Billhook

My Palax Combi 600 works well and has done so for nearly twenty years, but occasionally the splitter encounters a log which is just a little too tight for it. This means stopping everything, smacking the log back from the static axe with a sledge all of which is irritating. I was wondering if I welded a small triangular piece of steel to the front of the axe, just in front of the cross piece, whether the increase in pressure/ square inch now there is a point rather than a whole two foot blade for the initial encounter with the log, would help the splitting process for these more difficult logs. Have any of you tried this?

It looks horrendous as people have said the initial big smack then being whipped around like a rag doll and then being smacked twice by a chainsaw, itself being given a lot of whip momentum by the length of rope. I hope he managed to come away with light injury, but I was wondering if he had perhaps broken ribs and even a broken arm at that height, plus the fact that he might have been tied up by flailing ropes. It would have been a very difficult operation to recover him. Have any of you heard of a similar incident where someone has been injured or passed out high up a tree and needed to be lowered safely. Is there official advice on such a procedure?

Yes, just think of climbing with all your kit and then someone gives you a back pack with 30 2Lb packs of cheese in it! I bet that you defy gravity now!

What was your diet and have you managed to maintain it?

Just a "taster" of what to find on this website! 10 Reasons Why Dry Food Is Bad for Cats & Dogs | Little Big Cat 1. Ingredients Dry food is typically made from rendered ingredients, such as chicken meal, poultry by-product meal, and meat and bone meal (MBM). Rendering starts with animal-source ingredients being fed into a massive grinder to reduce them to chunks. The resulting hodgepodge is boiled at high temperatures for hours or even days, turning everything to mush. Fat floats to the top and is skimmed off for other uses. The remainder is dried to a low-moisture, high protein powdersuitable for use in dry foods. Some rendered products are better—or worse—than others. Chicken meal, for instance, is likely to be relatively pure, because the rendering plant is usually associated with a slaughterhouse that processes only chickens. On the other end of the spectrum, MBM is the “dumping ground” of the nastiest raw ingredients. These may include: • Non-meat parts from cattle, sheep, swine, or poultry, such as intestines, lungs, spleens, heads, hooves, udders, unborn fetuses, diseased or parasitized livers, cut-away tumors, and other parts unsuitable for human consumption • Restaurant waste and out-of-date supermarket meats (and no, there isn’t a guy standing there taking them out of the packages; the “rules” allow for a certain percentage of plastic in the end product) • “Deads” –animals that died on the farm (whose carcasses may have been decomposing in the sun for days) • “Downers” (animals too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse) Because all of this ends up as an amorphous brown powder, it’s impossible to know what went into it. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

