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Would help to keep the garage nice and warm though ...on second thoughts, probably better to follow the above advice.... Alec

I'd agree with that, and use an outdoor rated power cable rather than a bit of mains wire with a plug and socket bodged on! Should be fine with a standard 13A exterior cable reel, which will roll up neatly when not in use. The two things to watch out for are finding a way to get the cable out of the house and in to the garage which doesn't freeze the house at this time of year, and to make sure that the cable can be routed in a way that doesn't form a trip hazard. Otherwise, pretty low power rating so should be fine. You'll probably need the power anyway to run a decent light - until you have power out there I would be inclined to get a floor standing 500W or 1kW halogen light, which with the door closed will also give enough heat to keep the chill off while you're working. I rebuilt a lot of my boat outside in the dark evenings like this and it was OK to work by. Alec

Since Gary doesn't mind his thread being slightly diverted David - one related question that interests me here is whether you factor in formative pruning? I'm particularly thinking about work to reduce the likelihood of storing up future problems, eg removing co-dominant leaders to prevent subsequent formation of weak unions. The reason for the question here is that this type of work would typically be best undertaken on the smaller trees, which are the ones that would fall outside your standard inspection criteria stated above. Alec

Hi Al, In answer to your questions: The 066 will run a 36" bar, which will allow you to mill 30" width if you take the dogs off, 28" if you leave them on. With a suitable milling pattern involving a bit of log rolling or the use of the 30" or 36" bar on the mini-mill to edge up, you can convert 3' logs with it. It won't be particularly quick, but will work OK. The key is to keep the chain absolutely sharp and even in tooth-length. Personally, I use the Granberg Precision Grinder for this and it does it very well. It is also very quick for sharpening long chains. The improvement in performance using a saw such as an 880 will be very significant for anything much over 18" diameter. In your position, I would be inclined to buy a 48" mill, a 36" bar + ripping chain, the precision grinder and a ripping chain for the 30" bar, and either a ripping chain for the 20" bar, or ideally a 25" bar with ripping chain. I would normally have the 36" bar mounted in the Alaskan and reckon on using the 30" bar in the mini-mill when needing to edge up 3' butts to get the mill through. A 25" bar will allow 18" through the mill and is significantly quicker and gives a cleaner finish as there is less vibration; you could do the same with the 20" bar but would be limited to about 13-14". It is also handy on the mini-mill for quartering up 3' butts to yield higher quality timber. The 48" mill is because if you get addicted to milling then you will inevitably end up with a big saw and it is cheaper to buy it first off. Hope this helps:001_smile: Alec

The fuel tank is the earlier style, as used on the 075, but for some reason I have never understood there was a period of overlap between the 075 and 076, in which they had the same crankcase but different fuel tanks. Not actually sure there is any difference in capacity, just in the design of the flywheel cover (and the starter). However, this part has a tendency to get cracked on the front face so I could explain a swap. The hand guard/muffler cover is correct for an 076, but again they get swapped around. My 051 was originally supplied with a decomp valve; none of the three 076s I have owned were. However, the lack of manual oiler is highly suggestive and it would want a good look over at the holes in the top of the pot to check. Not sure on the compression I'm afraid - fairly high but then I'm used to starting it with no decomp (same for all the big saws) so I'm probably not a good judge Only thing I can say is that it's significantly less than the Teles Alec

Sounds promising on the stock you have - what length do you need the cladding and what is the diameter at that length (this has a bearing on the yield per log). Are they clean enough to get a second length? Slower grown timber is usually higher quality, but I wouldn't worry about it too much, particularly if it's being painted. You should see the growth rate of some construction grade softwood! Some larch springs as it is milled, as there is quite a lot of stress in it, but it is hard to predict this and if it's straight grown in a wood that's the best you can hope for - just be prepared to possibly lose a few. What size (width and thickness) do you need the cladding, and does it all need to be the same? This determines how long it needs to be dried, and how much yield you will get. Alec

What size are the trees that you have obtained? Japanese larch as a species is fine for cladding - what you don't want are too many knots, so if they are clear to a good length and a good diameter it should be worthwhile, although before committing I would work out how much timber you need, how much you will get out of the trees you have (ie do you need to mill all of them, or do you not have enough) and how much it would cost just to buy it in. It is likely to work out quite well though. Getting a planed face makes it more tricky. Is it plain sawn or featheredge? Plain sawn is pretty easy (just plane after seasoning) but for featheredge this is normally done by taking a board of the correct width, seasoning it, planing it to thickness (both faces) and then splitting it on the diagonal, which requires particular jigging. If you have a planer/thicknesser it can be rigged up to plane one face of a pre-cut featheredge board (I have just done this for mine). This makes life a lot easier if you hire a miller with the featheredge attachment, or use tommer9's cunning trick, which I will dig out of the appropriate thread if required:001_smile: Also worth checking on the current local situation re. Phytophthora ramorum and whether there are any restrictions on movement. Alec

