neiln

Ok... That duck is slightly scary.

like a wood spirit/wizard? I'd have thought that was a hard place to start, needing fine detail and conrol to achieve the relief. a mushroom is a mushroom with just shape...ok get good and you can add the gills or what not but get the basic shape and its a mshroom. same for a bear/owl/dog. get good and the fur, the face, the claws all make it look fabulous, but get the basic shape right and it looks impressive no? carving bar? with a dime tip? thought they existed for the 180, its just a 12" stihl bar at 3/8" pitch isn't it? stick it on anything with the right sprocket from a 170 to an 880. I wasn't planning on getting a carving bar for a start though. i don't need to do i? chains though.....I've semi chisel on the toy saw. I am not even sure if there is a picco full chisel, but i guess a smoother chain like semi and rakers high is best for carving?

I've got a few largish lumps of wood in at the moment, big enough to carve something small out of rather then just buck and split for firewood. A little bit of time on my hands too so thought I might try a chainsaw carving. Anybody got any tips for getting started? I've got a husky 365 and a stihl ms180 to use, plus all the usual DIY power tools like drill and angle grinder, although no Dremel/die grinder. Should I just dive in and try a bear/eagle/owl or should I practice some cutting moves first? Bore cuts or something? What's an easy sculpture for a beginner? YouTube has plenty of how to do bears and so on but maybe a mushroom is an easier start? I strongly suspect I'll use a few litres of fuel/oil, make a few small lumps of firewood, a large pile chips and nothing very recognisable, but everyone has to start somewhere! Thanks

That makes sense - the slowing with an axe over time. Maybe i should stick to the axe...i split in short stints of an hour or so, as that's the pickets of time I have. Also these pockets are either late evening after my two young girls are in bed, or while i mind them in the garden in sunny weather, while the 'Thwack!' of an axe doesn't seem to annoy any neighbours or them, how noisy are electric hydraulic or electric kinetic splitters?

Don't over think it too much, my experience is that logs dry quite well in many different places. Unless you have particularly bad conditions you'll not have trouble either way. About the only thing I've found important is a good quality covering over the winter if it's as continuously wet as last winter! Buy the cheapest/best value.

Not sure this is 'Large equipment' but then it doesn't seem to fit better elsewhere... Has anybody any experience or knowledge of the Hyundai 7 tonne electric kinetic splitter? After the last thread about splitters I've been browsing and came across this. https://thepowersite.co.uk/hyundai-7-tonne-1600w-kinetic-electric-log-splitter-hyls7410 its out of stock everywhere or listed as 'discontinued' so maybe not available but it seems a good size for my needs at 7 tonnes and 410mm stroke, and at just £349 inc vat it is very cheap. The similar log master is £400+ and the Portec charger/quick split is £550 (but 8.5 tonne and a bit quicker). I tend to think if I got a splitter the speed of the kinetic kind would be great for me, although i have heard they struggle more on the knotty and twisted stuff than hydraulic ones do so I guess I'd still be noodling few bits up, no problem though. Hyundai cars are reliable, so is that a guide to this splitter's quality?

Really? Oh.

I'm after some class2 type A trousers, just for use when bucking firewood for myself so no need to be the most awesome. Anybody seen a deal out there?

When you say 'clean in regularly'. Do you mean sweeping the flue or cleaning the stove/pipe outside? If it's the latter then the heat will burn off any polish/residue and smell. If you don't clean it then first use of the year you'll get hot dust as smell.... Get that on Ch rads too. Just clean with a damp cloth. Are the gaps get from pipe/stove to nearby combustibles enough? Are you over heating something on the wall behind?

This thread has made me browse evil-bay. I've found a used titan pro 7 ton 2200W electric splitter for £150 not that far away. Hmmm...are they any good? I rather enjoy splitting everything by fiskars or stihl maul and the ugly bits get noodled up by saw, so not sure I'd use a splitter much. although there are times I guess that being lazy appeals. would i find it frustratingly slow though?

forest master do a couple of 7tonne and an 8 tonne, seems quite reasonably priced on amazon. I have no idea if they are any good at all though.

