agg221

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

I can't offer useful comment on a day rate, but I will offer some comment on employment. I am employed, but the way the company is structured, to all intents and purposes I run an SME, which I took on 8yrs ago as a loss-making enterprise of 4 people and have grown to a highly profitable enterprise of 32 people. Within all of this, the most difficult part has been finding people. Not just any people (that's easy) but skilled, motivated and responsible people who do the job the way you want it done. It sounds from your initial post as though you may have found someone who meets these criteria. When I find such people, I want to keep them, and that means keeping them happy and recognising the value they bring. As such, I pay them what they earn me, minus reinvestment costs and overhead (my salary costs are part of the overhead but in the early days when I was still doing the job as well as managing the activity it was about half my salary that needed covering). I also regularly keep them informed as to how the business is doing and what is needed, and let them know that they are valued. I also find out what their long-term plans are - I don't hold them to it, but check once a year (we have a formal appraisal process). That way, I know where they want to head and, where possible, facilitate it. Yes, this makes them more employable elsewhere, but it also means they are getting the most out of the role, which means they are more likely to stay. There is nothing worse than trying to find new, good quality employees while the work is mounting up! You may have given an indication as to a route forward. You reckon this person is conscientious and can be left to work unsupervised? Are there opportunities to take on one-man activities which would fill in the days you can't do? Things like hedge cutting/grass cutting/firewood cutting and splitting, which may not make you a profit but would cover your costs. Are there maintenance tasks which you currently do but could hand over, freeing up your time for quoting, which would increase turnover over all? This is a model of direct (earning) and indirect (non-earning) hours, where if you effectively work out an hourly cost, you can work out how many direct hours per week you need the two of you to be doing to earn the income you need. I would be looking for ways to keep this person, for as long as is reasonable given their long-term aspirations, as it sounds like you should be able to benefit from it if you can. Alec

Hi James, how long is it? Alec

If you keep going with the steam for longer the wood becomes softer - most of the replacement planks in my boat had to be steam-bent in, being 2" thick x up to 10" wide oak, some with simultaneous bend and twist. I found a couple of hours at temperature was enough, using a steamer made from an old coal-fired domestic boiler with the thermocouple lopped off and plumbed into a fridge freezer which had had the CFCs drained off and suitable slots cut in the ends. Sounds crude but it did the whole boat and finally rotted through on the boiler after about 15yrs. I had it easy though - Thames Barge planks are 3" thick! With thicker stuff you get much less loss if you are patient and give it enough steaming time to go like rubber but if you want to do it more quickly, make sure there are no knots or wavy grain on the outer face as it usually starts to go from there. With a long steaming time, I got away with some serious face defects and only cracked one plank (which got caulked in anyway as it split along the grain rather than across it). Alec

Gone crazy in what way? If it's really vigorous and calloused growth it suggests it is just responding to the pollarding. I wouldn't expect much blossom for a few years after pollarding - it kicks the tree into growth rather than fruiting mode. It will need to settle down a bit and develop a new spur system before it flowers well again. Alec

You are quite right that the chain is the key factor, both how sharp and how even. If you haven't got one, I suggest going for one of Rob D's Granberg Precision grinders - it lets you set angle, length and hook and keeps them the same on all teeth which does give you a lot more speed and a improves finish. Oregon chain comes out with a perfectly reasonable finish but you could try a loop of the Granberg chain as well - I prefer the finish I get and it is also a bit faster (you do need the grinder to sharpen it though as it gets hardened). Alec

I wouldn't mill beams - they are more likely to crack and less likely to be useful for anything. I suggest it is big enough to justify quarter sawing if the mill are prepared to do it. I would go for a reasonable amount of 1.5", a bit of 1" (which will finish to around 0.75" for shelves, bookcase sides and smaller furniture), a few bits of 2.5" which will finish to 2" for a serious table if you fancy it, and when it gets near the corners of the log, mill a few bits of 4" square for use as table legs. There will be a lot of timber there - for context, if you took it all down to 1.5" you would have about 400sq.ft, so you might want to thing of a range of projects and make sure you get the timber milled to start. Also don't forget you will need to get a lot of stickers ready in advance. Alec

Yes, once it's down, and assuming it is OK for rot and with not too much sapwood. Walnut is not worth the thousands of pounds which many people assume it to be - there is a lot of work in milling, stacking, seasoning, converting into finished object before it acquires significant value. Alec

What you are showing in the picture doesn't look like a disease - it looks like adventitious roots appearing, which cherries sometimes do. They don't grow any bigger than this and are not a problem. The usual problem with cherries is bacterial canker, which leaves areas of dead bark and oozing resin, plus a very thin canopy if it is near girdling the trunk. 'Shothole' in the leaves is another form. If twigs look like they have been scorched with the blossom on then you have cherry blossom wilt. Otherwise, the fairly self-descriptive silverleaf. Cherries don't like being cut hard, and will generally bleed and develop canker, but they can be pruned when in growth but before August - light cuts being much better. Alec

The value of walnut is heavily dependent on the heartwood/sapwood ratio and the colour. You won't really know about this, or any rot up the middle or from old branch wounds, until the tree is down. Keep the main trunk full length - if it's too heavy to move it is better to chainsaw mill up the middle to make it moveable than to cut it in half lengthways. I wouldn't cut it where you've marked the 2.8m but rather go all the way up to the main fork as it will give more options - maybe longer boards and better figuring. Make the felling cut absolutely as low as possible. Once it's down, pictures of the ends and an assessment of length/rot damage will give a more accurate idea on value. As a rough guide, if you find it is clean and of good colour with only a narrow sapwood band, you might get £6-8/Hoppus foot at the top end, or sell it easily at £4/Hoppus foot. It will be in the region of 50 Hoppus feet, approximately £200-400 range. Your location will count against you a bit as the cost of collection would also include a ferry. Hope this helps. Alec

I like the price for springs When I bought a significant number of bits, I found it cheaper to buy them from Germany - there's a seller on ebay.de who is also a dealer and will obtain and supply parts. Postage is reasonable but you have to need enough at once to make it worthwhile. Alec

Starter is still available as a whole unit. You will need to check whether you have the aluminium or the nylon starter cup though as the starter for the latter is different and nla - you can't just swap them over as they take different flywheels too. Not sure on the clutch springs - let me know if you get anywhere as I haven't sorted one yet for mine. Alec

Not quite sure on the age of that 090 - I vaguely recall it's stamped on somewhere (exhaust?) but I haven't looked. The bar is a 1970s Cannon with a roller nose (not sprocket). Yes it's around 9' overall - the van in the picture is actually Luke Quenby's - I drive a Volvo estate and even with the front seat wound flat it still isn't long enough to take the saw and bar together. Sorry - derailed the thread somewhat. 36" is the longest recommended bar for the 660 but a 42" works fine, especially for milling where it isn't running full length. The oiler runs out before the power. You can run 3/8" or .404" - it really doesn't make much difference to the saw kerf. Chainsawbars used to have them but Oregon stopped supplying so 36" is now the longest available from them. Alec

Are you insulting my bar-hood Jon? I'll have you know that's an 88in bar, not a mere 6ft I was going to take a photo like miker's avatar, but I reckon getting my wife to hoist the thing upright could be a bit of a challenge. Alec

You call that a bar? Now -that's- a bar!

Thanks, I'll give it a go Alec