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Yes, that is what I mean. If you go to the top right hand corner of the screen and click on 'private messages' you will have an option down the right hand side menu of 'send new message'. If you start entering their username in the 'to' box then it gives you auto-complete options. Big J (Jonathan) runs a small milling operation in Scotland and has some very nice stuff. Charles Hey happens to have a rather nice stock of ash and oak which he may be looking to sell - I know because someone else on here (Burrell) and I milled it for him! Alec

THE book is Chainsaw Lumbermaking by Will Malloff. A classic, but really useful. Alec

You could try dropping Charles Hey or Big J a PM. Neither are close but sending on a pallet by courier works out OK. Alec

I think it's the 'must be kilned' bit which will limit your supply a little. Not many of the people on here have kilns - with exceptions such as Big J who is on a rather larger scale than most of us. For example - I'll shortly have some 6'x7' stuff with really interesting grain, but there is no chance of kilning it - I'll be lucky just to lift it! Alec

Yes, on both the topics which are running in parallel on this thread. On the more recent topic - which is effectively the motivation of those for whom benefits form their whole source of income. I don't think there is a simple answer. It's pretty apparent that there are those who view it as a lifestyle choice. There are others who are willing to work but cannot find employment (the 'deserving poor'?). The latter undoubtedly has a geographical skew - coincidentally I have a few people based at a subsidiary site in Middlesbrough, where the study was performed and go up once every month or so. It is nothing like the run down area it once was, but it is also not the most economically secure either. There are, however, a whole load of other categories. There are those who are physically unable to work, and conversely those who society, and certainly any potential employer, would be better off if they didn't show up to 'work'. There is also an economic argument - for example if you have two children under 5 who would need childcare you are better off not working if your salary would be under about £22k, or higher if you have transport costs to consider, even if you don't claim any benefits. There is also a whole emerging economic sub-class as a consequence of the combination of the extended poor economic climate (rising inflation, static wages), tax changes and societal change in respect of family units. This has, to a large extent, been concealed by the unprecedented low in interest rates. It relates to the issue of making calculations based on income rather than disposable income. What were perfectly reasonable commitments when made can rapidly become otherwise. For example, as credible case (which isn't real, but is drawn from elements of some people I know), consider the circumstances of a man who got divorced leaving his wife caring for two children in, say, 2006. He moved in with a new partner with two children from a previous relationship. She works in the public sector as a senior nurse on £25k per annum, he now earns £60k per annum. He pays maintenance to his ex-wife at £8k per annum. He and his new partner have bought a house together with a mortgage of 2.5x joint income (after deductions) - so call it £180k, which gives repayments of £900 per month. All the above is sensible and modest. However, tax changes and pensions changes will have cut their total household income by about £3k per annum, whilst their costs will have gone up 3.5% per annum on average. They are therefore now likely to be struggling. If mortgage rates double, to a modest 7% (we got 7.2% when we bought in 2000) they will be sunk. They could of course sell up in theory, but in many parts of the country they could not buy anything 3bed for much less. They also may have negative equity and hence have no choice. The above does not excuse theft, but it is designed to illustrate that pressure is felt across the spectrum and people genuinely do end up in circumstances where on the face of it they should be 'well off' but in reality they are not when it comes to disposable income. It therefore may go some way to explaining the causes of the behaviour. On the original point of the thread, everything belongs to someone. Some things are, in the eyes of their owner, rubbish. These things can often be taken away with the permission of the owner being gratefully given. Other things are wanted by their owner, it just isn't immediately obvious that this is the case. The only way to find out is to ask - you might be surprised who says yes. Alec

