Macpherson

Hi, I bought the Metabo HC 260 about a year ago, its a great addition to my workshop, I can`t complain about the build quality and yes it can deal with reasonably big timber near to it`s capacity albeit with many passes taking off small amounts. I use it in conjunction with 2 roller stands which helps greatly, specially if your working alone, and as has been mentioned the machines rollers can do with a bit of a hand at times. I don`t have a problem with the safety features which I haven`t disabled although it can be a bit of a pita if you are changing from planing to thicknessing every five minutes and also it really needs to be used with an extraction system to get rid of the chips if doing a lot of work. As has been said a cast iron, British built Wadkin or similar is far superior, and I would love the real thing specially for doing really big stuff, but if you want to put a 6m length through a machine you really need a 45 foot work shop [ which I don`t have ], so with it`s wheels kit the Metabo has the added bonus of being portable which lets me take it outside when I need to deal with long stuff. The only other thing I can think of is that Metabo say that the knives aren`t resharpenable in comparison to some of the other makes available, and although I can`t see why, it didn`t put me off buying the machine, but it did have me deliberating, but there`s always something, hope this helps, cheers.

Had the fiskars bypass for years, very good. Just checked out the Wolf stuff which looks good too, but even just from the photo`s the Barnel tools do look a top quality properly engineered product and with a max capacity of 2 1/2" must be a cut above the rest, literally, I`ll need to get me hands on a set.

Hi, I believe that to get the actual kW from the kVA you multiply the kVA by 0.8 which makes your gennie 1600 watts. A 2.5 kVA gennie would give you the 2 kW but I`d imagine you`d probably be better with a 3kVA to give yourself a margin. There`s a conversion chart online, hope this helps, cheers.

I agree that the higher frequency of the vibes the greater the risk, back in the 70`s when I was an apprentice fitter we were made aware of the problem as part of our training and it was quite a big issue throughout industry, particularly with anyone who regularly used high speed air tools 20-30,000 rpm. Having said that, it`s the strimmer that numbs my fingers quickest now, I always try to remind myself to relax my grip and I always wear anti-vibe gloves which make a huge difference. cheers

Hi, the list of materials that have been tested and found to be effected by the ethanol now in our fuel is fairly extensive and not just various rubbers, worth a google ! I`ve never been in the habit of leaving any fuel system dry and since I`ve become aware of the ethanol problem I`ve been using fuel stabiliser in all my petrol engines. Interestingly, about a year ago I switched from the Briggs stuff to Ethanol Shield and found that gradually several of my older engines which could be tempremental began to settle down and run more evenly, I can only assume that it`s doing what it claims and cleaning the varnish that coats jets and other parts. Using Aspen is obviously the best solution, but in my case it`s not just saws that I`m worried about and at £12 for a bottle of Ethanol Shield which treats up to 300 litres of fuel I get the peace of mind knowing that my engines are protected and it`s cheap enough that I can also use it to protect a petrol car which potentially would be the most expensive fuel system that I wouldn`t want to have to repair, cheers

Yeah, there`s no doubt in my mind that the powder coating of new things is no substitute for properly painted things, as used to be. When I`m restoring things I generally take the bits to the powder coater to get blasted and then paint the stuff properly myself or get it galvanised. Imo there isn`t a short cut to a long lasting finish, cheers.

Yep, there`s no way round it if you go for paint it`ll need degreased, blasting obviously gives the best keyed finish for any paintwork and once the surface is prepped Galvafroid is top spec.for paint. Real galvanising is without doubt the best long term rust solution if you go to the bother of stripping the whole thing down but with the drawbacks that others have mentioned. Good luck.

Might be worth checking out Galvafroid high zinc 95% metal primer, if you can get rid of the rust and get it back to the bare metal it`s good stuff, takes real well to a blasted surface. Cheers

I could only add that if it`s fairly tight like the last one I did, the combi spanner`s not ideal, better with a proper 1/2" drive socket and a t-bar which also keeps the hammer well clear of the expensive bits.

The last time this issue was discussed I was prompted to do some online research on the subject and I was dismayed by the long list of materials that can be adversely affected by ethanol, a lot of the info seemed came from the USA where the problem seems more acute with higher percentages of ethanol being supplied in some states. But although I have more than a dozen small petrol engine powered machines, which I do my best to protect by using fuel stabiliser, I`m far more concerned about the potential damage being done to other much more complicated and costly machines, cars, motorcycles, boats etc which most folk, except the super rich, will be unable to afford to protect. I would imagine that all of the vehicles at Goodwood for instance, will be running on Aspen or an equivalent, a mind boggling expense !! It seems that folk who read this forum are being well educated on the subject, but in my experience the vast majority of the population are totally unaware that there is any problem. cheers

