Billhook

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

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!

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.

Thank you for that Treewolf, but the days of being public spirited are being eroded by health and safety, insurance and fear of litigation. Used to clear snow, pull people out of ditches in the middle of the night, give people a tow, let them leave a vehicle in a barn etc, but no more. There is a body of people who feel empowered by creating a raft of rules which if you spent time keeping up with, you would never find time to work.

Any advice? One side of the split is completely detached from the ground as can be seen in the last picture and the tree is hung up and under tension.(like me!) January 2014 Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing! January 2014 Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing! January 2014 Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing! January 2014 Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing! January 2014 Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

So I am a farmer and a large ash tree had fallen across the road into the village. It was my tree and I set off with the forklift, chainsaw and tools to clear it. The police turned up half way through my operation followed by a gang of professional tree surgeons. Obviously someone in the village had telephoned for help. I was expecting a lecture even though I was properly attired working on my own, but they did not even come up to speak to me and just turned round and I never saw them again. I am properly insured. To be strictly within the law should I have made enquiries first and gained permission or was I within my rights?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ-Ubkwsl4Y]LUCAS MILL - Planing & Sanding Discs - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks for that, I was not sure if too thick motor oil or vegetable oils would jam the oil feed hole.

Reversed over my oil can miles from nearest chainsaw specialist. Managed to find a local garage/supermarket. What grade motor oil would you buy to put in to finish the day without harming the saw? There was sunflower oil on the shelf as well.

A little youtube research shows that they are out there! This one looks simple and seems to run on little power [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvHqAJ6RzK0]kindling machine.AVI - YouTube[/ame] Prototype machine with the principles discussed [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnTrCiVVHE4]kindling wedge - YouTube[/ame] machine comes with optional 10 way wedge [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEs9rmlld4U]BUILT-RITE 11 HPWS SPLITS 10 WAYS (LOG LIFT) - YouTube[/ame]

Thank you for that Goaty. Yes the Palax axe has two horizontal blades which are set back an inch ir two from the vertical blade and it looks as though I will have to try and make one myself with staggered blades. It must take less pressure to split the smaller pieces than the initial big piece, but of course there may be more of them depending on my design. The ram on the Palax is surprisingly powerful for its speed of operation and will crunch the occasional knotty bit of Ash with little effort.

I have a Palax Combi 600 with a removable four way splitting axe. Has anyone made a replacement axe which would split to kindling size? Would such a device which might split a ten inch log into ten rather than four pieces need a lot more pressure from the splitting ram?