Neutraliser - looks to be exactly what I have been looking for. Alec

I buy japanese chisels, individually in the widths I need. New they are seriously expensive (see Classic Hand Tools website) but I buy them secondhand on Ebay from Japan and clean them up. Alec

I stood on the lawn at the back of our house, with ours and our architect, discussing our planned extension. Her comment on the design was 'well it's OK, but why have you hipped the roof?' - answer, because your predecessor told us to, but we don't like it. She said we were right, and put it back to a gable end. She then asked if we would mind making it bigger. We asked how much and she said she thought it would look much better if we doubled it. We were happy to oblige! Oh, and we are installing 2G slimline panes, with proper hand-blown cylinder glass outer panes and inner Low-E to get the performance up. No questions asked, although we were the first in the district to get permission (she had just taken over). Alec

I sell very small quantities, and am in no rush. I don't have a kiln so I sell green or air-dried. Air-dried prices depend a lot on how long it has been drying, as if it is 10yrs+ it can be more than kiln dried, but for fairly thick section that has only had a year or two I would still treat it as green. Green prices would be: Oak: £20 Other 'decent' hardwoods (e.g. ash, beech, sycamore etc): £15 Standard softwoods (spruce, pine, larch): £10 I don't need to add VAT to these, so the prices are pretty comparable to Jonathan's. Some more desirable species command higher prices. These include walnut and most fruitwoods. Fruitwoods in particular tend to be in small sizes which are fiddly to saw, and some such as pear are extremely hard. Alec

I think these are good points. A few thoughts, not based on arb, but I have made 6 recruitments this year and over 30 in the past 6yrs. Apologies if some of it is obvious. In determining the salary, have you worked out what you expect them to earn you? If you work out expected number of days out earning x daily charge-out rate then this equals the maximum you -could- give as a renumeration package (salary + NI + pension contribution if you are in the threshold number of heads + any allowances). If you then work out the margin you want, it tells you the maximum you -want- to pay, which will inform the level at which you pitch the advert. As a role with supervisory responsibility, ie pitching it as a step up, I would quote the annual salary first (maybe with a day rate in brackets afterwards, although you would hope anyone applying could work this out!). Similarly, I would quote it as a 40hr week, rather than daily, as it gives an impression of seniority. You are quoting quite a wide range on the salary. Is this basically to try to attract someone, or because you can see different ways the job can be done, based on experience? Perhaps add a bullet-point list of expected responsibilities to make it clear what you are wanting them to do and the experience you are looking for, and make it clear what is essential and what is desired. As this is career progression, you are looking for someone with ambition, so I would comment on the potential for further career progression. I wouldn't be specific in the advert, but would be ready to discuss this at interview. In my field, I find it is usually best to let the candidate describe their interests in this direction and be open minded about whether it could be useful. For example, if you have someone who expresses an interest in progressing into surveying, and this is something you don't currently offer, it could be mutually beneficial. This would make one candidate favourable over another who said they want to go straight off and set up in competition to you in 2yrs! Alec

No need to notify listed buildings. Listing relates to the fabric of the buildings on the listed site (any permanent building, including modern sheds!). It doesn't relate to plants growing on or near the building. Of course you could notify them anyway, which might save any questions about what was done to the fabric at the time, but no legal requirement. Alec p.s. Renewablejohn - our listed buildings officer is called Natalie....

My 026 excepted you mean....! Alec

I'll offer an opinion. Look at pictures 6 and 7 on your other thread. You can see soft spots at the end in picture 6, to the right in picture 7. You need to leave these out of your calculations of volume. When it's to the side, you could cut the widest possible full length board to take it out, and then the remainder as a shorter, narrower piece, but you can't include it in your calculation. Assume you had a clear board with no soft spots. You would measure the width at the narrowest point on the narrowest side. This gives the maximum width board you can get out of it at full length. You would then measure the length at the shortest point, assuming it isn't perfectly square, for the same reason. Assuming thickness is even, this gives you the length, width and thickness to work from. Assuming the figures in your post are correct after you have done the above, that would be 8ft x 3ft x 0.25ft - multiply these together and you get 6cu.ft. I would reckon on selling clean, good quality timber like this (minus the soft spots) at £20/cu.ft whilst green, so about £120 per board. This would go up a bit if air dried, more if kiln dried (or air dried for a very long time) and more still if planed to an even thickness after drying. Hope this helps! Alec