There was an article in Farmer's Weekly a few years ago about a Scottish farmer who was just buying another fleet of Massey tractors for his farm at the age of 106! Did he think he would outlive the tractors? "Of course I will!" To what did he ascribe his longevity? "I was brought up on Orkney and dad had a small beef herd where the animals never did very well until they had a veterinary student from London for a season. He prescribed mineral supplements and the cattle romped away. I was so impressed I added the supplement to my porridge every day and have continued to do so. The other thing was that my brother died at 58 years. He lived in the West Indies and always had a big meal late at night and went to bed on a full stomach, so my other rule is I never eat after four o'clock." In my own case 60 years old, 5' 11" I weighed 110 kilos for a long time, playing league hockey at centre half, I was overweight but not paunchy. I was fit ish and the farm work kept me muscle toned, so I was like a lot of you guys. Ok but could do a lot better. Packed up the hockey and the slowing down generally, no rampant love affairs to shed the pounds! More stable love life meant more fat and lazy. Do not believe in rigid diets, quantity wise as they lead to a feeling of denial, just go for quality. Same with figures, average weight for six foot man etc and BMI index. Mike Tyson was 5'11" and 109 kg when he was in the ring which gives a BMI index of 33.52 according to the BUPA site which is listed as "Obese" Now who is going to go up to Tyson and call him obese! Took job in hand in 2010 and cut out bread and beer. Really because they bloated me with the yeast I believe but the lack of salt and sugar helps. Replaced pint of beer with whisky and water Breakfast non added sugar cereal. Shredded Wheat. Do examine cereal packets carefully as some may be low fat but stuffed with sugar. In fact look at anything with low fat, yoghurt, drinks, smoothies and see how much sugar they put in. Sugar is the big enemy. Lunch main meal Only eat fish now plus fresh veg no potatoes. Peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc. Wait after lunch for half an hour to be rid of the sugar craving which starts as the digestive system fires up. Have fresh fruit on standby. Just eat apples, oranges, occasional banana and nuts later on as required. One good diet is to "Eat Live" meaning non processed . There are a lot of foods that come into this area. This is taken from a website "Live foods are foods that are consumed fresh, raw and/or in a condition as close as possible to their original, vibrant, living state. Consider the difference between crisp red apples and beige, jarred applesauce; between green, ripe avocados and grayish, reconstituted guacamole dip; between a piece of salmon sashimi and a frozen fish stick; between sweet corn on the cob and a box of cornflakes. You get the picture. Depending on which expert you are consulting (and how much of a purist he or she is), the term “live food” may refer strictly to raw fruits and vegetables and sprouted nuts and grains. Or, it might also include whole, unpasteurized, organic milk products (illegal in most states!), frozen berries, and even very lightly “cooked” items like seared fish and air-dried pizzas. The basic idea behind all live foods is the same though: retaining the very best that natural foods have to offer, including live enzymes, antioxidants and other nutrients." Result By the beginning of 2012 I was down to 89 kilos, which was comfortable but not my fighting weight which should be nearer 85 kilos. I now drift between 89 and 92 kilos but seem to have stabilised. Combined with the farm and tree work I do a morning bike ride every day and stretch exercises plus a doubles tennis game once a week. In my view the exercises do very little for the weight but a lot for metabolism and keeping the heart and system in good order, flushing out bad things. I used to contract a lot of head colds but they are very rare now. Buy a decent pair of scales and only weigh yourself first thing in the morning. I lose four pounds overnight, just water. The other terrible habit we all have is the "Eat by association" You have been out in the woods all morning and you come into the lovely warm kitchen where the wood stove is simmering. Your wife says "Cup of coffee dear?" The paper is there or the computer and there is a packet of chocolate biscuits, and do you just have one??? The point being you were not actually hungry and if you were called away on a job and missed the coffee break you would not have felt hungry. Try to identify these "Food by association" events at the pub, in the car, in front of the computer. This also applies to giving up beer and cigarettes. You are only one away from all these things. Bit of a tome here I'm afraid, but these ideas have helped me, it is a great thread and I hope it helps some of you.

I cannot think what possessed my father to suggest one day that my school friend and I should make a couple of catapults. Our first attempts were hopeless with elastic bands, so he asked the farm mechanic to make a couple. This he did from Y shaped branches, (cannot remember the type of wood) some square industrial rubber band and a leather pouch for the stones. These were lethal! For nine years old boys the sound of smashing. tinkling glass was just too much to resist. I think we nailed a few rats around the yard as well. I can only think that father must have done the same thing when he was a boy and had a lot of fun. Perhaps it has been handed down over the generations for hundreds of years! Definitely banned by H & S wife now!

So I suppose I think that the defintion of reaction wood is that it is the wood of special characteristics that reflect the tree's reaction to abnormal circumstances that differ from a tree's progressive and norma self-optimisation. A large Ash came down in the last big storm and it obviously had been rotten/diseased for some time at the base and formed reaction wood to support the tree on what was left. This area was less than half the original area of the trunk. When I cut it with a sharp chainsaw, I thought that I must have caught the blade as it was hard as hell and the saw went off at an angle. I stopped sawing and tried the saw on another branch which it cut easily. So I left this substantial block of wood on one side as it seemed so unusual. Is this reaction wood sought after for carving. turning or other purposes?

You are quite correct Luke and extremely green . Lead by example and use grandpa's old axe, stack using mk1 pair of arms and renew energy at local pub!

In that case I wonder if I could marry it

A further refinement to this machine could be to load a second log while the first log is still on top of the splitter and make an attachment to the ram on either side that pulls the remains of the log back into the centre to save the manual bit???

Do not think a helmet would give much protection if one of those bigger pieces had hit him from that height. Neck breaker. Too much rope tension on a rotten tree perhaps did not help matters.

I managed to somehow survive thirty years of old style circular saw bench, tractor driven with a cone screw log splitter in more recent times. Manoeuvering large logs and bits flying. You were always in the line of fire for saw tips and splinters and the splitter was ready to grab any loose clothing. Always a worry especially in the wet, no quick method of stopping the tractor and everything had the potential to do a lot of harm or worse. Ever since I bought a Palax 600 Combi in 1996 I really enjoy the job, it feels so much safer, though I still have to treat the process with great respect.

