Billhook

It seems that the official definition of soft wood is any wood from a coniferous tree and hard wood is any wood from a deciduous tree. This does not mean that the wood itself is either hard or soft a quote from the web “There are two types of timber, called hardwood and softwood. These names do not refer to the properties of the wood: some softwoods can be hard and some hardwoods can be soft.” so really it is down to educating people on specific types of timber I would prefer a box full of leylandii to a box full of poplar As we all should know there are good soft woods and bad hard woods. Using the definition above I would classify yew as a hard wood since it is bloody hard and it does not produce cones so is not really a conifer although classified as one. This American list classifies trees into “hard hardwood, soft hardwood, hard softwood and soft softwood.” https://www.shodor.org/succeedhi/succeedhi/weightree/tableHardSoft.htm laurel seems to be classified as a shrub but i have just taken down some very old laurel trees which are very hard and excellent to burn So another factor is climate and soil and how quickly the wood has grown, perhaps the slower growth developing harder wood. As has been mentioned before, it is all about ejukashun! And I am in my sixty fifth year and should be retiring but am still learning, not just a small amount from Arbtalk I might add!

Perhaps you should start bidding in yuan/renminbi to make a point!

But the Zomax ones in my link were £324 for a 50cc!

Thanks for that, I see that they are not cheap when new unless this is also a scam http://dermotcasey.com/product/zomax-4610-chainsaw-16-bar-46cc/

So what model is it in fact?

There are all different kinds of open fires, just as there are different woodburning stoves. When I built my house I built a Rumford open fireplace. I also put two four inch drain pipes under the concrete floor either side to feed air into the room and eliminating draughts. The design not only has a smoke shelf with an air damper flap going across the whole width of the three foot wide fireplace, but also a pair of built in mesh doors to prevent sparks when unattended. In the old farm house my parents had a similar sized open fire but it was totally inefficient and used twice as much wood as the Rumford. My father used to sit by the fire with a rug on one side to shield him from the radiant heat of the fire, and a rug on the other side to protect him from the draught coming in from under the door! I t was like stoking the Bismark and I became grumpy and told him that he would have to fit a wood stove or I would not bring any more wood in. I bought him a Clearview 650 and we stood it on the hearth with a pipe coming out the back into a metal plate which covered the old fireplace. I lit the fire at about six o'clock and went out to play tennis. Left him looking very unhappy and feared the worst on my return. I cautiously poked my head round the door at about eleven and burst out laughing. He was sitting in his vest and underpants. He said that he had gone to sleep and when he woke up he thought that he was in Hell! The stove was very popular after that as it reversed the air flow in the old house and pushed heat into most areas. I would say that the Rumford is about 80% as effective as the wood stove as it heats a large area of the central chimney brickwork. The old Hall fireplace was about 25% as effective as a stove. What is a Rumford Fireplace, Anyway? by Jim Buckley Rumford fireplaces are tall and shallow to reflect more heat, and they have streamlined throats to eliminate turbulence and carry away the smoke with little loss of heated room air. Rumford fireplaces were common from 1796, when Count Rumford first wrote about them, until about 1850. Jefferson had them built at Monticello, and Thoreau listed them among the modern conveniences that everyone took for granted. There are still many original Rumford fireplaces - often buried behind newer renovations-throughout the country. Count Rumford, for whom the fireplace is named, was born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1753 and, because he was a loyalist, he left (abruptly) with the British in 1776. He spent much of his life as an employee of the Bavarian government where he received his title, "Count of the Holy Roman Empire." Rumford is known primarily for the work he did on the nature of heat. Back in England, Rumford applied his knowledge of heat to the improvement of fireplaces. He made them smaller and shallower with widely angled covings so they would radiate better. And he streamlined the throat, or in his words "rounded off the breast" so as to "remove those local hindrances which forcibly prevent the smoke from following its natural tendency to go up the chimney..." Rumford wrote two papers detailing his improvements on fireplaces in 1796 and in1798.* He was well known and widely read in his lifetime and almost immediately in the 1790s his "Rumford fireplace" became state-of-the-art worldwide. Today, with the extensive restoration of old and historic houses and the renewed popularity of early American and classical architecture in new construction, Rumford fireplaces are enjoying a comeback. Rumford fireplaces are generally appreciated for their tall classic elegance and their heating efficiency. ____________ *Most recently Rumford's two essays on fireplaces have been published in The Collected Works of Count Rumford; Vol. 2; Sanborn Brown, ed.; Harvard Univ. Press; 1969; available in most libraries or through Inter-Library Loan or On Line Version [More Detailed Article] [Other Articles] [More About Count Rumford] Buckley Rumford Fireplaces Copyright 1995 - 2010 Jim Buckley All rights reserved. webmaster

On some ski resorts you can log into a website which tells you all sorts of facts and figures about your skiing holiday and one of those figures is how many vertical metres you had done in the week. I was wondering how many vertical metres you think that you have climbed in twenty one years!

Now you both have made me sad and nostalgic! I went to see Rory Gallagher at the Corn Exchange in King's Lynn in about 1970 and it was amazing how he filled that great room with the sound of his AC30. East of Eden were the support band. So I bought an old AC30 some time in the late 1970s and had some fun with it and the Strat. Unfortunately it was one of the many casualties of my massive 1991 burglary along with the 1968 left hand maple neck sunburst strat. I put my postcode in several hidden places on that guitar hoping that perhaps some guitar repair shop might just inform me. Alas no such identification on the Vox. Aaaaah the warmth of valves and the fullness of analogue!

Local garden centre selling these Now let me see. one twenty foot log, 16 inch diameter cut into three inch deep "steps" 20 x 12 = 240 inches divide by 3 = 80 x £2. = £160 for the log Weyhey, I'm gonna be rich!

