agg221

I don't bother - oak is acidic anyway and if you have rinsed reasonably well it will be fine, and be neutralised when it hits the concrete. If you particularly want to, probably sodium bicarbonate is the cheapest and easiest to get hold of, from the supermarket. Alec

If you can edge out all the sapwood, I would leave it untreated. If you need to keep sapwood in I would definitely treat it heavily - I never find oak sapwood to be at all durable (often just let it rot off before I mill given the choice!) When you bolt down, fit the boards 'frowning' rather than 'smiling' as it will reduce cupping and any that you do get will help water shed between the gaps, rather than pond in the middles. Alec

It would worry me a lot! Run it on 15:1 and you will kill it, either because it's running lean (yes, really, too little fuel in the fuel:air mix if you take it all out and put oil there instead), or because it will blow the plug out (fill the top end with oil and you decrease the space for compression, so the compression ratio goes up). If by some chance it doesn't, it will kill you instead with the smoke! I would say however that if you don't use it that often it's worth swapping over to Aspen once it's rebuilt again. I would also suggest that this sort of saw just isn't his thing, and ask someone else to take a look. Alec

It should get rid of them completely. Alec

Oxalic acid can be had cheaply from a decent chandlers (noting your location - Milford Haven?) or a proper chemists, not just a pharmacy - they will have a catalogue, probably Sigma Aldrich, and will be able to get it in although it won't be cheap that way. Or there's always the dreaded Ebay. About a fiver for a kilo delivered - dissolve it up in warm water, brush on with a stiff brush and leave, then rinse. Alec

Is he using genuine parts or pattern? There have been issues with rings on the chinese pattern parts (I haven't had any, but I have heard of them failing). How many tankfuls between the first failure and the most recent? If it's not many, it suggests you may have an underlying problem that hasn't been diagnosed. Has it been pressure/vac tested? Alec

Definitely iron staining. Removing it - oxalic acid should take it out. Do wear rubber gloves as it's toxic. Alec

Ah - that which was formerly known as Prunus pissardi and is now known as Prunus cerasifera 'Pissardii' Alec

You do know that's one of Rob D's listings? Might be worth asking him what it is. Alec

I started off milling with an 064, then an 066 (ie 660) before I went to larger saws. A 36" bar is as much as I would want to fit (you can go to 42") which gives 28" capacity with the dogs on, 30" with them off. Doing this, it's slow. It works very well on a 25" bar milling at 18" capacity. You will need proper ripping chain, and I would seriously advise the Granberg precision grinder as keeping the teeth equal in length and angle (as well as sharp) is critical for good milling. Alec

I sometimes have some well air dried material surplus to requirements. Any particular species, dimensions, quantities of interest etc. Alec

What is the floor like? If it's fairly smooth concrete could you go to crates/stillages on pallets, load up outside and then pull them around on a pallet truck (hand or battery depending on quantity and length of run)? Alec

Elm is a really interesting one. English elm definitely isn't native to Britain - current thinking is that it is native to somewhere in Turkey. However DNA analysis (2004) identified that it is a single strain of Ulmus minor, rather than a distinct species. U.minor is more contentious - because it usually propagates from suckers it is not very fertile, but it can and does set fertile seed in the UK, about every 20-30yrs which is quite frequently enough for sustained propagation. It was also largely wiped out in the 16th century, probably by a previous strain of elm disease, so the current genetics are very narrow compared with what may previously have been. As such, there is nothing concrete as to whether U.minor is native or was brought here by man over the land bridge. The same is probably true of other species - did the acorns gradually fall further and further and north as the ice receded, or did a man drop a few out of his backpack....? Alec

I would second Rob's comment. I suggest starting with an Alaskan Mark III mill, probably 36" as this is about the length you would be OK with if you did have the double saw set-up, and in the meantime you can shorten it up to fit the 441. You would also need a suitable length bar - a 25" would give you 18" capacity, meaning you could mill a 2' log by rolling it. You will then need a ripping chain - personally I like Granberg chain as I find it cuts a bit faster and leaves a smoother finish, but Oregon is cheaper. You also need to consider how you will sharpen the chain - it needs to be both sharp and even in angle and length for good milling, to a level which is extremely difficult to achieve by hand. You could use a precision filing jig, or a precision grinder. Note, you would need a grinder for the Granberg chain. In the meantime, have a look at the videos Rob has put on youtube - you can find them linked from Chainsawbars ? chainsaw chains, chainsaw bars and chainsaw accessories Cheers Alec

