Curing and splitting wood for burning

[Nick Maclaren]

In article , Andy Hall writes: |> On 2008-01-28 13:56:01 +0000, The Natural Philosopher said: |> |> > Norfolk and Suffolk are not fen. They start where the fens end, just about. |> > |> > They are gently rolling terminal moraines from the ice sheet, covered |> > in sand and clay over a chalk substrate. |> > |> > The native tribes do not have webbed feet, and undertsand what a tree is. |> |> Not sure that that's true in parts of Norfolk ;-)

Querying the word 'understand' in the context of the NFN, are you? :-)

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

[Andy Hall]

No, just the inbreeding....

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Sacha writes

Why ever not?

We have simulated diamond double glazing in conventional timber frames.

Mind you, 25mm of Kingspan and boarding or render over 4" studwork walls is not a recipe for low cost heating.

regards

[AJH]

That's because of the way the grain interlocks and is the reason it was used for chair seats. It also has the highest moisture content of any common hardwood except willow and poplar.

Apple is similar and this was the reason it was used to make mauls/mallets (malus is the species).

AJH

[AJH]

Deprecated though as it can split out the eye. Fro and beetle if you want to do gentle splitting this way.

AJH

[AJH]

Yes nowadays that is what is called a splitting maul but it was more commonly a big wooden sledge hammer.

Cast iron would shatter, I guess they are an un tempered medium carbon steel,

I've only ever ended up getting them stuck.

Then of course there was the exploding wedge using black powder...

As a rule of thumb; if you cannot split it with three swings of an axe cutting it with a chainsaw will be more effective.

AJH

[Skipweasel]

It's also durable when immersed, which is why narrowboat hulls were made of it.

[Sacha]

Stone mullion windows, Grade II Listed building - think Victorian gothic. We're having problems figuring out ways to put fly screens at the windows and think they'll have to be magnetic to fit the iron frames. In summer, I'd give my eye teeth for quarter lights in the windows, all of which are casement! The downstairs windows are quite large, as are some of the upstairs ones. Double glazing would have to be fixed into the wood beside the mullions and would look appalling. On the downstairs windows there are interior, folding shutters which would look awful and be ruined if we tried to fit double glazing. However, we would not be allowed to fit it and would probably be in trouble if the house police happened to check it out.

[AJH]

and water pipes! Why narrow boats specifically?

AJH

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Sacha writes

Have you asked what might be approved?

Although Victorian and with leaded lights, this house is well outside any conservation area and did not attract any attention when we re-built. We stuck to the casement style and opted for diamond lead work on the outer sheet.

Glazing regulations have changed since 1995 and the gap between panes made significantly wider. I think our inserts are only 6mm (14mm altogether) making the installation indistinguishable from the original draughty diamonds. You do get different reflection effects from Pilkington K glass which might upset the purist.

regards

[The Natural Philosopher]

they do.

mmm. sawing down the grain is not that good..

[The Natural Philosopher]

The loss through a few small SG windows is not great. I've got these windows fitted to wooden frames..they were allowed on a new build..as everywhere else was insulated to the nines.

[Sacha]

No, we haven't or not specifically about that. But my husband was given to understand some years ago that no such alterations or additions would be permitted.

I don't think we're in a particular conservation area. It's just that this house was the vicarage and was built by Miss Champernowne of Dartington Hall, as was the church. She gave the land and paid for the building. I believe she later paid for the building of the CoE school and the School House for the headmaster. The architect for church and house was John Loughborough Pearson and it's probably that which has attracted attention, rather than the overall area, if you see what I mean. That's not to say that it's not a beautiful place with some outstanding houses in it but it's my guess it's the peculiarity of ours that probably led to the Listing. Much of the farming here is on Church Commission land and when my husband bought the field behind us to make a car park, it hadn't changed hands for

1000 years!

I think that would be a minor irritant, yes. But the depth of the chamfered mullions on the inside of the windows is such that I think it would be 8 or

9" before a fixing could be made onto the wood and we certainly wouldn't consider having any drilling into the stone. Double glazing would be terribly obtrusive here, I think.

['Mike']

Plastics by Post Ltd

Glazing Materials

Translucent Acrylic Sheeting. Cut to size and fitted with Magnetherm Adhesive tape. No drilling, nails or screws

Removable for cleaning windows

Undetectable so mind when you go to open a window.

Preserves ALL features without masking or obliterating them.

Been there. Done that in an old house. So I know it works.

Kind regards

Mike

[AJH]

Ordinary wedges gradually widen at the thick end. If they're not serviced they will mushroom over completely and bits can spall off. In the old days pre chainsaws men works as two man teams on crosscuts and one would tap the wedge in behind the saw blade and then continue sawing. I started work with two 64 year old men, Fred and Ted from Reigate, Ted had one eye missing...

It's no problem to a chainsaw though.

AJH

[Clive George]

I'm pretty sure ours isn't cast iron.

Our toy is a hydraulic splitter - one of the cheap 10 ton manual ones. Works very well on some really quite stuck wood. The powered ones are smaller until you get up into real money.

cheers, clive

[Skipweasel]

That just happened to be the application I've met.

[Sally Thompson]

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:33:15 +0000, David in Normandy wrote (in article ):

Hi David, have only just caught up on some of my newsgroup reading and saw this. This sounds exactly like what I have, which is called Spinal Stenosis (NOT Ankylosing spondylitis, which my father had, and which is quite different). If you Google Spinal Stenosis you will find chapter and verse.

I would urge you not to have surgery. My consultant once told me proudly (when I was resisting such) that he had done the same operation on one patient three times! He couldn't understand why I thought this was a failure, not a success. A friend of mine insisted that surgery was the only cure and that he had been told he would have a new quality of life within six months. He has. It's worse.

This is seriously OT for this group except that gardeners have to watch their backs! If you want to take it to email, mine will work and I'll send you a real email address.

[Roger]

The message from The Natural Philosopher contains these words:

Highest point in Suffolk is a mere 128 metres. Only Norfolk (102m) has a lower highest point.

[The Natural Philosopher]

You mean there are parts of Cambridge higher than that?

I am trying to think where that might be...