Electric single phase (very quiet!)

I bought a 5 ton Portek and was very happy with it. It was really for my wife to use splitting 16 inch long logs of various diameters up to about 2 foot but mostly half that. They needed to be smaller than the ones that come off the Palax processor for the efficient Aduro stove. I took this rather poor video after I welded a frame to fix it to the teleporter bucket so there was little bending It proved to be very quick and effective. I know now to hold the phone camera horizontally ! The Portek was stolen in November so I bought another from Jonesie for about £450 plus VAT This is the seven ton version. Modified control handles are better. Same chassis probably slightly heavier flywheel. It does exactly what I want, again fast and effective. I am a big strong chap, although not as strong as I used to be!. I can wield an X27 axe and split some difficult stuff that have beaten others but this 7 ton Portek can split knotty hardwood that I have given up on with the X27 I would say it is as strong if not stronger than the hydraulic ram on the Palax. I can see I need to make another video to convince doubters!

He has changed a bit from his early days, but the guitar is still sweet!

Would a lot depend on the size of Aunt Mildred's estate and the fact that she did not survive for seven years after giving you the gift, leaving you to pay 40% tax?

I will second that. The X27 seems to be perfect for the splitting job. It never becomes stuck as the head is not that big. I see that the blade on the A2400 is much bigger and does not seem to have the geometry of the X27 which to my mind is the secret of its explosive splitting performance. The A2400 looks as though it will become stuck in a tough log more easily. The X27 is also lighter than most which is important over a day's work. The Fibrecomp handle is made of the same stuff as PTFE tape I believe and seems good at absorbing shocks as well as taking abuse. It is also longer than average giving a heavier blow to the wood. Finally I see X27 coming up favourably again and again on this forum which is probably the best recommendation.

Aaaaah, I remember the days when we left the house unlocked, no burglar alarms, keys left in cars and Tractors,and cars unlocked even in town. Now I am the guilty one if I do any of that. I must be really a lot older than I thought!

Great, just not seen him on General Chat, So many topics, so little time!

I still wonder how Sean is doing after his terrible accident. There but for the grace of God go many of us and I do think of him before I try any potentially dangerous work. His photography was inspirational and was good to see on this forum. last post mid 2016?

I think that this is another disturbing factor in both these burglaries. They both must have known in the first one that I was away which means that it may have been someone I know involved, and the last one, how did they know the way in through a very secret (to most people) hidden door. Again unlikely to find such a door just by rummaging around in the dark with a dim torch. These things play on your mind and it upsets your general trust in anyone who comes onto the farm or woods. It does not help our public "Git orrff my land" image but you can understand how someone like Tony Martin could be driven to extreme and illegal behaviour by this constant intrusion and nobody interested in doing anything about it because " you're insured and nobody was hurt" attitude. Meanwhile the insurance premiums go up as a double punishment.........

Thanks for that and the post from AHPP. Wishing you all the Best for 2018 as well. It is a rotten thing to be burgled and leaves a feeling of violation which is greater than the actual loss of replaceable items. And this was only in the farm workshop which is far less personal than the home. I had the misfortune to be massively burgled back in 1991 when I was abroad. They came with a lorry and cleaned the whole house out, furniture, tools, the old Grandfather Clock, William Ward of Spilsby which had been in the house since the late 1700s. It had a rocking Galleon above the 12 o'clock mark should any of you guys ever see it. My grandma used to put me on a stool when I was very small to wind it up as a special treat if I had been good (not very often!) My Fender Stratocaster left hand maple neck 1968 which was a 21st birthday present. Plus all the heavy old Marshall Amps and speakers Dining tables, chairs, large corner cupboard but they left all the pictures and paintings and broke open the gun cabinet but left the guns. My birds egg collection (bizarre thing to nick) collected by my Gt Grandfather in the days when you did a lot of that sort of thing. Cromwellian armour, pewter mugs, an 18th century blunderbuss, a Japanese officer's sword in fact a raft of unique items including a dozen Persian rugs which I had photographed and not one item has reappeared. It really was a lorry load! So I really know the feelings that all you guys are going through who have had things taken, but I have to count my blessings. Nobody was hurt in these incidents and I have had my fair share of good luck to balance everything. Well set up now with CCTV everywhere linked to the iphone, bit of closing the door after the horse has bolted, but at least I feel I can ring neighbours and the police if I am away and tell them exactly what is happening and where to look.

Or this 42 ton version!

I have had a look around at some of the others but many are one handed and potentially dangerous. They all seem a little slower than the Portek The Little five ton Portek was just fine for the particular job we wanted it for, so I think I will go for another one and as an additional bonus they are now rated at 7 tons. Here are some of the others, Kinetic Log Splitters Oregon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5mmx6Rn3lo DR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W66YcaJfqhI Supersplit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hQf16bGKgo Rockwood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbydMx9eQw

It suited us just fine for the small splits for the Aduro stove. Never had a jam but the occasional kickback if you did not hold it firmly. Not very good video . I have learnt to put the phone sideways for future filming rather than vertically! Is the 7 ton version from Jones any different?

Feel sympathy for all those who have had a workshop burglary as it is often several months later before you notice that something else was nicked. Even something as obvious as this splitter. Chainsaws and other everyday items are more apparent. The trouble being that it has been behind a wood box in our garage and has not been used there since I last had a big session filling several boxes. I went to look for it there and it had gone, then I remembered that I took it down to the workshop to build a cradle for it to sit in the teleporter bucket and had put it in the workshop store standing up behind a door. So it disappeared with the branch logger. The insurance will add it to the initial claim without excess. The police say that the Newark jumble sales is one of the places to look as well as Brigg. Here is a video of it. It does not look that powerful but it worked well to split smaller bits for our Aduro stove and my wife could work it easily so we miss it.