Well according to my 5yr old yours is the best (sorry Clive!) Alec

Classic Hand Tools in Ipswich is where I get my Gransfors tools. They will post. Alec

Yes Jon, it's the 5lb one. I bought it on ebay the summer before last for very little but I normally buy from Classic Hand Tools - Classic Hand Tools Limited - They do good discounts at Wierd & Wonderful Wood. Alec

I have just come in from using my Gransfors large splitting axe. Very satisfying. Alec

What are you wanting the saw to do? If your father is still running an 041 it suggests it's pretty occasional use. This means that if the saw goes down, you may not need to fix it next day? If so, parts are still pretty much all available if you can afford to wait, so I wouldn't scrap it, just wait for the replacement parts to turn up (ebay, sometimes in Germany and the US rather than the UK). Having an alternative saw would still be a good idea though. More recent saws are not lower powered (there are still much higher power saws around than an 041!) but bear in mind that most people on this site are using saws on a daily basis in arboriculture and hence not necessarily needing a big saw on a regular basis. They are also more likely to post about saws which give them problems than ones which do not - worth looking for the saws they don't talk about. Being heavy professional use, they are also buying new for the warranty and the best power to weight ratio. New models are also always more likely to have teething problems. This creates a skewed impression. Not being reliant on saws for a living, I buy secondhand. Parts availability on most saws from the 1990s onwards (and some 1980s with long production runs) is excellent. You need to be mechanically minded enough to change basic stuff, and find a good saw technician who can check it over (pressure and vacuum) and tach tune it for you. The first thing to consider is what do you want the saw to do? If it's basically equivalent to the 041 and not being used hard on a daily basis - more the odd bit of firewood or farm type use, you could look at the Stihl 038 or 044. These will sit within your budget by enough that, having followed Spud's advice re. looking it over, you will have enough left to get it pressure and vacuum tested and a bit of budget to replace fuel pipes, carb boot and a carb overhaul kit. I've bought about 20 secondhand saws - the only one which has caused serious grief is the 026 which refuses to run properly for no apparent reason and will shortly be going off for yet another serious talking to. Alec

I enjoyed that - thankyou. Alec

The wheels are plain aluminium - never had anything bonded to them (the bands are thin enough to tension such that they don't slip). It jumps off during milling. The forward force is normally fairly moderate hand pushing, but definitely positive force. There are no tracking issues - start the cut and it's tracking fine. The bands tend to be ruined once they have jumped as it stretches them on one side, but put a new band on and tracking is still fine. There could be a problem with the scraper - likely cause? Alec

Hope you don't mind me jumping on this thread, but there appears to be some good expertise going on with bandsaw issues here. Very narrow band (3/4") running on a horizontal mill, with a 14" width, and the band has started jumping the wheels, forwards! At first I thought it was a particular, very 'grabby' tree but it has done it since on some nice, clean stuff which had previously been milling well. Bands are good quality and it has done it on both a known good band and one straight out of the box. Any ideas what to look for? Cheers Alec

Not being a carver I can't comment on the bar type (finer tip for more detail is about as far as I can go!) but yes, there are carving bars available for it: Carving bars Alec

Getting rid of as much as possible of the old root is a must - not just the stump, but getting the roots out too. If the site allows, the may be easiest to get in a small excavator and skip, take a skip-load out and bring in a skip-load of decent topsoil to replace it. This would give you a clean planting site, good conditions and ensure that the tree gets off to the best of starts, for a good few years. Armillatox used to be sold for dealing with honey fungus, and I found it very effective - there are apples which I treated in the late 1980s which have shown no further sign. The manufacturers declined to pay the fungicide registration fee, but it is still available, in the same formulation 'for cleaning patios'...... Alec