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I see you dressed up to do the final coat of paint... Alec

No idea, but lucky man having the opportunity Are they anywhere accessible to view, and when are you doing them exactly? If it's not for a few weeks I would be interested in some material for cuttings if that was possible. Alec

I used Treasure wax but Rub'N Buff will do the same thing. It's not specifically for wood but it will go on pretty much anything, including wood. It has been used for centuries for cheap gilding but there is a much wider range of colours available now - like most things, available via Ebay or Amazon, or in your local art shop. Tiny jars/tubes, but a little goes a very long way. Alec

I would run Aspen in it as then you won't need to worry about either draining the tank or the rubber parts drying out. Run it, put it away, get it out next time good to go. The chainbrake for the 076 is technically no longer available so good luck getting from a UK dealer. I bought one of mine new from Germany - a seller on ebay.de and the other secondhand from Canada for a fair bit less, even including shipping (and sorry yes, I do need both!) Alec

Many things, as normal pump fuel is a complex mix of over 50 different chemicals, several of which are unpleasant. However, the one I am most interested in is benzene. Benzene is seriously nasty - the following is copied from the US government guidance on benzene but you can find similar from many sources including the World Health Organisation (ie this is based on proper research, not spurious opinion): Immediate signs and symptoms of exposure to benzene People who breathe in high levels of benzene may develop the following signs and symptoms within minutes to several hours: Drowsiness Dizziness Rapid or irregular heartbeat Headaches Tremors Confusion Unconsciousness Death (at very high levels) Direct exposure of the eyes, skin, or lungs to benzene can cause tissue injury and irritation. Long-term health effects of exposure to benzene The major effect of benzene from long-term exposure is on the blood. (Long-term exposure means exposure of a year or more.) Benzene causes harmful effects on the bone marrow and can cause a decrease in red blood cells, leading to anemia. It can also cause excessive bleeding and can affect the immune system, increasing the chance for infection. Some women who breathed high levels of benzene for many months had irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in the size of their ovaries. It is not known whether benzene exposure affects the developing fetus in pregnant women or fertility in men. Animal studies have shown low birth weights, delayed bone formation, and bone marrow damage when pregnant animals breathed benzene. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that benzene causes cancer in humans. Long-term exposure to high levels of benzene in the air can cause leukemia, cancer of the blood-forming organs. Normal pump fuel is approximately 2% benzene. Burned in an efficient car engine this is not too much of a problem - combustion is effectively complete so the emissions are negligible. A 2-stroke engine (whilst having a much better power to weight ratio) is much less efficient, sometimes as low as 66%. The remainder comes out as unburnt fuel, which is about 0.6% benzene. To put that in context, from a 1litre tank you are putting 6ml of benzene into the air. Burn your way through 5l of fuel and that's 30ml. The permissible exposure limit in the US is 0.5 parts per million and the LD50 (rat), which is the dose at which half of rats to which it was administered died, is 1.8g/kg. If it scales, that would make the LD50 for humans in the region of 120ml, although that's for short term exposure rather than the long term insidious effects. Obviously you won't breath all of the fumes in, but it's certainly something to think about. Hope that helps Alec

Metallic wax might work well - available in an array of colours from pewter to silver to nickel. Alec

When I winched my 40ft boat up my parents' garden to where I was going to rebuild it, it needed a 5ton Tirfor in low gear. I used something similar to your idea but with garden spades instead of rebar. Three spades was enough to hold it, if hammered in well at an angle. Soil was heavy clay. Alec

It looks to me like a piece of sedimentary rock, the circles being the layers - this is because you can see a split starting down a layer at the top right. Fossilised tree stem tends to be formed from silica, so it looks a bit like flint until you inspect it carefully. Alec

Hi Tim, A 461 will cope with milling on an occasional basis for your own enjoyment. It will be fine with the 25" bar and if you take the dogs off you will get just over 20". It would still work if you put a 30" bar on and get a 24" cut, although it will be very slow and steady. An alternative would be to go for a small log mill and go in from each side which gives a 40" capacity. The loss in accuracy wouldn't matter for picnic table slabs. For wide cuts on a saw this size I would go for Granberg chain as it takes less power, and you would need to keep the teeth absolutely spot on sharp and even so I would go for the precision grinder. I wouldn't use beech outside though as it rots too fast. Alec

I have to confess I did think about whether I could get through it and decided not quite Alec

Not Rob, but yes your plan will work fine but bear in mind it will give you a meximum capacity of about 24" if you take the dogs off, 22" if you leave them on. Before I had any bigger saws, I used to run a 36" bar on the 066 which worked fine, if a little slower, and gave a 28" capacity. I suggest going for Granberg chain though as it takes a bit less out of the saw. Alec