It`s interesting that nobody`s using tung oil which is a constituent of the branded oils mentioned, Danish oil, for instance, is a generic name and is made up of a mix of tung and other oils in different proportions depending on the brand. I use pure tung oil all the time, thinning with white spirit as folks are saying, metallic driers are readily available and can be added to quicken drying times. which can be a problem. The thing about using linseed oil outside is that it has a tendency to get mildew and turn black which can be extremely annoying and won`t happen with properly applied tung oil. Cheers

Worth check out the expiry date before buying, some of the 15g packs that I`ve looked at that are being sold cheaper, say on ebay or amazon have less than 2 years to go and some sellers aren`t even quoting dates at all. I believe the max shelf life you can buy is 5 years but that`s not to say that it wouldn`t work after longer. There`s a guy on you tube testing stuff well past it`s sell by, but I don`t expect your`e meant to have ancient stuff in the first aid kit. As you buy this stuff hoping that you`ll never have to use it, a long shelf life is obviously important. Cheers.

Hi again, it might not be as quick in the cut as a modern saw mainly because it doesn`t rev so high, but it`s a real solid machine that could last you a lifetime if you take care of it, I`ve got a couple of saws about the same age that I use all the time, just use Stihl oil and get the mix right, enjoy it and it`ll still be going fine long after some of the new stuff`s in the bin, cheers.

Hi, as far as I can see the earliest 028`s were 1977, but yours being 028avs wood boss probably makes it later, 1983- 1990 or maybe a few years newer only, there was three different sizes, 43,47 and 51 cc, you should be able to trace the age with the serial number, must have been lying about for years. cheers.

Bite his hand off !!

Hi, 028, a good solid mid sized saw imo, new in the box, would like it myself ! but then I like older saws. I would think that a more modern Stihl comparison might be an MS 260 perhaps, if you get it for a good price and don`t like it I`m sure you`d get your money back selling it on. Cheers

That`s good to know, I normally just carry a file with me for touch ups but when it comes to the longer ripping chains having more battery life would be useful in a cordless, specially if it`s a bit of a hike from wherever I`m parked, thanks.

Yes they do, and I find the Granberg stones pretty good compared to some others I`ve used. I`ve also got a cordless for my pocket [ not a dremel ] but the battery life is really short, about one sharpen of a saw with an 18" bar, out of interest how long do you get out of the rechargeable dremel ? cheers.

hi, until I got the mill I had no experience of running a 36" bar and was quite surprised how much the chain expanded when hot and just how slack it can get. I would guess you probably downloaded and read the book by Will Malloff "Chainsaw lumbering" that was recently discussed on here, anyway if not, he`s got a lot to say on the subject of bars chains and also mounting the saw differently in the Alaskan to make maintenance and adjustments easier, although I`ve not tried any of his tips yet it makes interesting reading. cheers

Yep, I`m glad you found it works, I spent weeks trying to research this subject and came up with cs4pi as one of a few best bets, although pulse induction models are apparently normally sold for detecting in water or wet sand, I spoke to the tech department at the factory who thought it might be a good candidate for finding metal in lumber. If your managing to detect at 12" that`s great, it`s a good deal more than the general expectations that many folks had in this debate and as you say ,it`s a bit of a dark art to learn to use and understand the results. Found any gold yet ?? Cheers.

And a mask.

Hi, yeah, stainless screws may be better than the originals and although obviously rust proof are still quite soft and would be even more awkward to remove for various reasons if there was a problem. `Unbrako` are a recommendation for top quality high tensile Allen screws and Allen keys,very unlikely to round off, a proper engineering product, I`m assuming it`s an ordinary Allen screw, if so should be easily available. Sorry to butt in, cheers

Hi Mick, as you can`t find anything obvious I think your flooding Scenario is a good candidate, another similar thing to consider, which I get from time to time, is that when conditions are very wet the floss on the air filter can get a bit sodden just due to dampness or condensaton so the moisture being drawn in with the mixture on the first few pulls can make it feel like the piston`s hitting a brick wall, it can get very wet up here and I`ve got a couple of older 80`s Stihls which have pretty basic filters which can get very damp, just a thought, cheers.

yep I know that, but what I`m getting at is that once it`s seasoned it`s bloody hard and durable, and trying to hammer a normal nail through a decent thickness of board can result in a lot of bent nails. I really like Larch and if I`m using well seasoned stuff for joinery I`ll usually drill it to avoid problems, it likes to be engineered, to me it`s far better timber than anything you can get in most timber merchants and has superior structural qualities than most of the ` C whatever crap`, lowest common denominator certified rubbish that`s about and is normal these days. cheers.

1" board 3" nail and I use stainless, or other non-ferrous to avoid the ugly black staining in otherwise lovely timber, can end up a right a mess, and I wouldn`t class seasoned Larch as a soft wood, cheers, off for a pint.