Stompy

Indeed mate, very small world How is the lovely Kent these days? been a while since I have been down that way

All 'liked' back, cheers guys Where in Kent are you from James? Spent my Teenage years around Cranbrook, Hawkhurst, Staplehurst...... Born and breed on the coast though

Thanks buddy, much appreciated..... Yeh that dovetail is something special. Your link doesn't work send me it over again and I will like back. Cheers

Hey guys As shameless as it is I'm trying to spread the word about the great things we are doing in the world of wood and was wondering if any of you would like to help spread the word by liking our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/oaktreemill Of course all likes will be returned in kind and although I don't live in the UK now I have plenty of contacts back there so will hook you guys up with anything I hear of. Cheers all

Far too often the most talented go unnoticed, so good on you for sharing. He certainly has some amount of skill, beautiful work What is his website address? Or did I miss that up there....

Liked Feel free to return the favour.....

Cracking mate..... what sort of size is it?

As above.... Check Ebay for Startrite or Wadkin bandsaws, they will be the cheapest industrial options. Cheap bandsaws are pretty rubbish and will p**s you off pretty quickly

Thanks for the well considered reply John. Please don't get me wrong I am not sniping at you or your product in any way, I was and am trying to offer some of my views and thoughts. I am a cabinet maker but do process a lot of my own timber using the kit available to me. I am not a miller and nor do I have near as much knowledge on the subject as many of the guys on this forum but I do know woodworking machinery and the processes involved I certainly do not "correlate smaller available cut-size with non-professionalism", that would be a little naive on my part. I have many saws, both circular and band, of many different sizes and they all perform different tasks. A machine intended to break down timber needs to have a decent depth of cut to make the initial cost viable. As I said there are other machines that do the same task with more capacity for over half the money. To only be able to handle small logs and have limitations on the size of usable timber means the machine has huge limitations that will put a lot of people off..... a 10" log is nothing in the world of timber processing. Surely you can adjust the design to allow for a bigger blade? or adjust the gaurds and clamps to allow double cutting (cut from top and bottom) thus doubling timber capacity? I'm still not convinced that bringing they timber back passed the blade is a good idea but take your word if you say it is safe. You do say a lot of accidents occur when the timber snags and draws back through the blade. Regardless of which direction you are pushing or pulling the timber this can happen and will eventually. Again I'm not digging at you or your product, just from my own experience of many many years, these things can and will happen and when circular saws spit wood out there is no telling where it will go. I would never bring timber back passed the blade. Speed wise ok, maybe 3 times faster was a bit of an over estimation and exaggeration but I reckon twice as fast and just as safe. As I said anyone using a machine who has adequate training is safe in it's use. Someone using a big ripsaw with no training would not be safe but that was not my point.... I was saying from a professional point of view it would not suit my needs as it would be too slow. Let me know log length and I'll find one and let you know how quick I can process it into 1" planks. I know it is UK produced and you are therefore competing with cheap Chinese manufacturing but that is the world today and you need to compete. For the price I would expect the machine to do more. As I said a larger capacity with more depth of cut and able to handle bigger logs would be a great advancement. Offer add ons to allow it to perform more functions like a cross cut sled with mitre stops. Or a attachment to the spindle to allow for horizontal morticing (great for fencing etc.)....... Just make it more useful with more functions to justify the price. I've no doubt the quality and craftsmanship is top notch, after all you are British but people see the price first. I feel like I'm being negative but truly I am trying to help from with my thoughts, from my area of expertise. I wish you all the luck with it all mate.

The Dewalt flip over saws are great if you need a versatile saw as it can be used as both rip and mitre saw. Great for site work to although they are pretty heavy. Worth having if your only going to have one saw in the workshop although they don't have a huge depth of cut. The Dewalt paired with a good little bandsaw will cover most tasks.

Interested to hear views on this....... For the money it looks great but time will tell if it holds up to any abuse. I can get a big old mill out here for the same money but worried about maintenance costs and upkeep on the bigger mills. Maybe the simpler, newer Woodland mill is the way to go?