My day job is in commercial engineering R&D, and I have been named on around a dozen patents over the years, so I'll try and set out the options. First thing is that to get a patent granted you need to prove an innovative step and that the invention is not obvious 'to one skilled in the art'. A trivial example of the latter would be if that if the longest log anyone has ever set a processor up to cut is 12" you could not get a patent simply by moving the guide out to 14" as it's obvious, but obviousness can get a lot more subtle and tricky than this. The purpose of a patent is to encourage commercial exploitation. It gives you a protected position for 20yrs to gain market share, in exchange for putting the knowledge in the public domain for general exploitation once the patent runs out. There are a couple of points in your original post which would warrant some thought - the first is that it appears that there is already a patent on a method for achieving the result; the second is that you are not looking for commercial exploitation. With regard to the first - have you reviewed the existing patent? Does it use the approach you have, is it completely different or is it somewhere in between (e.g. different, but not fundamentally)? If it's the same approach, this would form prior art and you would need a licence to access it if the patent is current (has not expired or been allowed to lapse). Your idea could be an extension of the existing patent, in which case you could get a daughter patent, but would still need access to the existing patent to use it. Fundamentally different approach, no problem; somewhere in between you would need to discuss with patent lawyers whether claims could be drafted in such a way as to not be compromised by it. You say you don't want to commercialise it, but you 'don't want your ideas stolen'. Why not? This isn't a flippant comment - you need to work out why. If it's because you feel moral ownership of the concept, you could become the acknowledged inventor of the concept by publication - write an article about it for a relevant magazine and this will form prior art. Alternatively you could file the first stage of the patent, which is pretty cheap, but let it lapse. Again, this will stop anyone else from patenting it themselves, although both approaches will leave people free to use the idea (you could look on this as altruistic). Otherwise, unless you want someone to exploit it commercially and pay you for access, you are effectively saying that you have had a good idea but you don't want anyone else to be able to have access to it in any form. This is regarded as counter to advancing the state of the art, hence patents are designed to prevent this situation arising. If you do want to take it forward, there are other ways. If you just want to get someone to build one for you, you might find a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is more what you are looking for. This formalises confidentiality when you are discussing it with an engineering firm. If you need an NDA template at some point, drop me a PM as I can send you a standard one. Beyond this, you could look at selling access to the concept, either outright or on a royalty basis. You do not need a patent to do this. Formalised intellectual property (IP) in the form of a design right can be easier to obtain and is usually sufficient. If you initiate discussions under NDA, a company can't make use of the concept until you have reached an agreement. However, when thinking about this, consider that a company will only adopt a new concept if it can increase their revenue. If it allows them to take greater market share in a closed market, or extend the overall scope of the market, they may be interested, but usually only so long as the payment to you is a percentage of the additional profit they are gaining by doing so - otherwise they may as well not bother. Hope this helps. Alec edit: I would echo the comment about not disclosing the concept on here.

I wouldn't resin it - a wedge will work fine. If you use a wooden wedge, split a piece off of a nice straight-grained dry piece of oak. It's hard to describe, but you want the sort which is stringy and fibrous, not the sort that snaps off on you. Once it's split, trim it down to a good wedge but leave the surface rough, and drive home and saw off slightly over-length. You can then use it, but try driving it home further in a few weeks - if it won't trim off flush. Metal wedges want to have serrations on them to grip well. Some people also dip them in salt water before fitting to make sure they rust in solid. It's slightly trickier to guess the slot size as you can't trim the wedge off if it's too tight. Be careful about swelling the handle too much - if you swell it, then dry it, it will go loose, so keeping it outside in a shed is the best bet to maintain the same general conditions as it will be used in. Alec

What size is the log, and what is the capacity of your Woodmizer? Alec

Hmm, that location might be a bit more limiting. The obvious suggestion is to get someone with a big chainsaw mill to take a set of slabs off the top, then the same off the bottom, so that the cant left is the right width to fit through your mill. If you want the slabs full width then get them cut to thickness, otherwise a single cut off the top and another off the bottom, to leave the cant the right width, then use a mini-mill to either edge it to the mill width or rip it up the middle. Challenge is finding someone with a mill in the right location (I'm near Stansted and could become the flying miller......!) Alec

Whereabouts in the country are you? Alec

Very nice. To get the most burr figuring you need to slice off each face in turn, working round the log. This is the opposite of quartering. Big J put a thread up on this a year or two back. Alec

Nope. One day, when I get round to it I will fit an 090 each end of the Stihl mill. That will be quite fast I suspect Alec

Could try David Watson Transport Ltd. They have moved boats for me before at very reasonable prices. Don't worry about the Colchester address - they are national. Alec

Robinia?

Standard is 61cc, the Super is 72cc. Standard will be comfortable at 20" but will pull 25". Super will be comfortable at 25" but will pull 28". I would agree that if under £100 with the spare alongside it that would be well worth having. Alec

They are heavy, slow-revving lumps. This means they will pull a longer bar than the modern equivalent .cc without bogging down, and will get there in time. If you want to cut rings every now and again and don't have a 70+ cc saw then they are the cheapest option available. If the price is right, I'd go for it, but see whether it has the chainbrake or not. Alec