Probably yes, although it could be uprated with the larger pot and piston, or a rebuilt 075 on a TS crankcase. I would certainly have wanted a better set of pictures of inside the backhandle before considering buying it. Alec

Seconded and hope it gives you years of pleasure to use. Alec p.s. - you might also have noticed the status of the person making the pointless comments - part of a general improvement over the last couple of months....

The text in bold is the issue - what is 'totally secure'? The same applies be it a firework display or tree works, basically anything which happens on an occasional basis, rather than being the dedicated purpose of the site. It's quite possible that the company your wife worked for has used the company that I work for. A theme park with a dedicated site for displays can take steps which, for example, the local authority organising a display in a park cannot, however nothing is ever completely secure - if someone has the objective of going through/breaking in then they can usually manage it (see all the theft threads on here). I would imagine that, if you asked your wife whether someone who was determined to get into the firework firing area during the display could do so, there would be a way. As you state, you need a physical barrier such that it is clear to anyone passing that they are crossing a line. You then need this to be challenging enough to act as a deterrent to those who are reasonable. However, manning the barrier at all points is not always practical (and becomes less so, the longer it gets) and, if you are not going to use physical contact, to a point becomes irrelevant once the density of people is sufficient to see what is happening. Perhaps the wrong impression has been given. This is not a case of 'fire regardless'. Displays are delayed until the site is clear. The challenge is maintaining the site clear during the firing window, against people who are determined to breach it (why I have no idea). During the time I have been doing this (20+ yrs) we have not had anyone get more than 10ft within the boundary, which lies outside the minimum drop zone, so the method works. Coincidentally we have had no injuries to the public or to personnel. Fortunately this has been achieved by verbal means and running in their general direction The original point I was making is that, if someone is determined to head towards the fireworks, you are faced with the choice of stopping the display or using physical contact methods. The impact of stopping is significant, as outlined in my first post, hence I'm not sure what would happen in the hypothetical event of someone seeking to access the fireworks. Alec

I didn't say safety, I said security, ie the display organisers provide security personnel but we frequently end up covering the back of the site. Whilst you suggestion of a line of personnel would, in theory, be a solution, we are talking about a drop zone about the size of five football pitches so you would need hundreds, if not thousands of people to achieve this. We are reliant on a physical boundary which is a significant obstacle (7ft park railings, which do not have breaches). In a R/A you are required to take reasonable steps to address foreseeable issues - this is a reasonable step. Otherwise it escalates indefinitely (it would clearly be absurd to have additional measures to deal with people scaling 20' walls with a grappling hook and a rope ). In addition, we will have sufficient people out there, stationed inside the boundary, to see what is happening, hence to head people off if they come towards the fireworks, or to stop the show before they reach them, but you are reliant on your presence to stop them, or the choice of making physical contact. We delayed firing by 20mins on one show last November to clear a group out who had slipped in during the evening and were skulking in the bushes, so 'we shouldn't push the button' is definitely covered, as (unsurprisingly) is just about everything else in the R/A, since as you can imagine it is pretty comprehensive. The key point though is that when you are trying to do a job and alongside that you are trying to address the issue of people doing things which they know full well they should not do then the impact is significant. Alec

I do big firework displays every November. The displays are rigged to fire automatically to music, ie hit the start button, sit back and watch for the next 20mins. A couple of the sites I do have problems with teenagers climbing in over a 7ft steel fence and wandering around in the drop zone, note this isn't land with a public right of access and we are not responsible for security. This causes enormous problems as outright safety would dictate the show is stopped, but that means it is then ruined for the audience of up to 20,000 people, who have often paid £5 or so each, so they are unhappy, the organisers are unhappy, we would end up not being paid, despite having let off £10k worth of fireworks and the company would have the choice of paying the 10 or so people a day's wages from their own pocket, or not and losing the labour for next time. So, we don't stop, unless they reach the fireworks themselves. To stop this, I, along with a couple of others, stand in the drop zone ourselves to drive them out. Voice alone normally does it, or charging straight at them (I probably hold some form of record for the 100m in steel toe capped wellies!) but the hi-viz mentality definitely comes into play in controlling them to leave the site, usually escorting them to the police who give them a good talking to, which at least stops them coming back for the remainder of the show. Alec