I wouldn't take my figures as typical - I'm not in a rush so I wait until something suitably priced shows up. I paid £98 for the saw and stuck a cheap (£45) pot and piston on - the cheapest I could find on ebay. I think I even stuck the original plug back in, it fired up and ran, so I left it alone! It was before I had stripped a carb and to be honest before I had a good understanding of where air leaks came from. These days my approach would be a little more thorough, including the carb kit and a new plug. In my case, the pot was unequivocally shot, due to lumps of piston ring being embedded in it. In your case, I would take the piston out and see if the plating is damaged in the bore. If so, replace; if not, clean it up and put a rather better quality piston in, such as a Meteor. Since I did mine, I have picked up two secondhand OEM pot and piston sets for 044s. Both have one lug of the pot cracked off, but I can weld this back together. I think I paid about £15 each inc. p&p, but I took a chance there was nothing else wrong, and am able to carry out the repair. I think Spud is away at the moment, but he's still very much in business so far as I'm aware. Probably worth dropping him a PM. Alec

I bought a seized 044 from ebay - fortunately found the cause was a failed piston ring so after a few evenings making sure I had fished all the bits out of the crank case I put it back together with a cheap chinese pot and piston and it's been running as my bandsaw mill powerhead for the past three years. At one point when the 066 wasn't working I stuck it on the Alaskan on a 36" bar and it did it, albeit slowly. A really solid workhorse of a saw in my opinion, and well worth fixing. If it was mine, I'd get it clean, including service kit for the carb (from Rowena), buy the missing bits (wait until they come up cheap on ebay) and put it back together, then get it pressure and vacuum checked and the carb set up. In my case I would ask Spud to do this - posting it works fine if you're too far off to do it in person. You then find out whether the cause of failure was an air leak and get the tricky bits dealt with. If it's not an air leak, you can reasonably assume someone used neat fuel in it and carry on and use it. Alec

I haven't posted on this thread, just watched the debate unfold. However, in the interests of good analysis (note I am a research scientist/engineer by training so I am reverting to type) I post the following from the bottom of the article, which indicates that it is not the work of the LSE. Nothing against its correct attribution: Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the British Politics and Policy blog, nor of the London School of Economics. Please read our comments policy before posting. About the author Kayleigh Garthwaite is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Geography, Durham University. She is currently working on various projects related to health inequalities, health and wellbeing and employment for County Durham and Darlington Primary Care Trust.

If you take the plug out, does it pull over easily? If you then take the coil off too, does it pull over easily? If you then put the plug back in, how much harder does it get? If it doesn't spin freely with the plug and coil off then I suspect crankshaft alignment/bent, associated with when the crank seals were done. Alec

About 20mins from Sudbury if you can't find anything closer. Can take anything and access is excellent. Alec

Don't suppose you've got a Kent pattern one with a Royal Ordnance stamp on it and a WW1 date? Still trying to replace the one an idiot acquaintance of mine left on a canal towpath in Birmingham. Alec

The field we're buying next door to our place is under arable cultivation and the soil structure is a bit poor, so if anyone needs to drop off any chip (even connie, or dirty stuff)/grass cuttings/any other plant material then please drop me a PM. It's right by an A-road, so no problem with access. The site will be pretty much permanently available. Alec

Variable. It depends on whether it's a large portable bandsaw which is difficult to road-tow or a basic Alaskan, or even a Peterson type circular saw mill. All have their places, and are different prices per day but produce a different result in terms of dimensions, cutting pattern, access requirements. Experience also comes into it - slabbing up a lump through-and-through as it comes, leaving 'rustic' timber is a very different thing from the experience needed to see how to make the most of a log. Take a 3' oak butt for example - this may be able to yield some top quality timber, or far less top quality timber, depending on how it is treated. Also note that mill and one bloke will be limited in what they can move, so if the job spec is to mill it and leave it in a pile next to the log, no worries, but if it needs moving anywhere then unless it's small stuff moving it will take more time. Burrell and I have found it far more efficient to work together, both milling. We get a lot further than one of us would in two days. Extra mills means less re-setting - you can use one to set up the ideal first cut, then the other one slabbing away behind. This yields better timber in the same time. Also need to take into account travel distance, and whether there is a charge for damage from foreign objects (e.g. nails and barbed wire) which depends a bit on where the tree has been growing. Also worth noting that, for people coming to site, they are normally on a day rate, or maybe a half-day rate. Taking your timber to a mill is a totally different prospect, but that probably doesn't go as one mill and one bloke. A range of between £250 and £450 per day is about right, depending on the factors above, but some mills are likely to come with two operators so the costs will be higher. Alec

