PeakOakFrames

I burn my workshop oak framing offcuts once they have had at least 8 months in the woodshed and they burn lovely. The 41mm air dried stock we use for glazing boards also burns lovely and both leave a good coal that stays in all night. I do mix it with doug fir and larch that we do a few frames in every year. Hell it all burns if it's dry eh?

We use a Makita KP312 planer that uses disposable type knives but planes 312mm wide. We use it for planing oak and doug fir/larch beams before converting into timber frame buildings but it could be used to smooth out very wide boards before sanding to a finish. Not cheap though, you could get a startrite table saw and a cheap thicknesser for the same price but it takes up a lot less room.

We were thinking of putting 1300kg axles on so that the bed could be used for removing a load of offcuts and edgings in situations where the customer wants the site cleared after. I also thought the an extra set or two of levelling legs wouldn't go a miss.

Agrimog how much did the materials for the trailer cost? Did you go for braked hubs, suspension etc?

On the safety front is the Silverclaw CE certified?

Eddisons in Leeds. You have to register to view lots I think.

Shame you're not in the North. There's a 48 inch Wadkin on a local assets auction site that is a LOT cheaper than those two. A lot, lot.

@Stompy With your track record it might be an idea to get one fitted. Can you mount a power feed to those big saws?

We're looking at getting a Woodland Sawmill this year. It's a bit more that one of the M8 mills but quite a lot cheaper than other bandmills . Higher yield than a chain mill and faster too, I suspect you'd use less fuel per m3 of output.

Find a local timber framer. We've got the kit for this sort of thing. If you we're oop North I'd say run them over for a pint.

Could try one of the many dealers in the UK Bandsaws - Spareparts - Saw : Spareparts - SIP Spare Parts | SIP UK

Oaks to avoid include American Red, not durable. TRADA lists these as all being European Oak, Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Quercus sessiliflora, Quercus pedunculata. I have always thought it was just Q. robur but for structural and durability purposes it appears they are all good. Keep your posts out of ground contact or they will rot. 300mm is the minimum they should be raised by to avoid them getting wet when the rain bounces off the ground.

You really don't like your digits do you! Looks top class as always, certainly doesn't look as though it was made in 2015, 1815 perhaps.

Ours does seem to turn slower at times, usually when the stove has been on for a few days non stop and faster if we've been away for a couple of days. One thought I had was that the wall behind the stove has warmed up a lot by then. The Ecofan produces an electrical current through temperature differential between the heat of the stove and the cooler surroundings, this is why the manufacturer recommends placing them at the back of the stove. Sooo once the wall is hot and the stove is hot perhaps it produces less current and the fan spins slowly.

The reason I hate conservation work.

We glaze to green oak regularly. Just need to do it properly and have top grade knot free, straight, sap free boxed heart timber. Had a client insist on supplying "air dried" 250x250 that he sourced for a timber engineering job once. Cut 150mm off each end to get them to the lengths required for the flitch plates to be fitted, put the moisture meter into the end grain about an inch in from the edge and it read the same as the green we had delivered a week prior for an extension. God only knows what he paid for them but I'll put good money on it being at least 5 times the m3 price we get it green from the mill.

We've got an Ecofan and it works great. The best example is that before we had it you could not touch the stainless register plate above for more than a moment without burning your hand. Since having it you can place your hand on the register plate no problem, it's still hot but not burning. No point in having all that heat going straight up.

Haven't used boric acid but we do use oxalic acid reasonably regularly and have found that it dissolves much better in warm water. Might be worth a try if you're having trouble getting a good solution.

I like the Himalayan 5204 high boot. They are light as they have a composite toe cap and mid sole but are still S3 rated. They also have a zip up the inside of the boot which I thought might be a nuisance but just makes life a hell of a lot easier when taking off and putting on. Black Leather Safety Combat Boot (5204)

Trada quoted figure for green oak shrinkage is 8% across the face of the timber so about 12mm on a 150mm board. Doesn't make a lot of difference whether it quartered or through and through with the shrinkage. The amount of cupping on each board will matter, quartered boards will barely cup where as through and through will cup. You want to have the heart side of the board facing up from the trailer bed so it will shed water through the gaps not pool in the cupped boards. Through and through boards are stronger than quartered boards due to the orientation of the fibres. Sap wood will rot in very short amount of time as a trailer bed, avoid it as it is easy to spot. I would just lay the fresh sawn boards butted up and let them shrink back, as I said earlier you'll probably end up with 10-12mm gaps between boards if they ever get very, very dry. More likely than not it will be closer to 6mm(1/4" for those of an imperial mindset) as they will never get down much below 18%MC in working life. Finally only use one fixing per board width otherwise as they shrink they may well split. To help avoid this I'd use an oversize hole, say 8mm for an m6 dome head coach bolt. Really wish I had the cash to get a mill, if only I didn't have to actually give the VAT man his money!

Vastern Timber near Wootton Bassett in Wilts would be able to sort you out but they might be a bit far away. Depends on where in Hampshire you are. They have an online list price of £12.20 +VAT m2 for 25mm waney edge British Larch.

Give Coyle Timber in Bath a call. Not sure on price but I'm sure Joe will be able to sort you out. Not really that close but they will courier them to you.

Also I'd strongly advise against using brown oak in any load bearing members, not so much of an issue if it's minimal and in a non critical member of a frame.

Hi. First post, been lurking a while though. Re visual grading there is a TRADA guide here http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/GreenoakAppendicesRefsGlossary.pdf/$FILE/GreenoakAppendicesRefsGlossary.pdf pp24-25 is the quick guide to visual grading for green oak.