devon TWiG

This is quite unbelievable !! they are also wary that some one will take the wood but not the branches ( must be moved first ) obviously not daft but very unrealistic !! or perhaps some one advised them to do it this way .

not all JR,s have short legs ..

The stalk of feathers in pillows have been known to hurt eyes whilst asleep !

I have never heard of anyone having tetanus , has anyone known some one to have it ? I know jabs are normally given if you end up in A&E with a wound , but is it possible from thorn , splinters or bramble scratches etc ?

I notice a lot of people on here get very excited about BIG , W- I- D- E boards , but I have very rarely seen anything made from big wide boards ,( look at almost anything in the category of fine furniture) , mainly due to the problems identified in this thread , also wide boards have a greater tendency to warp twist etc and it is a lot more work than necessary . If you could get a wide long board in a planer / thicknesser , then it is possible by the time the wood is "trued " there is F all left !! Also it is more important than ever to ensure the wood is as dry as its final destination ( household humidity ) I have recently planed some fairly wide boards , firstly I chose the least warped to begin with , then as mentioned used an electric hand planer to remove high spots and get it mostly flat and even , then I used a series of hand planes , a large wooden one ( very old ) and then a smoothing plane before sanding , it is quite a bit of work , but my preferred method is as suggested , cut in to boards that will fit through a planer thicknesser . Terry .

I do not use very many tools and most of my chisels ( not hollowing tools ) I keep in a plastic bucket , sharps end first , with marked handles so I know what is what , I like to keep walls etc clear / uncluttered for ease of cleaning up and not having many dust traps , I clean up with compressed air . Terry...

I was a full time climber for about 20 years and had no aches pains etc , just got a bit fed up with it day in day out ,also like others have said the ground work is often harder !! I went in to a management type job and phcking hated it !!! dealing with people and not trees was **** , always on the phone , trying to use a computer and spending time in an office and could not believe how easily some people could be "so " offended by my lack of political correctness and general uncivilised manner ( after 20 years working with " lads " ) Also the unbelievable increase in H&S, so I took my HGV test , and for the last 10-12 years have been doing that part time with agencies , some tree work and also woodcraft work ( turning , carving etc ) and have a lot of time off in summer to "play " and this suits me very well at the moment !! I really enjoyed being in the Arb industry but things seem very different nowadays and have no regrets doing other stuff now .

Well done Pan ! I have hardly ever seen willow turned and never tried myself , The natural edge looks great and it is not that easy to cut without chipping / breaking the wood and not very finger friendly either if you are not careful ! . Pollard heads can be great pieces of wood especially Horse chestnut and London plane , you just need to keep your eyes peeled for such bits , which to most people is just a rather horrid knotty bit of crap !.. Terry ..

It amazes me that these days that virtually everything , even relatively simple, needs expensive "expert " advise and regulation, but anyone can just work on their own vehicle .. brakes , steering or whatever ! ( I would like to point out that I am not a mechanic trying to protect my own trade ) and how many people fell trees without the relevant tickets ? etc ... seems life is becoming overfull of such nonsense now , soon we will be banned from cleaning our own teeth unless we are qualified Dentists ! ( rant over !! )

Is there not some "superstition " about burning Elder ? ... otherwise this would be hard to resist ( not ! )

They have quite a big creamery on the outskirts of Redruth , lots of the best milk is taken here and they make the only cream I buy !

£20 - £30 per cubic foot , you may get a good price on the better boards, and then be left with cracked / warped boards of odd dimensions you can hardly give away . Depends how much someone wants it really but Oak is readily available in most areas so I doubt any one will travel that far for it but you never know really ! Are there any traditional boat builders near you ?

Hi Pan , yes you are right I turned it from green ( damp ) wood in one go , I then leave it till surface dry and then sand it , and apply an oil finish , it is distorted , though not as much as some others I have made from Oak for example . It gives them a nice "organic" appearance rather than a highly engineered / crafted appearance , a bit like something dug up by an archaeologist or a seed like thing found at the base of an ancient tree . Glad you like it , do you make things yourself ? Terry...

Some excellent stuff there Mark ... and a nice varied range of items and timber , seems you can make almost any thing from any wood .. keep it up and keep sending pics as well .. Is this your full time occupation now ? Terry.

The HC burr is probably one of the best / favourite pieces I have made so far ,so I will probably keep it for myself , thanks for the comments , I do not give any tuition of any sort in a formal manner but if any one is fairly local ( ie not Scottish islands ... ! ) something could probably be arranged . There is plenty of guidance in print and the internet of how to hollow such pieces , and in essence it is quite simple really ( bit like felling trees ) but knowing HOW to do it is a bit different from being ABLE to do it especially getting it right every time ... Terry

Very nice , I have seen this design at Chartres Cathedral in France , it is in mosaic on the floor , originally a pagan site of worship then a cathedral built on top .

Believe it or not I made one from a bit of oak ! in essence it is just a cricket bat shaped piece with a cleft in the bat part , the handle part so to speak is a bit thicker than the metal one would be but it worked , made holes in a few logs to stand xmas trees in , will make another some time with improved design and how I made it .

Oops not sure how I got driftwood chair in that post ( techno numpty !!)

A few recently finished pieces ... spalted horse chestnut burr and yew , both about 300 350 mm tall

What legs do you think would look best ... or what would you fit yourself ... ( politely curious )

I used to have a Parkray stove ( mostly coal ) this got replaced with a gas back boiler , which was then removed after 15 years and replaced with a combi boiler under the stairs leaving an empty fireplace . The chimney contains a concrete tubular liner which was fine for coal so also OK for wood , I fitted a woodburner ( 5 KW ) register plate and a short length of pipe up in to existing chimney and it has worked fine ever since , most companies will recommend a flue liner just to be sure ( and extra sale ) even if not necessary, make sure you also fit smoke / carbon monoxide alarms as well !!

It does appear to be a graft union , most unusual , was it intentional to include it , or just chance ? I like natural edge coffee tables and am currently arranging timber for such projects myself , the only thing to be aware of is they are right "shin crackers " lol Again a nice piece and well done in successfully drying that plank ... Terry ..

Ian , that figuring on the table top at one end looks like the graft union , I have had a bit like that myself years ago and it is a point of interest that takes some explaining to some people . Nicely done piece of work , and I think the metal legs work well , to be honest I can't really imagine what wooden legs would suit it !! well done

Do not deliver MP chippings to be put on a childrens play area !!! yes it happened near me once ! lol

When quarter sawn the medullary rays are spectacular , but they can flake a little when planing , as you have said it is very dense , also it is slow to dry and warps/ splits a lot . I have made a lid for a jewellery box about 12" x 9" and it looked really nice . I would be surprised if a decent sized plank would stay true , but small sections ( especially QS ) should find a market for craftmakers , or drawer fronts on furniture but would doubt if any one would make a table top from it , but would love to see it if they did !