As others have said, properly seasoned hardwood logs from a local supplier are best. Kiln dried is a waste of money and energy as the logs will gradually return to the moisture content of air dried if stored outside. There are differences in hardwoods (birch easy to get going, oak is a slow burn) but try not to overthink it. Anything seasoned will be fine. Softwood in small quantities in a log burner will also be fine.

I supply mixed hardwood logs so if you’re near Cardiff, give me a shout.

I have the same dilemma. Need to upgrade my tablesaw and looking at the festool because of the sawstop. I can’t justify the cost financially but it’s so much safer and I like my digits.

If you’re using the tablesaw regularly, treat yourself!

https://www.dewalt.co.uk/product/de6992-xj/guide-bush

Seems like there is a 30mm guide bush for your router. There’s probably non dewalt ones available too, you just need to match the fixing centres.

It’s solid grade laminate often referred to by trade name Trespa. It’s expensive and difficult to cut but is otherwise great for router templates.

Are you sure you can’t fit a 30mm bush to your router? This would be unusual.

I have a popeye bicep after damaging tendons in a crash at Brechfa around 10 years ago. The loss in strength is minimal. I move bits of tree around and play with chainsaws for a job. I’d go for the surgery though it took a while to get back to full strength.

It’s not Knotweed. Knotweed stems are smooth not hairy. They’re also segmented.

I’d go for the Husky 550 for that kind of work. I used to have the 545 which is very similar. It will run a 15” or 18” bar and is light enough to use all day but still powerful. Will you old Stihl run a 20” bar if occasionally needed?

If the thicknesser is set up properly with sharp blades the surfaces will be very smooth. If there’s a small amount of ripple then your current sanders should be good enough to remove it. I’d give them a try before buying a purchasing an orbital sander if you’re unlikely to use it again.
For the waney edge, the ideal tool is an angle grinder with flap disc or coarse sanding pad. This will remove the sharp high points that will otherwise rip through the sanding sheets. You can then smooth with your mouse sander, it will be slower than a proper orbital sander but should be adequate. If you don’t have an angle grinder remove the sharp points first with a chisel or sharp knife.

Looks like nice piece of yew. A few thing to consider …
It’s rough sawn so will very likely have a degree of bow and twist that you’ll need to correct if you want it to sit flat on your shelf supports. Ideally you’d use a planer thicknesser or router sled to do this but I’m guessing you may not have access to these.
Rip cut the board in half before you flatten it as cutting through the wood fibres can cause the board to twist, particularly as the grain isn’t straight.
It’s air dried, there’s no moisture content stated but it’s hard to get below 18% by air drying, particularly at this time of year. It will twist, bow and shrink as the moisture content reduces further.
Because of the above, I’d be looking to purchase a board that’s already been planed flat and at a moisture content of 10-12%. You’ll still be able to sand it and oil / wax it to make it a special present.

My vote is oak. Oak has a lot of sapwood which is paler than the characteristic brown colour of oak heartwood. A small oak log like that would be mostly sapwood. Knots and bark also look like oak.
Alder bark looks more like cherry.

Oak, larch snd sweet chestnut are all good choices for outdoor furniture as their high tanin content makes them naturally durable. Teak is also a good choice for the same reason but better to use european timber than import a tropical hardwood.
If you don’t have a local timber merchant then have a look at G&S specialist timber. They have a good range of prepared timber sizes which means you won’t need a table saw and planer.
In terms if tools, it depends how you want to join the timber. If you’re using screws / bolts all you’ll need is a drill driver and a tenon saw. Make sure you use stainless steel fixings ir they will react with the tanin and cause black stains. If you want to do traditional joints (Mortice & tenon etc.) you’ll need a carpenters square, chisels and a means of sharpening them.

I’m not sure I’m fully understanding where and why you’re intending to cut but you shouldn’t need a saw at all. If you’re trying to form a flat bottom for the bowl, the normal method would be to cleave the log in two. The flat face formed by cleaving would then become the bottom of the bowl.

Thermal stress is the most likely cause, particularly if it’s a large pane. Were the blinds or curtains closed?

Excellent thread timing! I too am contemplating router and table. Probably just the router initially. Mr C do you use the Triton TRA001 just in the table? I’m looking at the 1400W version hoping to do fence guide routing and fix it to a table if I do get one. Is the TRA001 a bit cumbersome when not fixed to the table?

I too have noticed this trend for a small bag closely strapped to the chest of local youths. Always assumed it was for carrying drugs and cash. There’s a group of “Roadmen” that cruise the streets in the evening round me. I see them when walking the dog on the mean leafy suburb streets . The dog sees these streets as his territory and marks them accordingly. Hope it doesn’t become a turf war.

As above, spend more time in Hanoi rather than passing through it. It was easily the best part of our tour because you can easily get off the tourist trail. Hue, Halong Bay, Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi tunnels are beautiful / historically interesting. They are all well worth a visit but are choreographed for tourists in a way that Hanoi isn’t. Ho Chi Minh is busy, fast paced and exciting but far more westernised and therefore less special / different compared to Hanoi.

Stew them with sugar, let them cool and stir into greek yogurt.

Surprised at the number of helpful, sensible comments here……for balance
No!
Why?
Are you a wannabe footballer’s wife?
What’s the difference between a cactus and a Rangerover?

