Macpherson

Whist there's no doubt that in most areas of science ' big pharma ' amongst others, behave in a totally irresponsible manner in the pursuit of profit and their ultimate goal of total control, at any cost and regardless of the consequences. Apart from global concerns it seems to me that the other side of the coin is that by reading and understanding the article posted by Goaty on page 9 and anything else that raises awareness, the average person who might find themself having to use this stuff at work may be better able to evaluate the risks and take steps to limit their exposure on a day to day basis. Personally I like to think that I'm always careful, but reading articles like that now and again can't do any harm and may be a balance against any complacency that creeps in........cheers.

Thanks, such small amounts having a measurable effect, having read that I'll need to rethink even my minimal contact with the stuff !

As far as I remember it's modified Carlton chain and as the teeth are ground to the new profile of the scorers and clearers of ripping chain the metal becomes ' work hardened ' which makes it very hard on ordinary files. I also use the Granberg grinder to sharpen it. The harder the better imo

I've used the Colron wood dyes but not their Danish oil, may just take time, cheers.

Hi, I'm no expert but you could try adding something like this to your oil, it would help it to dry but won't leave a hardglaze finish like modern varnish. Or use a different oil based product. Rustins Paint Driers 300ml RUSPD300 | eBay I,d probably use white spirit to rub off as much as poss. of the previous coat and allow to dry first, drying times can vary allot, with oil it's as many light coats as you can be bothered doing, good luck.

Sorry for any confusion, I use a ladder as normal for the horizontal cuts with the Alaskan, the alloy box section is only to replace the plank when doing vertical cuts with the mini mill and by fixing the T bolt bar to it I'll be able to make sliding right angle type brackets in order to be able to fix it to the end any length of log therefore avoiding screwing onto the surface. As my piece of extrusion is 4 meters long I mostly won't need to extend it, but as I see that that's what you're looking into I wouldn't see a problem with locking 2 pieces of 6 x 2" box together with a well finished bit of wood ,or metal, that's a nice sliding fit inside them and held in place with some screws on the 2" face. Having said all that, if your going to the bother of making a purpose built jig it might be an idea to start from scratch and make it long enough for most of the jobs you do, in my case 4m is about the max for my roof rack !! Cheers,

Hi, so my thoughts on the alloy box section that I use at the moment is to build it into more of an adjustable jig. By fixing a bit of aluminium T bolt extrusion to the inside 2" face of the box section, end clamp fixings could be easily made up to make a sliding jig and then the tool becomes adjustable just like the Alaskan...just an option, cheers. SELECT NUTS M5-M8 FOR 20,30,40,45 T-SLOT ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION PROFILE - 3D/CNC | eBay something like this, but the heavier the better.... and I don't know if you weld or you've used this stuff before, but with this you can do a really strong bond to these materials with a good blowtorch 5 Aluminium repair rods (low temp, no Flux required!), HTS2000 (the real one) | eBay

Hi, I use an alloy box section similar to your description for my mini mill, I simply screw that onto the flat surface left by the top cut of the Alaskan using slender 8 gauge countersunk wood screws which I don't find leave a hole that's particularly visible in the finish which is, I take it, what your trying to avoid. The only other thing is that I've got an accurately planned piece of wood slid inside the full length of the extrusion to stop it being deformed by the screws and it also gives the straightedge a bit more of a solid feel. I have in the past considered various ways of end clamping as you describe but tbh I'll probably never get round to it, cheers.

Why not make your own, 1kg of this will dissolve into 5 gallons of water and make a saturated solution to paint on your timber, cheers. Borax Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate 99.9% Lab Grade 500g 1KG 2KG 5KG 10KG 25KG | eBay

Hi, this is interesting to me as I,ve used Rowan to make tool handles on various occasions over the years { for myself }. I've read that this is one of the traditional uses for this wood and I,ve found it to be tactile to work with and also very durable about the garden. Although it's known as ' mountain ash ' it's a Sorbus and no relation to Ash, so it's curious that it's got similar properties as well as similar leaves. The longest handle I,ve made was about 18" and slender for a scutch hammer which worked well, I'll now need to try it on something more heavy duty just out of curiosity, I,m not sure if it would be ok for use with a felling axe or the like, good luck.

