john87

Well that is good to know. I think i will get them to provide the saw though, not messing about with mine for no good reason. Is there anything that says that the saw you take to bits has to be the same one as you use for the rest of the course?? I am sure i will figure something out.. john..

Yes i do, but i blow all the shit out of the thing first with an air line. Doubt they have one of them in the middle of a field. john..

What i mean is, apparently, for example they want you to remove the air filter and clean it. Well, others can do as they like, but; 1, I am not taking the air filter off unless they have an air line so i can blow out all the internals of the saw first, and 2, i am most certainly not brushing the dust off the thing. The saw i would use, has a funny papery sort of filter. I DID try to brush it once, but all you do is to smear the oily stuff that accumulates on it into the filter medium.. john..

Hi all, I have been offered the chance to do a chainsaw course [for free]. I would do it, but am a bit concerned... I have read a little bit about what is expected of you, and apparently they expect you to take your saw all to bits, taking out the plug, removing the air filter and taking off the recoil starter etc?? Is this correct?? Not being funny, i am not taking one of my pristine saws all to bits unnecessarily and very definitely not in the middle of some field. What if you just tell the assessor how you would do it if you wanted to?? Can you get them to supply THEIR saw for you to take to bits?? I will gladly do that.. john..

Can i tell you why?? Because nobody ever showed you what you were trying to achieve. It would be like trying to play darts with the numbers missing off the board.. I am sure that if someone spent half an hour with you and then left you to it for a few hours, that you would AMAZE yourself with your new found skills.. john..

Oddly enough, the "good" one, is actually crap too.. All this "stack of dimes" shit, is just that, shit. It is merely a fashion. It was explained to me once [by a SERIOUSLY qualified chap] that all this came about thanks to the chinese and their cheapo bike frames. You see, a robot welder cannot weld properly like a person can, as it has no judgement, it cannot see what is happening and react accordingly. Therefore, the thing gets set to lay down what are really, more or less a series of overlapping tacks.. People saw this and thought that this appearance represented "good" welding, and so they all decided to copy it. In reality, for any serious purposes, the thing would fail visual inspection for "excessive ripple" and not blending smoothly with the parent plate. The smoother the weld, and the smoother the transition to the plate, the better, in fact, one commonly used method of increasing fatigue resistance, is to grind the toes of the weld with a die grinder, blending them in.. Every single ripple acts as a stress raiser, not to mention the effect of fatigue life caused by the rough interface between the toes of the weld and the plate. Then you have the effect that the excessive ripple will have on corrosion resistance, with the ripples all setting up various types of "corrosion cells" Lots of internet "experts" will disagree with me, but ask yourself this. Ever looked at the welds on a pressure vessel??? They were lovely and smooth, yes?? There is a reason for this.. john..

You are right. I used to love welding [hated fabricating though!!] but when my eyesight went a bit i lot all my confidence. Different world now though!! I bought a Bosch cordless drill once. Cannot remember the price now as it was about 15 years ago i think. Was in the hundreds though.. As i walked out of the shop i thought "what the heck did you buy that for" but it turned out to be one of the best things i have ever bought. The use it has had... Batteries are starting to lose capacity now, but what a drill.. john..

Hi Roys, I used to try it wearing glasses, but it is awkward as everytime you take the helmet off you knock your glasses off too. I usually wear a leather flash hood too even if only doing a small bit of welding [had a close run in with skin cancer] so i do not want the rays on me. For some reason having the lens in the mask works so much better, perhaps with glasses as the welding lens is a distance away, there is some optical interaction?? I have no idea. I could not get on with doing it like that anyway. Your eyesight getting worse creeps up on you slowly. I had a speedglas helmet years ago, but i thought that the lens must have been going wrong, so i gave it away and got an Esab one. That was not much good at the best of times and only lasted about 2 years before packing in. £250 down the drain. I had a long think before getting another.. I know someone that has a £60 helmet from screwfix. I had a quick go and was very impressed to be honest. One thing though, i know the automatic lenses go dark and light again, they all do that, but the UV protection is there all the time if you understand me, even in "light" mode?? I was worried that with all the counterfeit and other chinese crap, could the rays still get through and do your eyes in over time, as, the only think the chinese make properly are viruses.. Therefore i decided to get another speedglas one, as they are the best without any doubt at all. I have had it for about a month i think, i got it from BOC. When i tried it though, as i said, it was unbelievable. Would i buy another?? YES, if were twice the price.. I was worried what if i bought it and i still could not see clearly, but that was a risk i had to take. You can buy the lenses and maybe stick them in any helmet with double sided tape i suppose. They are about £20 the lens and come in 1, 1.5, and 2 diopters is it?? I woud imagine there are lots, but i would get a speedglas one.. It is like a different world, like having the welding ability i used to have back. Makes me feel all young again! It IS a lot of money, but as my first speedglas helmet was still working fine when i gave it away [it was about 20 years old] i have no reason to think that this new one will be any different. Speedglas do cheaper ones, but the 9001 series are wider and deeper and better suited to overhead welding and stuff. I love it.. john..