Be very careful when considering having a set altered. Without going into detail of the changes in microstructure which happen through heating, some are reversible, others are not. This depends on the composition of the alloy and its thermal history. Most steels (including stainless steels), except the extremely exotic ones, can safely be forged and, with appropriate heat treatment, returned to essentially their original properties of strength/hardness/toughness. Titanium alloys can be forged, but are more difficult as the higher strength ones are sensitive to a transition in structure, which happens if they get too hot and is very difficult to recover, so very good process control is required. Aluminium alloys are the most difficult - there are some grades which are impossible to recover the structure and will be severely compromised in mechanical properties if heated. If you know exactly what grade of material they are made from and post it up here it should be possible to establish whether they can be altered, but otherwise unless they are steel I would very much exercise caution. Alec p.s. just read Geoff's post below - above comments also apply to welding (I have no idea how the things are constructed and whether this is relevant, but specifying joining procedures happens to be what I do for a living so I can comment on that too if it helps:001_smile:)

I like those - inspires me to try something similar Alec

Tricky subject. If the building in which it is to be fitted survives in anything like original form then it will be listed. This means listed building consent is needed for alterations/replacements and this specifies materials. Current thinking discourages the use of 'period' materials as it makes the building history harder to read, and can encourage stripping out old buildings for their parts. It's slightly contentious, as 'recycling' was always practiced, eg of exterior timbers into internal walls, and continues to be acceptable to a limited extent under English Heritage guidelines. Alec

I can do it, and I'm fairly local, but I'm presuming 8-9" square rather than feet......! Alec

It normally would be insured, since it wouldn't be for hire or reward, under his household contents insurance. It's surprising just how much you are covered for under this - usually about £3M of public liability. Alec

Sorry, should amend this for clarity - just to point out that the Oregon Powermatch with the roller nose is the really old style (1970s?) which somewhat dates my kit . The current Powermatch has a sprocket, so it does matter which one you buy and the 395 is the easiest to specify if you need 3/8". Should also mention that the bar should fit the mounts, but since it isn't listed for this saw there is a possibility that you may have to add an extra oiling hole. Alec

No problem:001_smile: if you buy a roller-nose Oregon Powermatch then obviously it doesn't matter that you are using 3/8". If you want a sprocket-nose bar then it makes life slightly easier if you call it a 394 or 395 as they have the same mounts but 3/8" is standard. Alec

A quick bit of digging suggests that the dcs9010 has the same bar mount as the large Husqvarnas, so if you order a bar for a 3120 it should fit fine. At 90cc I would expect it to pull a 36" bar with no problems (very similar size to the Stihl 064), which will give you 28" on the mill, or the full 30" if you take the dogs off. Hope this helps! Alec

Before we had the children I used to do a lot of canal restoration at weekends and it's the favoured method of lining where the canal has leakage problems. The level is pretty stable there, but it seems to be very durable. The Wendover arm of the Grand Union is the site I'm most familiar with it being used on. Some good pictures here: Restoration2 but there are a lot more across the whole website. Alec

If he can that would be brilliant - I'll drop you a PM! Alec

Thomas Flinn & Co. Saw Screws & Caps They do a range of sizes - you have to ring and ask. Alec

Perfect then, and they can even read the original of the website! Ton who owns the company is really helpful to deal with. Alec

Stihl fuel tanks can be welded, but it's not ABS, it's Nylon (Polyamide) with 8% glass fibre filling for the white part - if it's the transluscent part at the front where you can see the fuel level I'm not sure of the composition as I don't have any saws that new! This means that ABS and similar are not compatible with it. It also means that you need to get a lot hotter (360degC welding temperature) and Nylon picks up water, which you have to drive out to get a good weld, otherwise you get porosity. The best bet is to get hold of another piece of Nylon, not glass filled, to use as a filler. Dry the tank out fully so there is no oil residue or fuel vapour - swill it out with acetone if you can get it, cheap vodka if you can't, to remove the oil. Scrape the crack out clean to form a very slight V (this can be done with a Stanley knife) and then point a hot air gun at it on warm and gentle for a couple of hours, to dry it. Once dry, you ideally use a very high temperature hot air gun with a fine nozzle, or if you don't have access to one it can be done with a high temperature soldering iron whacked on full. Heat the tank plastic to soft and glistening, whilst keeping the filler hot, then feed it in to the crack and let it fuse everything together. There are some videos on Youtube of plastic welding which are worth watching, but if you've ever tried TIG welding it's rather like doing aluminium. Hope this helps (guess where I work as my day job.....!) Alec