Jamespepperpot

A wind blown oak log i milled a little while back for a client who wanted to use it to build a tree house. Milled in one day on my own and was 1.4m wide. To give the stack scale, the bottom row of timbers are 2x6".

Does this come standard with setworks? I've been using a 3 phase LT20 Woodmizer for 5 years or so now and I don't think I would buy a mill that didn't have setworks or a similar set up. That said, most of what I would usually cut consists of dimensional lumber rather than waney edge through and through boards. I have also used the Diesel LT40 Woodmizer with hydraulics and also a woodlands HM130 which I wasn't really that impressed with. If you want to be cutting large wide timbers all the time you really need a powerful mill, running a smaller mill at 100% capacity all the time will end up wearing it out very quickly. Most importantly you would benefit from having something to load and unload the mill with

I've worked as a groundy in Helsinki and Bavaria and enjoyed both very much. Planning to head back to Helsinki as soon as I can. The work is fairly easy going and most things are mechanised, most speak good English and once you get used to Finnish people they are really easy to get on with. Germany was great and the pay was good too!

Out of interest Andy, what qualifications do you have?

Western Red Cedar is widely regard as one of the most stable timbers available, it it has one of the smallest percentages of shrinkage from green too. WRC has a tangential shrinkage of 5%, Douglas fir is 7.3% and oak is 8.3% for comparison. The only problem with WRC from England is that it grows very fast and is quite fluffy and pulpy as the growth rings are so far apart.

I have a military mine detector that I got off eBay with a peli case for about £120. There was a guy selling a whole bunch of them. Its saved me more times than I can imagine but its only really useful if your trying to find stuff on the outside of the tree in the bark or sapwood. Not much you can do about stuff in the middle.

A small Larch timber frame I milled and made most of the kit for. I only did a few of the braces as I went away for a couple of months and ran out of time It was finished and assembled by the Buxted Scout group with Scott Fraser. The jowl posts were milled from the bottom ends of the trees to utilise the slight flare the logs had.

Thats gonna be some properly smart flooring when its done. Great work

You could house the tenon by 1cm and then use dowels. You'd have to be very accurate with marking where they are to make sure it fits properly. Only problem is with gluing it all together is that itll be hard to move around. I recently made a dining table which had draw bored mortise and tenons on the long rails and then festool domino connectors on the short sides so it can be taken apart. If you knew someone locally with a domino machine it would work well for your bed.

I think most people who are anti ported saws are just jealous they don't have one [emoji23]

Felled this dead Oak tree for a client, they're planning to use it to build a garage/workshop. Not often you can build most of a building from one log.

I've used the Stihl battery hedge cutter and the polesaw with the 300 battery. Both are great, the motor is at the saw/cutter end so they are a little bit heavy on the end. The advantage however is that there isn't a long driveshaft running from the motor to the cutter so if the pole gets a little bit bent, from people getting them trapped and bending them, the bend doesn't sap the power out of the cuts. The battery life will last longer than you want to use a polesaw for

Yeah I don't think the standard polyx is meant to be sprayed as its not thin enough. I use a foam brush then buff the excess off after 20 minutes or so.

Thanks, its Osmo Polyx clear satin.

A dining table made out of London Plane that I finished today - for myself! I milled this tree a couple of years ago for Jo at Hardy Tree Surgeons and he kindly let me keep a few of the quartersawn boards I had cut. The rails of the frame are held together with a haunched mortise and tenon on the long sides and with festool domino connectors on the short sides so it can be disassembled for storage/transportation. The top is made from quartersawn boards for stability and also to show off the "lacewood" grain patterns. It's held to the base with table buttons which allow for seasonal movement but also hold it down tight. The grain might not be to everyone's taste but I think it's quite memorising and makes a change from looking at Oak.

Some euc 2x4s I milled last year, it's quite pretty wood when finished but too unstable to be that useful. A really challenging timber to try and make something with that's for sure

The lucas tips from fuelwood are pre soldered but also and most importantly pre ground to exact dimensions for use in the retipping jig ,supplied by them at extraordinary cost. Any other tipping service use oversize tips and then precision grind down to the required dimensions to ensure all clearances. This can't be done if using lucas tips. Heard good things about Bennett's. I'm based in Sussex but have used Bennetts twice for my Lucas mill blades. First time I sent some tips I had got from fuelwood and the second time they supplied them. The second time the blade definitely seemed to cut better but I never compared them one after the other so it might have just been in my imagination. I did send it up the first time as Tate fencing use them for their blades and I dropped mine In with them. Second time I was passing by and they did it as I waited.

Thanks! I've been lucky to find a few good quality brown oak logs since I started milling and kept all of it for myself. That chopping boards now resides in California as it was a gift for my friends parents for letting us stay with them.

Its fairly nice to work with when green and apparently its one of the most durable timbers around. My bandsaw mill found it to be quite a dense/hard timber to mill but I really like it as a timber and have made a few things from it. When its dry it is very tough but works really well with sharp hand tools. I made a hair comb out of it last week for a birthday present.

That sounds like nonsense to me. I've heard people claim oak/chestnut cut in spring/summer doesn't last as long in the ground as autumn/winter cut but never that seasoned lasts longer - only anecdotal evidence though. No matter what it is after a couple of years it will acclimatise to whatever conditions its in anyway so I can't see how it would make a difference.

Milled this ash log from a crane job I took part in the other week. The base of the tree had quite a bit of decay but got cleaner further up. There was some beautiful rippling in some parts. 4 are for sale if anyone's interested.

I have a static Bandsaw in Lamberhurst if you can get it transported to there. What lengths would you want it?

I remember seeing the pictures of when they milled it a few years back. Incredible looking timber and something that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the people working on it. I'll certainly be going to have a look at the table if its on display at some point Its a registered charity so funded by donations. Excerpt from - http://sackvilleoakframes.co.uk/principal-sponsor-of-the-fenland-black-oak-project/ So far support has come from landowners G’s Shropshire & Sons, Burwell-based ACF Telehandlers, Ely-based Malco Freight, Swedish company Logosol UK (Berwickshire office) and Insitu Designs – Sawmills & Oakwrights from Goudhurst in Kent. The 10 freshly sawmilled planks have been delivered to the Building Crafts College in Stratford, East London where a 15 metre bespoke specialist kiln funded by Coillte Panel Products (SmartPly OSB) is being constructed by students. The kiln will house the planks for 6 months until they are ready to be worked. Instigated by Fenland Black Oak specialists and cabinet makers Adamson and Low, and with further support from the Building Crafts College in Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), the Diamond Jubilee Fenland Black Oak Project was set up by the Worshipful Company of Carpenters to preserve this rare example for future generations.

Sounds good @Rough Hewn www.summerhill-woodwork.com 07545846646 Based in East Sussex/Kent but cover most of the South East Static Woodmizer LT20 Woodmizer based in Lamberhurst, Kent. Can supply Sweet chestnut or Oak gateposts either sawn or planed with a round top. Any other dimensions of green SC or Oak can be cut to order. Mobile Lucas 6/16 which can cut dimensional timber efficiently and quickly. Logs up to 1.2ish wide Alaskan chainsaw mill 36" 48" or 64" Carpentry and Joinery work

Would you give up your life if it meant Notre Dame wouldn't have burned Vesp? Buildings are just wood, stone and mortar. Life is all we really have...