Billhook

Also if it could fetch a paper and make a cup of tea would be good .....

In that case I wonder if I could marry it

It would be better if it could split 3 or 4 billets at a time like this one.

 

 

But obviously in longer logs.

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!

Linked quite well at the last knockings ! I prefer one piece hard rock maple for necks combined with a one piece swamp ash body .....not sure how they burn though ......

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"!!!!

Leo Fender had to switch to Alder when they ran out of Swamp Ash . I prefer the swamp Ash bodies especially in one piece ..

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!

Also Jimi Hendrix guitar was made of this so can not be that bad! on a firewood note though burns great when properly dry and has a fantastic aroma and is seriously under rated IMO

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

 

 

Ah I don't use the fence with the jigsaw and when a said planer I mean planer thicknesser. I am not doubting that many tools are very handed really

 

I am going to stir again. I would have thought the pillar drill and morticer would be better for a lefty as the precise work is done with left hand and the right is only brute force.

 

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!

You can't have band saws and planers as the fences are opposite on those two And what's wrong with a jigsaw? Reguly use mine left handed and not noticed any difference.

 

The jigsaw parallel guide only fixes to the right side and all the controls for various things are on the left side to be operated with your left hand while your dominant right is triggering the saw. The safety button is easy with your right thumb but harder with your left index finger.

 

My hand planer ejects shavings into my face on the right side whilst the big old Cooksley planer thicknesser has a fence on the right side.

 

Surely a bandsaw table should be on the left side for a left hander and the band should run anticlockwise with teeth to match.

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!

different woods effect different people, when I turn yew,I wear a mask ,have an extractor running,and a dust cube above the lathe,, my eyes still get blood shot, I now wear gloves if turning lots, this helps stopping the dust from getting on my hands and lessens vibration!

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

Just about to do a similar project for a party, but making place card holders.

I was wondering if any of you had suffered from inhaling yew dust, or debarking oreven touching yew leaves. I will of couse use a mask but was wondering if I should also have a vacuum cleaner going as I drill or is this an over reaction?

Great idea. I can save pounds on chain oil, no chain brake to check, no trouble starting and quick!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=809061489107613

*BRAND NEW IN BOX HUSQVARNA CHAINSAW 540 XP*

BRAND NEW IN BOX NOT USED AT ALL

GOOD TO GO IT COME WITH WHAT IT SHOULD AS IF YOU WAS BUYING IT FROM THE SHOP,

PLEASE NOT I WILL NOT STAND FOR NON-SENSE,

IF YOU BUYING YOU BUYING IF YOU DONT LIKE PLEASE GO TO A STORE,

AS EBAYER OF LATELY TEND TO NOT READ!!!!!!!!!!!

ANYWAY WHEN OR IF YOU WIN AND YOU GET THE ITEM PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK I HATE CHASING

FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE DONE RIGHT AWAY

Interesting that he now lives in Belfast according to this advert from the original Husqvarna 540 XP post, as opposed to Cleethorpes as above.

Interesting also that he demands feedback and claims to have feedback chasing problems when he has no positive feedback

Interesting that he claims that "Ebayer of lately tend not to read" when he clearly cannot spell and has little knowledge of grammar.

Once you have paid him he will be gone and you will not even have a serial number to check!

Good exercise to list the dangers!

To start

1. Blunt chain.

2. Faulty chain brake

3.Loose chain

4. No protective clothing

I will leave the rest of the list of felling errors for you lot to fill in!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz0rbuBk8pE]How NOT to cut down a rotten tree - YouTube[/ame]

It sounds a bit like the Turkey Oak which I planked up into some very good floorboards, so not as durable as English Oak outside or in the ground, but quite acceptable for panelling, furniture, and flooring.

Wiki says the following

The wood is hard and tough, and has been used since ancient times for general construction purposes as pillars, tools, wagons (Hesiod, Works and Days 429), vessels, and wine casks. It is also used as firewood, or in charcoal manufacture.

The Holm Oak is one of the top three trees used in the establishment of truffle orchards, or truffières. Truffles grow in an ectomycorrhizal association with the tree's roots.

Thank you for your replies. Just had another look at it with a tape measure and the trunk is 40" diameter at three foot but then it goes a bit oval and settles down to a long 24" round bend with plenty of knobbly/knotty bits.

I think planking would turn out to be a nightmare of twists and warps, but I might try it on some of the straighter bits, perhaps just to see if the Lucas struggles or not.

Will report with photo and ring count.

Those bowls look fantastic on the bowl thread se7enthdevil. Wish I had the skill!

Beautiful timber but rock hard to mill in my experience.

When using the circular saw on the Lucas, I have never had any trouble with any hard timber, but there is always the first time!

Just before I first bought the Lucas back in 1996, I asked the salesman to mill the hardest most horrible bit of elm that I could find. He told me afterwards that he just turned away and smiled, as he knew it would mill it easily.

"Thank God you did not give me a bit of stringy old pine" he said afterwards!

Actually I have never had any trouble with pine either, but he said that with certain varieties it would not clear the sawdust and jam.

Are odd bits and interesting looking pieces sought after by turners if it is so hard?

Large 30" diameter Holm Oak just came down in the garden. Must be very old.

Anybody milled one, is the timber sought after and what can the wood be used for today?

I have a Lucas 8.5" with slabber.

Difficult to photograph I am afraid as it crashed into some big Laurels.