Could it be because it was recently St Georges day? If he’s a flag enthusiast maybe it will change shortly.
Today is Moldova’s national flag day!
Take the coward’s option and say the estate agents think ill informed buyers may rush to judgement. Then ask to change to something less contentious – Switzerland? South Africa? North Korea?

There’s plenty of sessions to choose from, around 40 cycling videos / workouts plus yoga ones. The number of training plans is fairly limited but there’s enough unless you want to train very specifically for one area.

I’m using it and like it. It’s good to have access to all the cycling videos plus some yoga ones and training plans that are a mix of workouts and technique.
It’s better than the stand alone videos as it shows heart rate and power as part of the app, you used to need to use through trainer road to get this info.
I’ll probably be using it less now as the weather improves so will end the subscription till next winter.
I use the downloads so the workout doesn’t get ruined by buffering. I think you still need some kind of internet connection to show you have an active subscription. I can check if you need me to. Worst case you could probably pair laptop to your phone to verify your license?

Badger is the likely culprit. Best way to check is to give the fresh holes a gentle sniff. If they smell badgery that will confirm it.

Introduction of part E of the building regs means they’ll have to either use approved details or have it acoustically tested. This means that a home constructed in the last 10 ? years will be significantly better than older properties for sound insulation.

Jkomo, we’ve stayed at Hotel Costa Los Gigantes a few times. It’s a big hotel so has lots of facilities – decent pools, high ropes, play area, tennis, mini golf, gym (good spin class), well laid out suite type rooms, room fridge restocked daily with beer and soft drinks. Most importantly for all inclusive, there’s a good choice of food.
Thomson kids club might not be running in Feb but the hotel has it’s own which probably will be.
Beach is about 10mins walk away, steeply sloped volcanic sand with big waves, these are fun but not ideal if you have very young kids.

Road is very good …. If you like climbing. Mount Teide (enormous volcano) sits in the middle of Tenerife and all roads except the coastal dual carraigeway lead up it. I think it’s the longest continuous climb in europe, about 2100m2 to the rim of the crater. This means that it doesn’t matter if you stay north or south. South is where all the tourist beach resorts are and is warmer and drier than the north.
Bike point tenerife in las americas has decent bikes if you decide to hire.
Always stayed at all inclusive places with the family so can’t really help with the hotel.

Road or MTB?

There’s quite a few Eurocamp type places around Lake Annecy. Most of these have chalets / static caravans which are good value if you book direct with the campsite. Kids love it because there’s loads of opportunity for making friends. They usually have a pool, bar, play park, basic entertainment. Talloires has a really nice public beach with slides, diving board, watersports, volleyball etc. There’s a good cycle path (disused railway) that runs the length of the lake. If you want something more testing, Col de Forclaz and Col de Leschaux both start from the cycle path.

Ash splits easily green or seasoned but it will season much quicker if you split it now. I wouldn’t bother with a maul, a splitting axe like the Fiskars X27 will be more than adequate.

Last year I got a USB TV receiver from Maplin for about £30. That way if the WiFi’s good enough (it won’t be) you can watch english language links on steephill.tv. If it’s not you can watch French TV on the laptop with ticker updates from Cycling News.

Suitable bar is better but I needed the laptop backup on a few occasions.

A pole saw would be safer than climbing a ladder but the undercut first technique is the right one. Definately don’t use a chainsaw up a ladder.

I’d also avoid felling trees unless you can get someone to show you how to form a gob and make a backcut leaving a hinge. If the tree ges hung up or sits back on your saw you’ll have a dangerous situation that you’ll likely need a felling lever / wedges / winch to fix.

My vote goes to Truncator

If he’s serious about architecture, take art if he’s good at it and enjoys it. Not studying art won’t stop him becoming an architect but it will restrict the offers he gets from universities.

I was advised by my school’s careers officer to to take graphics rather than art at GCSE. I still class this as one of the worst pieces of “professional ” advice I’ve ever received. 25 years ago when I was applying to schools of architecture art was a requirement of almost all of them.

Thanks for clarifying. Reckon I’ll try a tyre swap this year and maybe invest in some wheels if i get some benefit from the winter tyres.

Can someone explain how changing to winter tyres works? I’d like to get some as I need to regularly drive down muddy tracks to collect logs.

I’ve a fair bit of wear left on my summer tyres and don’t want to bin them. If I change them to winter tyres do the garage give me the partly worn summer tyres To store over the winter and get them to refit in summer?

Do I need to buy a set of cheap wheels for the winter tyres so I can swap them myself?

My wife’s favourite whisky….the only one she likes. I like it too.

Mio fuse? Doesn’t have integral GPS but links with smart phone if she carries one anyway.

Selsun shampoo applied once a day for 10-15mins rinse thoroughly repeat for 7 days. Too big an area for cream. IANAD.

Depends how much damage there is to the tendons. My long head biceps tendon was very damaged and had to be severed. Took me 6 months to get back on mtb and I now have a “popeye bicep”. Probably took 2 years to build up my shoulder strength. Still glad to have had it done as it’s much less painful if a bit weaker now.

Trainer road was hanging for me whilst doing Blender. The timer would stop for about a minute each time with stats frozen too. This happened about 10 times. Anyone else ever had this? It was really irritating and I don’t want a repeat doing fight club tonight.

I’m a fan of Henney’s Frome Valley Dry Cider, available in Waitrose, Tesco and Aldi to suit all snob levels.