I only burn wood but like a multifuel stove for it's an pan and easy emptying of ash.

one last close up of a few odd leaves at the base

a view up into the canopy. remember was a couple of weeks ago, the oaks are just about in full leaf here now and weren't then, although this one seemed a bit sparse compared to others

a few other photos I took of the tree in biggin wood a couple of weeks ago. Biggin wood used to be managed woodland but hasn't been for a hundred years or more so it's heavily oaked but a lot of to dense, tall and thin trees. this is the tree at the base

Oak pressissionary moth exists close-ish I know, didn't see any though, they are very hairy Caterpillar aren't they? And obvious as they walk in line. Doubt it's frost damage, I'm South London near crystal palace. Saw the first at a small wood called Biggin wood (photod) about 2 weeks ago. Then saw one at another narrow strip of trees at Beaulah spa. Given we've had very few frosts be and oaks immediately adjacent aren't affected frost seems unlikely.... But then tbh I have no idea. I think nearest moth location is about 5 or 6 miles away, maybe less.

ive seen a couple of oak trees around here with leaves looking small, reddened and shrivelled, often trees right beside are fine. is this a sign of sickness ? or just leaves opening slowly? or? poor photo, sorry.

there is a maximum of uninsulated stove pipe allowed by regs, 700mm I think but not quite sure.

That moisture meter reading seems too low to believe, although I see you're in France which is probably less humid then UK, but still.... You did test the inside of a split by freshly splitting, and a room temperature split yes? If not, try again. Tbh, if it feels light it's likely dry, if you whack 2 pieces together that are dry they will sound musical/hollow like a glockenspiel or bowling pins, if you get that try burning it, if it doesn't hiss ex excessively you're good. Tbh, it's April, how much longer will you be burning? If the smoke isn't a problem then you'll not cause major creosote issues in a few weeks, so don't fret. just be sure to sweep the flue when you stop for the summer.

I've used stovax stove paint. It's flaking off a little bit in a few places. Not sure if that's the paint's fault or mine. I know it's very important to clean the stove well and remove all oils, and to not have the paint too thick or it'll crack off. I took a wire brush in a drill to my old stove and cleaned the light rust and a lot, but by no means all, of the old paint off. I then cleaned or several times with cellulose thinners before painting the stove with a rattle can, in about 3 coats iirc. possibly the paint was too thick in some places, or possibly I failed to get it perfectly clean. For what it cost or worked ok, although not perfect so I'd possibly try a different brand next time.

Could test for oak, sprinkle a few iron filings on the end of a split, it'll blacken in a day or 3.

I've split Turkey oak, can't say it was any different to English. Oak has that very very very distinctive smell... Difficult to describe though.... tobacco like? No idea why I say that, I've never smoked so don't really know what tobacco smells like.

Ah yes, I think the oiler is one of the bits that is better swapped to oem. I looked into doing it, getting the kit supplied from a US dealer with the p+c swapped to the cross ones. Iirc I was looking at £300-£350 once I'd swapped the tensioner, oiler and little end bearing, plus import tax. As you say, it's worth while of you want to learn about a saw or for occasional personal use. For a professional, just get the genuine item.

If you look on ope forum there is a sub forum dedicated to huztl builds and they are generally well thought of. I understand a few parts are pants and the consensus now is to swap for OEM Stihl, chain tensioner, little end bearing and pin I think, maybe something else too but that's about it. Although the p+c seems ok lots of builders swap to something like the cross as it's already ported (it's a copy of a ported Stihl jug and is decent quality). I agree it's very wrong that China flout copyright and patent law, and safety testing etc. However don't assume all the farmertec kit is rubbish add some seems ok and I suspect it will only get better.

I'm not as it's much warmer in the day time and the sun is warming the house more, but I can see that in times I'm home more I use more. I bet the national energy use over the last week is quite high across all domestic areas.