Is it your tree?? No?? then move along and forget about it, none of your business. john..

Hi All, I know quite a few of you get yourselves involved with welding, so i thought that this might help.. Now, i am a properly qualified welder, so it follows that i am quite good. [or was] Not worked as a welder for years, but with getting old and your eyesight getting worse, i lost all confidence. As you know, with welding, confidence is everything, i would be so stressed everytime i went to weld anything.. So, a few weeks ago i bought a speedglas 9100V helmet complete with the optional magnifying lens [you get the lens that matches your glasses strength] Anyway, it was expensive, about £400 all in all, but i went to try it out for the first time yesterday. OMFG!!!! Within literally two seconds of striking the arc, all confidence back!! The difference is like night and day, best £400 i have ever spent... So, anyone else think their welding has gone crap, get one of these!! BEAUTIFUL quality, just brilliant in every way.. john..

Thanks all!!! Great advice as usual!! john..

Hi All, What would cause this to happen to the top of a Cherry tree?? It is only about 7 feet tall. The idiot neighbours planted it actually touching my garden wall, so hopefully the thing is doomed.. john..

How you going to remove the powder coat?? It is terrible stuff to get off. You will struggle to sand blast it off. They use chemical baths to get the stuff off or burn it off [not recommended] john..

I do not have a CLUE about TPO's, but if what the council are doing is a statutory function, then no, they cannot charge for it unless this is provided for in the legislation. An example would be that they cannot charge to empty your bin as they have a statutory duty to do this.. john..

Now i do not know much about these things, but that looks like a good deal to me... john..

I would certainly not buy anything Chinese... You would be better off buying a decent secondhand british make.. I too was looking for a chipper once. I was looking at chinese stuff, when i found a reply on this very forum to someone else in the same position. They were advised to go buy something like a secondhand Timberwolf 13/75G [which would be about the same price range] This is what i did. I got one in BEAUTIFUL condition for a very good price too. The thing has been absolutely faultless and does everything the makers claim and more.. Ok, it is a bit of a twat when things get stuck in the feed chute and for regular use [as in tree surgeons] you would want something with a hydraulic feed, and bigger capacity [mine does 3"] but if you are not doing it all the time, one would be great.. If and when i sell it, i will get every penny back to as the first to see it will snap my arm off. Would i be saying the same for a chinese machine..?? john..

Wonder if he will come back??? john..

That is because you are white..

Do not understand what you mean??? Looks pretty dangerous to me! john..

The planning people will already have tipped off the tree lot.. If no TPO, best act quickly then.. How do you know the council lot will not do a "backdated" TPO as the law and councils are two entirely separate things.. john..

Awww, It thinks you are its mum!!!! john..

How amazing is that!! I doubt it will fly away. Probably will be really tame.. Well done you.. john..

Yes, we are clever arnt we.. tell you what, you go and unstabilise the tree without firstly informing the neighbour of the risks and agree to indemnify the householder against any claims.. Hmm, thought not..

I had a Yamaha XT600 motorbike. According to Yamaha, it was suited to unleaded petrol. Well, it was, sort of. You could undo a screw to drain the float chamber. The fuel escaped down a tube. This tube would then swell to not far off twice its size and go all spongy.. A few days later, it would have gone back to the original size. There is no knowing what funny things might be going on inside the fuel tube as Agrimog said.. john..

Oh yes, i agree with that, you would have to warn them that this was a possibility, in writing i would. You would i believe, have to give them a chance to mitigate against this risk, or it would indeed be negligence i would think.. john..