Hi Andrew, Your comment on borax - you're correct that it is not fixed to the timber structure, but if you apply it while the timber is green, the cell structure is still open and it disperses right through. It will wash off the surface, so you would need to keep it from being exposed to start with, but once it is well in there you will only lose it from the surface. For me, the particular advantage is that oak sapwood seems to be loved by woodworm, even when fairly dry and the borax kills them. I would be very concerned about keeping sapwood on oak dry if you want to preserve it. It is particularly vulnerable and easily rotted - so much so that (since I usually use oak for exterior durability) I deliberately leave logs lying on the ground and the sapwood usually rots right off in a couple of years. Alec

I'd forgotten that thread - did you ever get any feedback? I still need some for the same purpose I originally did! Alec

I used to work as a cherry picker in the season, so have spent quite a lot of time up cherry trees over the years. I think what you are looking at is damage to the leader (where the black bit is) resulting in growth from a side bud. This is what is indicated by the grain pattern. I would speculate that the damage here was from bacterial canker, which cherries are prone to and doesn't always progress, so it can cause damage rather than death, resulting in a level of damage down as far as the bud which broke. This has interfered with the genetic material at the tip, causing it to grow in an odd way. I've seen others where it results in the stem being flattened, or growing sort of wings out of the side of the stem, or spiralling, or growing really long with no strength so it hangs straight down several feet and flowers at the wrong time of year! Alec

Too far over for me to know anywhere I'm afraid (I'm right on the western edge of Suffolk, which is at the bottom of my garden). If you were over my way I would say Glenwood in Linton. Not sure on the layout, but one way out of the hole may be to substitute standard high tensile socket head cap screws or even bolts? These may be easier to lay your hands on in a hurry than the torx ones? Alec

If I'm right, you don't want that one, even if you could get it. I'm no mycologist but my understanding of meripilus is that there is highly likely to be considerable heartwood decay running a considerable way up the butt. I'm keeping an eye out for suitable ones. Alec

Check the heads of any remaining - they are likely to have 8.8 stamped in, probably somewhere around the rim. If they do, don't use cheaper ones without this stamped on, and certainly don't use the stainless ones. 8.8 is high tensile steel, mild steel (bzp or plain) or stainless ones are likely to shear off and cause you more grief in a very short time than waiting. Whereabouts in the country are you? Alec

The one to look at on chainsawbars is the Granberg precision grinder. Much better than hand filing and gives control of all angles, hook and tooth length so can recover uneven chains. It's not as quick at removing material as the bench type but can be used on the bar, and in the field. Alec

It's not necessarily the mix - it can be a duff batch of fuel. However, if you've run your other kit on the same batch of mix and it's been fine it suggests the settings. My 026 refused completely to run on normal settings. Spud had to set it up in the end to something completely wrong, but which works. If the saws have now seized and you can't be bothered to fix them, there's enough residual value there to be worth not just chucking in the skip. Alec

I think we know which way she'll be voting in the great Stihl vs. Husky debate then:001_smile: It's my younger daughter's 3rd birthday coming up - she'd better not see this thread or she'll be getting ideas. Alec

I agree with Barry - if the saws both failed on the same mix of fuel then it is highly unlikely that both simultaneously developed an air leak or similar. I would be looking to the fuel - and not necessarily because you mixed it wrongly. I have had this in the past with an 064 and an 066, both dying on the same fuel mix which was definitely down to the petrol. 4-stroke car engines are way more tolerant of poor fuel blending than high performance 2-strokes. Having established that there were no air-leaks or similar, new pot and piston fixed it, but in my case spending over £500 on one incedent was actually the primary reason at the time for switching to Aspen. Alec

Definitely mill. If it's really big, and sound at the base, I might have a contact who is interested. Alec

You can only get smaller logs in a Rayburn or in a Victorian style open fireplace. There are also some shallower stoves designed to fit in an existing Victorian/Edwardian fireplace opening. Alec