Steven P

Dust... so try dusting the stove next time? use a damp cloth and wipe it down and see. Not something I have encountered even with the first fire of the season. I know I will get it from the storage heaters if I ever use them again (6 years of dust in them now) or ghosts - Billhook might be onto something, ectoplasm maybe?

.. If you can use this advice and identify the stove... before you install the bricks (well, put them in first and check the are right), before you put a fire in, measure the dimensions then say, Alycidon can make them up next time or you can cut your own from that pattern

so my thoughts for what they are worth... If you recently moved in my first thought would be the paint, old owner paints it up, it looks nice, you fall in love buy the house. They don't care about the paint type so long as it is black... however since October I would expect a stove paint to have cured and stop smelling and a not-stove paint to have burnt off and also to stop smelling, I'd be tempted to consider something else. Noting that when my stove was curing you could see smoke coming off the top of it. Likewise your fuels should be OK, if you use them regularly you'd expect the smell regularly Lets assume that a stove installed 2 years ago also has a carbon monoxide monitor fitted as the rules say it should (and if note, you should consider fitting one, CO the silent killer)... again might rule that comment out then. The flue and the movement, that looks like quite a bit of movement. might be worth considering that for a moment. Has the scraped paint always been there? Did it happen once and there is was or has it appeared over time. If it has always been there it's possible when it was installed stove pipe was pushed too far in then taken out a touch scraping the paint. A one off occurrence while you had the house and something might have disturbed it, moved it maybe if you were in the loft or something, and if it happened over time, then it regularly moves. Second 2 things are worth checking out that it is all connected together properly. If it moves regularly then might be an issue with the install and to get it checked. Now onto the smell..... there was a post a while ago somewhere made me think of this... is the smell from the stove itself, from near the stove or from the chimney? can you work that out? The chimney heats up quickly, might be something too close to that somewhere? Just have a check along it and see that there is nothing in the loft too close perhaps. The only thing I can think of that might be happening is that a cold stove and the metal work shrinks opening a gap in a joint (stove to chimney perhaps?) - different metal types, different expansions. If you use it for a few days, it all warms up enough for the metals to expand and seal the joints, could try come high temperature silicone to seal around the joints? Try to work out what causes the chimney movement first though else any seal will come undone. Wonder if your local friendly sweep can take a look for you also? They might be able to rule out leaking joints, and thatt he chimney is installed correctly Note.. I am not an expert at these things, just my thoughts on what you say

I can only go from my 5kw stove, fire bricks are 25mm thick, you might need thicker for a more powerful stove? Last few years I have cast mine from refractory - seams to last better - but what are the common thicknesses for vermiculite sheet I don't know? the back one is the width of the stove (less a bit so it fits in) with 45 degree uprights. The side walls have similar 45 degree chamfers and that locks the back and side in place. Side walls are held in at the front with a clip - if yours has the same you should be able to work out how long that needs to be, measure from the edge of the clip to the back wall and take off a bit. Since there is a 45 degree chamfer both back and edge corners can measure right into the corner. Height is about 6", yours might need to be more, but mine are about 2/3 of the height of the fire box. You might use that as guide, can't go far wrong so long as the walls have the right thickness of insulation on them the shape doesn't matter too much. Chimney.. insulated pretty much just means the flu gasses don't cool as much, there is less soot and a bit for the stove efficiency. Was temped to take out all the punctuation just for fun.

I saw the title and thought this was some sort of grudge match, Rat vs Bag and I would put my money on rat. Friendly pest controller for me. Mine was admiring the lock stacks yesterday and an off the cuff comment "great mouse nests then". I am not bothered by mice, they vanish by the time I burn the logs leaving their nests behind. Never thought about diseases though. Mrs P did meet a couple of mice face to face in the garage one day (literally, they were on a shelf at head height).

Reading this, was there ever a consensus of opinion as to the best chain oil? The way I read this thread is "I use this oil and it works for me"... but as to the best one? The reason I ask should be obvious that I ran out today. I use my saws to cut my firewood and so don't get through anywhere near needing 25, 50 or 100 litre barrels... thinking 5l for me is loads. Normally I would pass the Stihl dealer on my commute which is handy, but no commute now, so ordering online this weekend perhaps. Online order and I can get anything. Other option is B&Qs of course.....