You'd get just shy of 12" with a 800mm ish blade

I can't really see what the Silverclaw offers over a bench rip saw. A 32" rip saw has a larger capacity of cut, is far more solid looking and takes up a third of the space. And yes there are certain safety advantages, and for untrained non professional use it does look a lot safer. But big rip saws, when used by a trained operative are no more dangerous than any other machine in the workshop. Bringing the timber back passed the blade after the cut is dangerous in my eyes, so easy for the blade to pick it up and chuck back at you. I'm sure you have tested it extensively I just don't like the idea, and that is just my opinion and I'm a sceptical git. Also it looks time consuming to use, make cut, bring it back passed the blade, remove waste, reset timber, set clamps, make second cut...... it just seems a little drawn out for my liking. Time is money and I could cut 3 times as much in the same time on my rip saw. But then it is aimed at non professional users I guess so the safety wise it does mean you are far away from the blade and the danger area is covered. And a good design, I assume it all folds down for ease of transport? I think there is a market for it somewhere. I think you just need to try to get the price down a bit. You can get a Woodland bandsaw mill for under half the price which does the same job with a bigger width of cut I don't mean to be negative, I know I sound it but you asked for opinions.... just my thoughts......

Link??

Ha, after my last little fight with a saw I'm a changed man, not only physically, a lot more careful nowand no rushing around..... but yep, must get it on. You can get big old drive feeds, similar to those found on Stennar resaws but they are hard to find or silly expensive. I free hand the first cut anyway to get a straight edge so it could get in the way.

I've got an Robinson EBT in the workshop currently set up with a 650mm 56 tooth ripping blade. I use it for ripping down 100 year old plus Oak beams. It's a great machine, solidly built, heavy (1150 Kg I think) and powerful. You need a decent power supply as the 15 Hp motor draws some amount on startup or under strain. The Robinson has a rise and fall saw spindle instead of table which is by far a better option as I have infeed/outfeed rollers set up and they are not easy to set up correctly. It rips through Oak beams with ease and this old Oak is like concrete. I don't have a riving knife on it at present and never had any problems..... I should fit it but keep forgetting. It's a stunning machine, I think mine is 1973 so fairly old but the old kit is by far better then the new stuff, if a little less refined in operation. I paid £350 for mine, a total baragin and it paid for itself in the first month of use. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.......

6.5 What is a google+ page?

Never found anyone willing to pay for it let alone take it for free..... a few folk with animals would take a bag here and there but never made even a small dent in what I produce. Had some guys taking large amounts for pellets and briquettes but the mix of green and dry was no good for them, they want 100% dry which is hard to produce without changing extractor bins all the time. Seems a massive waste but I burn some in my burner to keep warm but the rest gets burnt on the bonfire or dumped just to get rid. I'm sure biomass firms may be interested would be interested if you produce in big enough quantities to justify a trip out to you but I wouldn't expect big bucks for it or anything at all.

I'd do exactly that but I am no expert miller. Ash can move somewhat, not as badly as say, Elm, but still there are some internal tensions. Mill it into planks, let it dry then rip down to the size you need. Even after a year a 2" slab of Ash will be a lot more stable than when freshly cut and less likely to move quite as much I'm sure the experts will be along shortly

Anyone else got any 6 foot plus Yew boards?

Looks pretty burry to me......it's total rubbish, I'll give you a tenner for it

I'm going to say no and go against what everyone else has said, not to be argumentative I just think you may be lessening your chances of getting decent timber out of your stack. For one until fully dry you can not predict where all the defects in the board may be. You cut to rough sizes you lose the ability to cut around surface shakes, checking and other defects. You can put weight on the top of the cut pieces but what is to stop the smaller individual components warping and cupping laterally? While still in board for the whole board remains more stable. Also cutting to smaller pieces may cause the timber to dry too quickly, once again causing defects. Hardwood is generally dried in plank form before further processing for a reason, because it remains more stable. Even dry timber can banana horribly off the rip saw..... Be patient and find somewhere to stack the timber out the way where you can forget about it until it is dry and ready. Only my thoughts........

Ha, no worries mate. have just e mailed you back.

Be good to see mate. I've made quite a few now. Always found the laminate bows to have a much smoother draw. The Yew and Ash (especially) self bows I made stacked loads...... not sure why as they tillered nicely with nice draw curves..... Never tell the misses what they are worth or what you paid..... all my kit cost me nothing apparently

Ideal indeed and pretty rare. Usually a case of pick 2 out of those 3