Hi, it's worth mentioning that engineers cutting compound should always be used when drilling or machining metals, it makes a tremendous difference to cutting ability and tool life, Rocol or Trefolex for instance. Dormer HSS etc for me too, the drills from Screwfix and the like are toy town in comparison, also as said, if you've got decent drills it's worthwhile learning how to sharpen them, cheers.

Came across this a while ago, some of you might find it interesting bearing in mind the cost of proper engineers files these days. http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRakH7TrE2E If the link doesn't work check out file sharpening with acid on youtube

If it's any help use this company for files, they've got an ebay shop, cheers. http://http://www.proopsbrothers.com/files-36-c.asp

Hi, what about oiling the ash ? Iv'e successfully protected various woods from the elements using tung oil, I recently resupplied at a very good price from http://https://www.ryeoil.co.uk/ They also supply other interesting products including cedar cladding oil which they recommend for cedar and various other woods although I've found that using tung oil also seems to prevent discolouration and as it gets thinned with either wood preserver or white spirit every gallon makes 2. I also like the look of the pine tar products previously mentioned, cheers.

Hi, I use tung oil which is safe for food but I think there's various options / blends that have been suggested on here before, cheers.

Hi, I would also suggest anytime after Easter up to May - June if visiting the west coast, fresher and more chance of dry weather , less chance of the midge and if touring about, less camper vans etc clogging up the roads. In late July - August we get pretty much filled to capacity when the European and domestic holidays coincide, but I suppose it depends what they're looking for, if it's raining in the west head east and vice versa, cheers.

If it was very orange it might have been a wood wasp http:///www.flickr.com/photos/arkins/4799395181

Interesting, the feed on the Metabo is driven by a chain, although it occasionally needs a slight helping hand to pull the wood through this may be adjustable but I've not tried yet.

Yeah, A great machine, I had a look at them as my local Stihl dealer sells Scheppach equipment new and s/h but they're in the next league for sure, but if one could be had at the right price.......... cheers

Without extraction your knee deep in chips in no time with any planer, when I got the Metabo it was a bit cheaper and it came with a wheels kit thrown in which swung it for me as that makes it easy to move about / store away, I take it outside to use it for that reason and get rid of any chips I can't sweep up with a leaf blower. As tools go I'm happy with the quality of Metabo equipment, it's not through the roof in price and it's German engineering, but I can't criticise the Fox stuff as it looks good as well and the F22 568 model was the other one I nearly went for ! With every thing nowadays being online comparing the quality of the many choices is harder compare than if you could see them side by side. Nothing wrong with any Titan stuff either at the price if but if a bit breaks ..no real support or parts ! I know that I normally decide what I can afford then....blow the budget

Hi, I looked at buying this machine and I'm sure it would do what's needed although I ended up with the Metabo HC260 which I thought was higher spec. but then I see that Fox also do more expensive models, that's the dilemma, isn't it ? cheers.

This is probably the reason there are no greys here in the north west, plenty of pine martens, although in Scotlands central belt, mature trees everywhere have been severely damaged by these uncontrolled pests.

Hi, I cut, split and pallet stacked some holly just with a tarp covering the top about 6 weeks ago, it's reached 15 - 17% mc at the moment, I've got other holly cut last year and stored in a covered area and it's at 11% mc, not bad for the soggy highlands !! It's bloody good firewood, I like to use it mixed with birch and / or alder particularly if I'm sitting in front of the stove at night with the door open, cheers.

Hi, an outbreak of this is easy to 'nip in the bud', I've got rid of it in several places. As others have said easy to pull but definitely before it seeds, also it's easy to spot when it comes into flower, I just pull it out and leave it lying revisiting the site regularly at this time of year to try and get it all and repeat next year to make sure you get any regrowth, if you don't deal with it in no time it'll be everywhere. Good luck.