Premium Bonds -should- give you in prizes just a bit less than their advertised interest rates, but only in £25 lumps... so if you have £100 chances are the kids will never see a prize before they are 18, £1000 and they might get some, and the larger amounts should get you a decent return with the chance to win the £1m. You can set up a regular direct debit for them can't you and reinvest the winnings so over time could build up nicely. My boys have a building society account - instant access - just in case, plus a junior ISA each which had a better interest rate. If I had enough spare each month I look at a small private pension - sounds odd but when they get to 60 their lives should be sorted and it might be enough to let them retire a year early (rather than blowing it all on fast cars and beer). Long term shares out perform bank accounts. I went easy - went to the bank with a couple of cheques and said "Account for the boys" rather than slightly trickier shares

Also got to make a law workable, no good making something illegal that is impossible to enforce. Commercial scale tyre burning is easy to enforce, a tyre in the odd garden is a lot harder, probably impossible

Not sure how much market there is for them, but I bet you could create one for the summer BBQ market, get some summer sales? Ask anyone who was a Scout, cooking over a wood fire all the time. Shorter thinner pieces will char quicker and be perfect to cook on, and cheaper than making them into charcoal?

I went through a few coal sacks of similar this winter, given the option of what comes my way, I can dump it or cut it up and burn small diameter stuff. On the upstairs open fire, it is great (it is only a small grate, 12" I think, can't get a full log on it), and on the stove on top of logs or coal, gives a near instant heat boost. I was intending to use them last summer for BBQs, but for some reason no one was visiting much (and it was colder last summer than usual). I wouldn't knock them back if I was given a few bags of them

I need to get more sense and put The Boys to work then, they have more money than me but it's all my money that I give them as pocket money!

I reckon with something as knot free as that, straight grain, the old Fiskars would go through it a lot quicker to get the first cuts done, after than B&Qs finest £7 blunt hatchet will do the kindling far faster. Might change my mind when I get older and more sensible but for now....

A powerful torch indeed. I suspect that the 12,000 lumen rating isn't quite right or comparable to say a 300 lumen headtorch from another brand...12,000 according to google would take about 180W of power, 3AA batteries would power it for about a minute if my mental arithmatic is right.. you might be right to susect it isn't quite right (think 3AA batteries powering 3 60W lightbulbs)

Might be that you were asking the wrong department? Down my road, one side is owned by council 'parks and recreation' and the other side by council 'estates' or something like that.. and they don't talk to each other.

That's the only problem I have had with it so far, but for split firewood and about the garden, not a problem, I'll put it on to charge and grab a coffee. Not sure I'd only have this saw with me anywhere away from the house if it was important. However always hoping there wll be cheaper batteries or 'spares or repair' with the battery on ebay, I reckon a spare battery would be handy

It is this one Qualcast 36v 4A 35cm Cordless Chainsaw | Homebase Weirdly, not available in store and not available for delivery this morning I'm going to get some Garlic bread gong this evening then, expect a post later "how to clean bread and cheese out of a chainsaw"

You do in a way, and learn to get by in a 'right hand' world. Personally anything needing fine details I use my left hand, anything needing brute force, my right, just the way I learnt to do things when I was younger (like screws for example, had to use right hand, so followed on to use a hammer in my right as well, because to an 8 year old, tools went in the right hand). I don't think the distinction is as clear cut as left handers can't do things right handed and vice versa, we just prefer to do things the correct way.

Mine is only a cheap saw!

Just putting this in here, a recommendation perhaps or to see what everyone else thinks. Last year Homebase were selling a battery chainsaw at half price £80, and worth a punt. So far, and so long as the battery has a decent charge and the chain is sharp (I am sharpening it more than my 'proper' saw), I can't fault it.. for what it is. 650W so half the power of my MS181, I use it to cut to size any split logs that are too long, and it works just as well. In fact in some cases, better - for example, the 7:30 am logs that are too long, no longer needing to wake up the neighbours, and then odd long log, pick up and go for it. So as an occasional saw and for split log use, can't fault it and worth looking at. Oh, anything over about 8" diameter... I'll go petrol. Any other views?