Allen Scythe. The most dangerous and tiring and unreliable machine ever made.

We heard that a group of travellers was heading our way and maybe looking for a field to occupy. Bit short notice so I loaded a pile of pine logs which had been sitting neglected on a concrete pad for about ten years. We put them across gateways into the field to discourage access and they were so bloody rotten that several broke in half as we dropped them in the gateways, basically just powder inside. This did the trick as far as deterring the travellers but some time later I could not believe that someone had been down in the night and nicked about a dozen of these logs.. They were about twelve feet long and six inches diameter and there was no sign of sawing. God knows what they were thinking as they would have lasted all of ten seconds on a wood stove!

So much could have changed Stubby from 1968, the pick-up windings, the tone controls, the three way switch, the bridge, tremolo machine heads are all different and may contribute to a different sound. So it is hard to test like for like with the wood though I seem to gain a stronger finger vibrato with the Rosewood as the Maple seems a bit more "slippy" Having fingers like Jimi Hendrix would help rather than being gifted with the loggers gnarled stubby wounded digits on my hands (still five on each hand though!) When I play it "Red House" sounds more like "Log House"!!!!

I bought a left handed 1968 Fender Strat which I think was Ash body but had a Maple on Maple neck. I think that the neck had more influence on the tone than the body. The guitar was nicked in 1991 and I replaced it with a 1991 American Strat with a Rosewood fret which is better (whisper it!) in every way. Not sure quite how to link this comment with firewood quality, only to say that American Swamp Ash and the American Alder on the Strat are probably very different to the Alder and Ash that we are familiar with!

Don't remember it burning very well when he set fire to it at Monterey!

Yes I think you are correct about that. The trouble is since I have never had the left handed option, I have had to learn to use these things right handed and know no other way for comparison. The biggest issue was having used a chainsaw with my left hand on the trigger for many years and then having to pass a chainsaw test for a certificate and re-learning how to use it right handed. As a result I can now use it either way which is useful sometimes. Another problem I have is that I can only mount a bicycle from the right side. If I try from the left side I fall over! I once tried to mount a horse from the wrong side and was kicked and thrown off. ( happens more often with the missus!)

Oh, of course I forgot left handed Billhooks!

Trials of being left handed in the right handed woodworking world. Do many others have similar challenges? These are my everyday challenges from our machinery 1. Working with a chainsaw built for right handers. Has anyone made a left handed chainsaw? 2. Tying knots 3. Serrated knives 4. Fences on circular saw tables. 5. Bandsaws 6. Lucas Mill 7. Palax Wood processor. 8. Teleporter joystick 9. Tractor controls 10. Computer mouse 11. Cheque books 12. Fountain pens 13. Undoing zips and having a pee 14. Doing up nuts clockwise 15. Corkscrews. 16. Mortice machine handle wrong side 17. Planer thicknesser fence wrong side 18. Spindle moulder fence wrong side 19. Pillar Drill 20. Lathe 21. Cameras viewfinder and button 22. Cash machines card slot 23. Belts 24. Guns 25. Swords 26. Moulded handles on tools and knives 27. Builders trowels hard edged on one side only 28. Door handles 29. Mitre saw 30. Most electric tools, especially safety buttons. 31. Dealing cards 32. Scissors and secateurs 33. Pen knives. 34. Tool belts 35. Electric hand Jig saw start switch and guides 36. Handheld Planers 37. Tin openers 38. Shotguns with two triggers and rifles with bolt action 39. Bow and arrow 40. Violins 41. Rulers (cannot see line you have drawn) and tapes 42. Handheld circular saws 43. Pencil sharpeners 44. Computer keyboard calculator 45. Calculators 46. Hand drills safety button and torque trying to force drill out of your hand. 47. Mobile phones

We need to be more pro-active (no I am not a bloody yoghurt!)

A Lass Kan Mill? Perhaps its should be added to the "Stump Grinder Porn" thread!

Quite a few interesting items on the Bowyers website, from Roman soldiers dying after drinking wine from cups made of yew, to heart problems after turning yew, to Druids using yew for various things to the ancient saying in Norway that bowyers don't grow old! Are there any bowyers that suffer from yew poisining? in Archery - Primitive Bows Forum