Clive is pre-supposing that I wouldn't get there first! Alec

Electrolytic cleaning works extremely well. I have the wheel from a Ransomes Crawler gradually revealing just how bad the pitting is overnight tonight (I suspect this weekend I will be mostly doing weld overlays). Don't expect the rust to vanish - you have to rub it off but it is no longer connected to the metal. It does still strip the patina though - it leaves bare steel which flash rusts really quickly (rinse, dry and oil immediately). A battery charger really runs at too high a voltage to be ideal as there is a theoretical risk of hydrogen embrittlement in carbon steels but I've never experienced it. To keep the patina, which is a thin layer of magnetite (a sort of rust) you need to just rub it over with oil or wax on a cloth until the surface is smooth but still black, and no more rust rubs off on the cloth. Takes a lot longer and a lot more work. Alec

I wish you were the other end of the country - really nice piece of timber that. Alec

My 3yr old daughter (see avatar) is sitting next to me on the sofa and has just said 'Loveheart! Daddy, can you make me one of those please'. I asked if it needed all the layers, she says yes. Oh dear.... It doesn't help that her name is Keziah and she also read the 'K' on it! Alec

You can get a 3/8" sprocket-nosed 42" bar as per link to ebay.de For chain, have a look at chainsawbars.co.uk on the custom chain loops tab. You can then select the chain you want (Stihl, Oregon or Granberg - for a 660 on an overlength bar I would go for Granberg) and enter the number of drive links you need in the pop-up box. Alec

There was a Grand Designs where someone built a timber-framed octagonal house somewhere in the fens. He used leylandii for the banister rails and they looked very nice - took a very good finish. Quite pale with little distinctive grain as I recall. Alec

You really need input from someone with more knowledge than me, but I believe D30 and D40, and also class 3 moisture service, refer to grades under BS5756(2007) which is a visual grading standard for hardwoods which only applies to dry timber (20% maximum moisture content with no piece in the parcel exceeding 24%). You explicitly cannot grade 'wet' timber for interior use to this standard. The grading guide linked to by Rover is excellent - way better than reading the dry grading defect standard and working out what applies (which is how I did mine!) However, notably, it is grading guidelines, rather than an approved standard, and as such you would still not need to stamp the timber to a grade, ie you do not need to be certified, so could do it yourself. However, I really would want to confirm that this still applies. It was my interpretation three years ago, based on some highly informed guidance from my engineer, but things change - also I was doing my own timber for my own extension and was prepared to argue it if necessary, but it turned out that building control were happy to just take my word for it. Alec

Is the oak green or dry? My information is a few years old but if it's green, there was still technically no grading standard in place (although of course you can apply the dry grading standard). Oak is visually graded and it used to be the case that you did not need to be certified as a 'grader' for hardwood, just to ensure that it complied with the specs for a particular grade, which relate to size and placement of knots, presence of dark timber and the straightness of grain - it may be worth dropping Pete Bannister a PM as he is certainly aware of the standards. Alec

My recollection is that the hub is turned in elm, to stop it splitting, the turned spokes and fellows are in ash. I think the spokes are bored into the hub at a slight angle (ie the wheel is not made dead flat) and I think the fellowes are open morticed and pegged together. The iron tyre is made as a hoop by measuring round the circumference of the fellowes and then there is a formula for how much shorter than this it should be (I have this in a book and can look it up if of interest). Traditionally, the tyre is fire-welded but you can obviously arc weld it. You then make a ring fire (burning wood) on the ground and heat the tyre in it until a dry stick smokes and feels greasy when rubbed on it. At this point, two people together pick up the tyre with a pair of tongs each on opposite sides and drop it over the wheel, knocking it level if necessary. The wheel will then creak a lot as the tyre shrinks, forming a dish and holding the fellowes tight together. You need the dish to go the right way, hence why the wheel isn't made dead flat as above. Alec

If they're a reasonable size, you might find someone on here interested in taking them. Any approximate idea on dimensions? Alec

I thought this was an interesting perspective. From Evelyn's Sylva. Alec

Just to increase your jealousy, some pictures. The book was printed in 1679 so there is every chance the leaves in the third picture have been pressed in there for over 300 years! Alec

I really like the original - about 15yrs ago I bought a copy of the 3rd edition as it contains Pomona as well (together with several other short essays bound in). There is something about the combination of the smell of the binding and the linen paper that really adds to the whole pleasure of reading it. I'll have to keep an eye out for the new one and compare it for style. Alec

I wear chainsaw wellies, whether it is sunny or not, and the neck protector is to prevent sunburn, skin cancer and midge bites As such I willingly signed. Alec