It is possible that it isn't the suppliers usual quality - regardless of cheapest, or most expensive, might be that this winter there has been a lot of demand all they have left is what they would normally leave drying till next winter. You did right splitting a log to see what the moisture is like inside - we can all get the faces of a log to be low moisture content by leaving it in the sun for a coupe of hours but that doesn't mean a (split) log is dry all the way through. There are a couple of rudimentary ways to check you can find online. Blow through one and the air will go through, you can put soapy liquid at the other end and it will make bubbles (there are videos of this). Knock a couple of pieces together and they should be a ring to them and not a thud. Depends on the species they shouldn't be 'heavy' - compare them to what you have now and if similar sized pieces are heavier chances are they are wetter (comparing soft wood with soft wood, hard with hard), rudimentary but might also give you a indication of dry or not. End of the day though, buying and burning cmp wood for the rest of the season isn't the end of the world, chimney will need to be swept soon anyway and you won't get quite as much heat out the stove (my stove is off today, first afternoon with no fire (on purpose) since November!)

You want to get something like mine then.. It hasn't flinched carrying 50kg sacks of coal about so it will do for the gardening and moving the logs about

I'm going to get reported looking at stuff on the work computer... the other night how to break into shipping containers and tonight how to take apart palisade fencing. If you are looking at taking the nut off, would a nut splitter work in fence?

If they want to get in they will, and probably get away before you get there - chances will be that you are having a rare night out in town 20 miles away when they do. Seeing the lock boxes can you make them double layered, 40mm offset between the 2 to stop battery grinders? Each welded in place, at last they have to spend time taking the first layer off before they can get to the second and then the lock... not sure, will filling the space between the 2 with sand wear away the grinder blade? Might also make it trickier to use a torch on them. however like my comment, and aatimbers, they will go for the weak spots.. so a good lock, double strength protection for it, and they will take the hinges off, or just go through the doors themselves. CCTV... yep, but get decent quality and talk to the police as to what quality they need to secure a conviction (no good if we all know it was Bob Pikey if the courts reject the images), and of course, infra red. Also perhaps a more covert one covering where they might park up to get number plates or them getting out a car before they put on any masks. Likewise there was a Topgear episode breaking into vans, and the quickest wasn't breaking the lock, it was just crowbar into the door and off it popped.

So reading this a few thoughts. I know most of it is said in joke but rigging a trap to cause harm to an intruder isn't an option really. A lost chipper is a smaller loss of income than 5 years inside. Think dopey apprentice opening the container up at 7:30 on a Monday morning for what could go very very wrong. If you are assuming that they will get in might be you let them with the least damage possible and then claim off the insurance. For example I never lock the shed, a £100 lawnmower or 2 new doors that would get ripped off as they break in is almost even. Chipper is more than that so probably not an option either. The bloke I bought the house from had bikes in the garage, and a fuse labeled 'Blaster' (no house alarm by the way). So if you are thinking of setting up a wireless alert to the phone, how about a signal the other way to sound a 'blaster', something deafening but since you are in control of setting it off, it won't anoy the neighbours. Couple of cameras to be sure. Note that in work we had to put warnings on all the alarmed doors 'Ear defenders must be worn until the alarm is disabled' Second thing he had was a bar at the base of the door about 6" up (great trip hazard by the way), you couldn't just wheel the bikes out, had to lift them out, and this might be an option. A bar at the front locked in place so you have to lift the chipper out or cut the bar. Couple this with 'Blater' going off....Put blaster in the container so it can't be damaged before they break in Third thing he had was a roller shutter door.. not at all quiet to open (held shut by 2 spark plugs wierdly), you could put one of these insde. For false alarms, I have seen it with 2 beams passing a door, got to break both to set the alarm off, a mouse or something won't break both beams but a human will So far apart from an arial on top, nothing to show high security system and make it attractive from the outside. Of course, you might get some people breaking in speculativly and they don't follow the rules of going in through the door, might go through the roof or side. Saw a reinforced filing cainet once, 5m steel frame round the front to hold the drawers sut - built to the specs, but a 'tin opener' would open the back up in seconds. Put a big lock at the front they will cut round it or through the doors themselves to look in. I will guess that over time you will keep more than the chipper in there, assume it will be broken into a lock everything down

If you have the time stacking them will give a greater surface area to the wind and sun (? not convinced about sun, it does the job, not relying on getting sun in the Great British summer that's all)